Guns and church: finding a common sense approach

February 27, 2013 • ISSUE 4

When Calvary Baptist, Dumas in the Texas Panhandle announced it was offering a concealed handgun license class, it was meant as a community outreach.

But the criticism that came from outsiders was a surprise, the pastor says.

Houston teen wins + Pregnant life-affirming case against parents

+ why the afterlife bores us

Contents 2

Homeschooling as a right of parents The case of a German family seeking refuge in the U.S. should be a concern for all of us who care about religious liberty.

4

C. Everett Koop dead at 96

3-5 Briefly your church have 8 Does a security plan?

9 6

COVER West Texas STORY church says

offering CHL class ‘pragmatic’ approach to its culture Amid Second Amendment debates and well-publicized gun violence, Dumas church draws its share of critics.

14 BOOK REVIEW Houston author Gari Meacham has written a book on prayer drawing from personal experiences as the wife of a former professional baseball player.

11 Pregnant Houston teen wins life-affirming case against parents

13

Bills in state House & Senate face slim chance of overturning Texas marriage amendment, conservative group says.

TEXAN Digital is e-published twice monthly by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, 4500 State Highway 360, Grapevine, TX 76099-1988.

Jim Richards, Executive Director

16 Why the afterlife bores us

Corpus pastor who experienced Illinois shooting says prayer, common sense key for churches

by Russell Moore

Gary Ledbetter, Editor Jerry Pierce, Managing Editor Russell Lightner, Design & Layout Stephanie Barksdale, Subscriptions Contributing Writers Bonnie Pritchett, David Roach, Michelle Tyer, Russell Moore To contact the TEXAN office, visit texanonline.net/contact or call toll free 877.953.7282 (SBTC)

Gary Ledbetter

Homeschooling as a right of parents

C

onsider this a continuation of our discussion of religious liberty or freedom of conscience. Several very articulate pundits have spoken in favor of a German couple, the Romeike family who are seeking asylum in the U.S. to avoid crippling fines, perhaps jail time, and the potential loss of their children. Why the problem?

Because they did what was illegal in their native land, homeschooled their children. It’s not illegal here at this time so they’ve moved here and are being defended by a homeschool advocacy group. This is a little embarrassing to the U.S. because Germany is a close ally; we rarely grant asylum to citizens of Western nations.

Catch up with the issue by reading the Baptist Press article and Professor Thomas Kidd’s column. Now, this matters. The reasoning of the U.S. Department of Justice is that no religious liberty issue exists with the Romeike case because the German law is not religiously orientated—all Germans are forbidden to educate their children, not just Christian ones.

Let’s substitute the particulars with something mundane like reading the Bible or assembling to worship, or wearing a hijab. Most Americans (or Germans) would not be troubled by such prohibitions, or at least they would not feel obligated by conscience to violate them.

Most of us don’t read the Bible or go to church.

According to the opinion of our own government this means that no religious liberty issue exists so long as everyone is equally forbidden to read the Bible or wear a hijab. That sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it? What reasoning applies to one thing today, perhaps a thing about which we care little, will apply to another thing tomorrow, perhaps something that gores our own oxen.

Of course I begin with the assumption that this is a religious matter. Tammi and I were homeschoolers. Each of our kids experienced 2 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

home teaching, public schooling, and private Christian education for some portion of their childhoods. We were homeschooling parents because we believed that our children were assigned to us by the Lord (not by the state) for training in all things. Each year we considered each child and each option available to us and made the best decision we could for our family. We considered that our right but more importantly our appropriate application of Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6:4. For us, it is a religious thing we did, and a very fundamental religious thing. Regardless of who assisted us in the teaching of our children, we were their primary teachers. And when we (rarely) discovered those assistants teaching our kids things we considered wrong or wrong-headed, we corrected the error by whatever means necessary. One news story quoted a spokesman for the German Teachers’ Association as saying, “No parental couple can offer a breadth of education [that can] replace experienced teachers.” I pretty much disagree with that and have three well-educated and admirable kids to back up my point.

The rights of American parents to educate their own children have been often challenged and some states are more friendly to the idea than others. That, by the way, is why the Homeschool Legal Defense Association exists.

And of course there is another way of understanding the idea of religious indoctrination. One reason that any culture would want to provide, even require, standardized education is to somewhat conform all budding citizens to a baseline understanding of citizenship. In our culture and in our day, I don’t agree with the majority opinion on morals. The “settled science” (I love that term) on creation, marriage, and other hot button issues are matters of faith no less to the non-religious than to the religious. Christians are a doctrinal minority but we are not the only “people of faith” contending for the hearts of our children. If I lived in Germany, I’d probably agree with the Romeikes and their dismay over what kids are being taught. Is that opinion allowed even in our country?

Maybe the problem is not animosity toward religious liberty.

It needn’t be that to be a problem. If our top cops in the DOJ seriously misunderstand the notion of religious liberty, we have a problem. I know that immigration cases have complex facets that go beyond the convictions or even the needs of a petitioning family. But if our Department of Justice does believe that religious freedom is not abridged if it is abridged uniformly, it has ominous implications for every American with a conscience.

To be plain, if the Romeike case is being accurately reported, they should be granted asylum as refugees from religious persecution. They are fleeing unjust persecution as surely as our Pilgrim forebears. Sending them back to imprisonment and possibly the breaking apart of their family is unworthy of this nation.

Briefly

TEXAS

TEXAS

Roe v. Wade lawyer ‘shocked’ abortion still an issue Sarah Weddington, who as a 27-year-old Texas lawyer successfully argued the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case making abortion legal in all 50 states, told a Duke University audience on Feb. 20, “I’m shocked we’re still talking about [the right to legal abortion].”

Weddington told the students and faculty at the United Methodist school in Durham, N.C., that “Methodists, Southern Baptists, Presbyterians and numerous Jewish groups” supported her position during the trial and filed pro-choice amicus briefs to the Supreme Court, the school’s independent daily, The Chronicle, reported.

The daughter of a Methodist minister who grew up in Abilene, Texas, Weddington bemoaned the sexism she said existed in her growing up years in West Texas, the newspaper reported.

Weddington served three terms in the Texas House and three years in the Jimmy Carter administration. Until 2012, she taught at the University of Texas law school, where she earned her law degree.

INTERNATIONAL

Jailed U.S. pastor in Iran releases letter Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent, has released a letter from within Iran’s brutal Evin prison, demonstrating that his faith remains strong despite abusive tactics aimed at getting him to renounce Christ.

“They are trying to put me under such horrific pressures (that are sometimes unbearable) so that they can show me that my faith is empty and not real,” Saeed wrote.

“And after all of these pressures, after all of the nails they have pressed against my hands and feet, they are only waiting for one thing ... for me to deny Christ. But they will never get this from me,” he wrote in the letter that was translated into English.

The text of the letter was circulated Feb. 22 by the American Center for Law and Justice, which has been advocating for the pastor’s release. He was

sentenced in January to eight years in prison for starting a house church network a decade ago.

Abedini described his captors as “empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ.”

The imprisoned pastor went on to encourage fellow Christians, reminiscent of letters from the Apostle Paul.

“Maybe you are also in such a situation, so pray and seek God that He would use you and direct you in the pressures and difficulties of your lives,” Abedini, 32, wrote.

Naghmeh Abedini, the pastor’s wife, is living in the United States with the couple’s two young children. She told the ACLJ that her husband “will never recant his faith in Jesus,” but she is greatly concerned about his health and well-being.

More than 280,000 people had signed a petition Feb. 22 at SaveSaeed. org, a website aimed at rallying international voices to secure his release.

Bill aims to protect religious groups

State Rep. Matt Krause (RFort Worth) has filed a bill that would codify into Texas law U.S. Supreme Court rulings on equal access to public school facilities for religious and non-religious groups.

“The bill adds a little extra layer of religious liberty,” Krause said, according to the Texas Tribune.

“The Religious Equal Access Act” (HB 1525) says if a public school district allows non-student-led community groups to meet during “noninstructional” time, the same access must be allowed to religious organizations.

Krause said his intent is to protect religious groups from being denied equal access because they are religious. One instance cited by the Texas Tribune is a Houston man who wished to conduct a Catholic Bible study in a public school after hours but was denied his request by the Houston Independent School District.

“We need to put all school districts and everyone on notice that [viewpoint discrimination] is something you cannot do,” Krause told the Tribune.

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 3

NORTH AMERICA

C. Everett Koop dead at 96 Former United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop died on Feb. 25 at his home in Hanover, N.H. He was 96.

Koop served as surgeon general under President Reagan and gained public fame in the 1950s for groundbreaking surgeries, including one in which he separated conjoined twins. World magazine decribed Koop as “a 6-foot1 evangelical Presbyterian with a beard of biblical proportions …”

The New York Times, in its lead paragraph on his death, said that he was “widely regarded as the most influential surgeon general in American history and played a crucial role in changing public attitudes about smoking.”

But among Christian conservatives, Koop led the way in raising awareness about abortion’s incongruence with biblical teaching. In the 1970s, he wrote “The Right to Live, the Right to Die” and coauthored “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” with Francis Schaeffer.

Nevertheless, some in the pro-life movement were disappointed that Koop didn’t more vigorously oppose abortion during his tenure as surgeon general from 1981-89.

4 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Tebowing to pressure, or not?

New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow came under criticism for his backing out of a speaking engagement next month at First Baptist Church of Dallas. But one Florida pastor was critical of those who he believes pounced too readily on Tebow for his decision.

Tebow announced via Twitter that he would cancel his agreement to speak at the church during its dedication celebration for new facilities in downtown Dallas.

The church and its pastor, Robert Jeffress, were maligned by some in the national media for biblical stands on homosexuality and the exclusive claims of the gospel.

Response was quick with disappointment and even some scolding from fellow believers, some who thought he was caving to political pressure from gay and liberal activists and perhaps from his team and league.

But Tebow family friend and Florida pastor Jimmy Scroggins said the criticism lacked perspective considering Tebow’s consistent public witness.

Writing in Baptist Press, Scroggins, pastor of First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, Fla., said, “Speaking up for Tebow is easy for me—I just look at his track record.”

He added: “I know Tim Tebow. I’ve been friends with his family since I was 8 years old. I was his friend before he got famous, and I’ll be his friend after the media machine gets through with him. I am proud to hold him up as a role model for my sons.

Because here is what I know about him—he isn’t a coward and he has not ‘caved’ under pressure. Feel free to agree or disagree with his decisions about where he speaks. But for Pete’s sake—cut the guy some slack.”

Tebow’s pastor, Mac Brunson of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., and formerly of First Baptist Dallas, requested prayer for Tebow and those “hated by the world” because of the stands they take.

Jeffress noted that despite disappointment, Tebow signaled he’d be open to a future speaking date at FBC Dallas, Jeffress told a Dallas radio station.

NORTH AMERICA

German homeschoolers get day in U.S. court The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear the case of a Christian family from Germany seeking asylum in the U.S. over their resolve to homeschool their five school-age children.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled to America in 2008 because the German government would not let them homeschool their children.

The appeals court reported Feb. 21 that it has slated oral arguments in the case for April, with the court to get two very different opinions of the Christian parents from Germany.

In the view of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which represents the family, the German government has persecuted the Romeikes for exercising their right to direct their children’s schooling, like many parents do in the U.S. But the American government does not believe the German government persecuted the Romeikes, maintaining that the family is not being singled out for its religious beliefs. German law requires all children to attend state-approved schools.

The HSLDA hopes the case will pressure Germany to change the way it treats homeschool families, said Michael Donnelly, the organization’s director of international relations.

“It’s a democracy,” Donnelly said of Germany. “They respect human rights.

But in this area, it’s frightening how they treat people who want to do something very simple. There are 2 million children homeschooled in the U.S. ... This is not a threat to the German state, but they are treating it that way, and it’s wrong.”

Spiritual maturity entails intentionality Christians on the path to spiritu-

Female churchgoers are more

al maturity have a habit of seeking

likely than men (77 percent vs.

God through prayer and worship—

70 percent) to set aside time for

not just in church but also as a part

prayer every day to a few times a

of their daily life as a way to please

week.

and honor God, according to a sur-

“Spiritual maturity is not an

vey released by LifeWay Research.

accident; seeking God speaks of

The survey of Protestant church-

intentionality—the believer who

goers identifies “Seeking God” as

desires to know God in a deeper

one of eight attributes of disciple-

way and strives toward that goal,”

ship that consistently show up in

said Ed Stetzer, president of Life-

the lives of maturing Christians.

Way Research.

LifeWay Research found 73 per-

Seventy-eight percent of church-

cent of Protestant churchgoers set

goers indicate “one of the main

aside time for prayer every day to a

reasons I live my life the way I do is

few times a week. To examine how

to please and honor God.”

churchgoers are seeking God at

Also, about 75 percent agreed

times beyond worship services, the

(strongly or somewhat) with the

survey asked participants to “not

statement: “I find myself pray-

include any times you do these

ing at the spur of the moment

things as part of a church worship

throughout the day.”

service.” Nineteen percent say they

To learn more about the trans-

set aside time for prayer of any

formational discipleship research

kind between once a week and once

visit LifeWayResearch.com. The

a month, and 8 percent of church-

assessment is available at TDA.

goers say “rarely/never.”

LifeWay.com.

—Compiled from staff reports, Baptist Press and WORLD News Service.

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 5

West Texas church says offering CHL class ‘pragmatic’ approach to its culture But amid Second Amendment debates and well-publicized gun violence, Dumas church draws its share of critics.

I

By Bonnie Pritchett

DUMAS

n the midst of a heated national debate on the issue of gun rights, a small Baptist church on the plains of the Panhandle has stirred up controversy by offering a concealed handgun licensing (CHL) class. Critics have charged that Calvary Baptist Church, Dumas, just 47 miles north of Amarillo, is potentially inciting violence.

But most of them don’t likely live in rural West Texas, where firearms are as ubiquitous as wind.

About 100 faithful attend services any given Sunday at Calvary Baptist. Pastor Brad Foster said the congregation tries to find unique ways to reach out to the community of 14,000. In that vein, the newest initiative of church outreach—a CHL class—was proposed by the church’s Sunday School director, Jim Edlin.

Foster’s response to the suggestion?

“Well, Jim, this is Texas. I don’t see why this wouldn’t 6 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

be a good idea,” the pastor said.

The congregation gave unanimous approval of the event and an announcement was sent to an Amarillo television station. The press release from a small Baptist church became headline news and was the lead story on Jan. 25 broadcasts in Amarillo.

It was a shot heard around the nation. From there the story went viral, picked up by news outlets nationwide and sparking commentary about the presumed dichotomy between the role of the church and guns in the lives of Americans.

“We’re getting so much negative feedback—so vitriolic—it’s taken me by surprise,” Foster said.

But equally surprising is the response for the class.

Edlin admitted he was not expecting much more than a dozen Dumas residents to register for the course. But as of Feb. 13, five classes were filled and a sixth was rapidly expanding representing about 150 participants. Every Saturday in March, with the exception of Easter weekend, the church will host the

10-hour course. More classes are slated for April.

Though Calvary Baptist Church’s outreach is unusual, they are not the only church to offer CHL classes. A pastor in Beaumont made news in Houston for offering the class to area teachers. Other Brad Foster Texas churches are doing so without fanfare. Edlin said he got the idea from a news report about an East Coast church offering the licensing instruction.

“I didn’t think it was crazy at all,” said Mike Cearly, a certified CHL instructor teaching the course. He said the debate about gun rights has stirred interest in firearm ownership and the CHL classes.

A retired lawman and volunteer firefighter, Cearly takes personal safety seriously and has counseled local churches on security protocols. Churches that dismiss the potential threat of violence on their campuses do so at their own risk, he said. Being proactive and developing safety measures—including carrying a handgun—does not reflect a lack of faith (as some critics of the CHL class contend) but a pragmatic view of potential violence in a house of worship.

Foster said the debate about gun use and the teachings of Jesus caused him “to do some soul searching” on the topic. Criticism of the CHL class comes from well-meaning Christians, he said, and from those who are ignorant of Calvary’s intention and of Christian teaching.

Online comments range from the mean-spirited to the snarky. A few examples: “I guess I missed that passage in the bible [sic] where Jesus took up arms and started fighting crime.”

“Not to be outdone, the Dumas Catholic church is renaming itself the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Assault Weapons …”

“I guess faith and believing in God and the Angels is just a made up story if you need a gun, especially in church.”

But faith and self-defense are not mutually exclusive ideas, Foster said. To shed light on the matter, Foster preached Feb. 17 from Luke 22:35-37. In the passage Jesus cautions his disciples about life after he is gone.

“And by the way, you may need to sell a garment to purchase a sword,” Foster noted.

Calvary Baptist is not promoting violence, Fostered stressed.

Edlin said Christians should live daily by Christ’s command to “turn the other cheek.” But being forced at gunpoint to “turn the other cheek” is not a choice made from Christian conviction, said Edlin, a retired North American Mission Board missionary to Montana.

Foster said he is not a “redneck, tobacco chewin’, gun-totin’ preacher” trying to stir up violence.

“We’re trying to prepare people to defend themselves. The irony is, I don’t like country music and I don’t own a gun,” he said.

He is registered for the class and quipped that he is trying to convince his wife to do the same.

But even within his congregation, there are those concerned the church is making a political statement amid a heated gun control debate. Foster said though he unequivocally supports the Second Amendment, the outreach effort is not an attempt by the church to add its voice to the discussion.

The reality is “people in Dumas and America have handguns” and if the church can teach the community gun safety and responsibility, than it will have performed a valuable community service, Foster said.

Cearly, the retired lawman, agreed. Most of the 1015 hours of the class concentrate on gun safety and law. A much smaller portion of the class is spent at a gun range firing off 50 rounds for marksmanship assessment. Students receive a certificate upon passing the course, making them eligible for the $140 state license.

Calvary Baptist will not make any money from the $115 per person course but will simply host the class and publicize it.

The class will not include any preaching—“People did not sign up for that”—but Foster will begin each class with a prayer and a brief devotional. Edlin said follow-up contacts would be made with registrants.

Church members will assist Cearly in facilitating the class, providing more opportunity for contact with Dumas residents.

Foster does not want the ministry of Calvary Baptist Church overshadowed by the dust-up over the CHL class.

“God planted us here to share the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said. But, he added, “We are attempting to do church in new and different ways. We’re not going to apologize for making the attempt.”

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 7

Does your church have a security plan?

By Jerry Pierce Brad Kenney, pastor of Live Oak Church in Flower Mound and a full-time police officer, said that while churches are working hard to share the good news of Jesus, the reality is “there are a few folks out there who would hurt you or take your stuff in a heartbeat.”

In a fallen world, that Great Commission mandate must be balanced with the “necessary steps to increase our safety,” Kenney said.

He encourages churches to work with local law enforcement and local schools in developing a full-orbed security strategy that covers not merely a plan for armed intruders but more mundane basics: background checks for children’s workers, procedures for checking children in and out of classes, and a whole checklist of things often overlooked.

“The active shooter is a scary scenario,” Kenney said, “but it’s much more likely you will have a non-custodial parent try to pick up a child from your children’s classes. Do you run background checks on every worker with your children and youth? It’s crazy not to. Do you have a plan in place if someone stands up and starts yelling during a service?”

Kenney said each congregation should develop a safety plan fitted to their needs. Also, identify a few trusted people in your church and have them meet with local law enforcement officials.

“Your police have the experience and the training to help you work up a plan. I’d talk with your local school administration too.

Our schools have been thinking about keeping their campuses safe for a long time,” Kenney said.

“Make a plan, train your people and put it in place.”

The Church Mutual Insurance Company offers similar advice.

Armed security should be the last piece of the safety puzzle, not the first, Church Mutual says. In one of its online “RiskAlert” papers, the company says: “If you don’t have a security team or committee in place, don’t even consider putting together an armed security force—it’s just one element of a comprehensive security plan.”

In cases where an armed church member saved lives, as was the case at a large Colorado Springs, Colo., church in 2007, plans were already in place and qualified law enforcement were the ones commissioned by the church to “carry” on the church property.

“All of the plans came together,” Church Mutual says. “It didn’t just happen because someone at the church had a gun.”

8 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Church Mutual Suggestions for churches considering arming their security team: Discuss all aspects of your plan with your local law enforcement agency.

Create a written security plan that includes a violence response plan.

Notify your insurance company of your decision.

Don’t have your security force in uniform. Sometimes the uniforms act as targets for an unstable person wanting to perform a random act of violence. Uniforms can also deter members and guests from attending services. It’s best if your security team blends in with the crowd.

Allow only law enforcement officers to serve on your armed security force.

Post notices that you are using armed security officers.

Determine if weapons are allowed to be carried on your grounds by anyone other than your security officers. Texas law, section 30.06 requires publicly posted notices with specific wording to prohibit firearms in certain areas.

Know your state laws regarding the type of weapon your security force can carry.

A background check must be performed on anyone who will be armed.

Your organization is responsible for the actions of the security force.

Church Mutual has more on the issue of confronting violence in churches here.

Corpus pastor who experienced Illinois shooting says prayer, common sense key for churches

By Jerry Pierce John Harris, his wife and their three-month-old daughter arrived at First Baptist Church of Maryville, Ill., on March 8, 2009 with a sense of anticipation.

Harris was expected to be called as adult pastor of the church that day after several months of prayer, phone calls with the pastor, Fred Winters, the staff and the church leaders.

They sensed God’s leading. After arriving that Sunday just as the first service began, Harris’ wife went to nurse their baby in a private room while Harris joined a staff member to make the rounds to some of the adult Sunday School classes Harris would be ministering to.

The church held multiple services, drawing about 1,200 people each Sunday to a church in the middle of a cornfield, as folks there liked to say.

The first service was underway and as Harris and his soon-to-be colleague approached the worship center, they heard loud noises that turned out to be gunshots.

Inside the auditorium, Winters, the pastor, lay dead, shot through the heart as he spoke to his congregation that morning. As people quickly filed out in a state of confusion, Harris rushed to check on his wife, who was unaware of what had happened.

In the auditorium, the shooter, Terry Sedlacek, who had no connection to the church or to Winters, tried to shoot himself but his .45 caliber pistol jammed. He then tried to stab himself in the neck with a knife, but was subdued by two church members.

Harris said the church ventured on with faith and courage and saw spiritual fruit in the months that followed even amid the heartache. The Harrises accepted a call to the church that afternoon, convinced it was where God intended them.

Today, Harris is back in his native Texas as pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Corpus Christi. But his time in Illinois gave him a rare perspective on safety in the church setting.

“I believe that God is in control of everything, but that truth in no way lessens our responsibility to act,” Harris told Texan Digital in an email.

The church is a family and deserves reasonable and carefully planned security, he said.

“To do less is to ignore our obligation, but we need to do so without brandishing our swords and calling

attention to ourselves,” Harris commented.

“Every issue that God’s people must overcome should be bathed in prayer first. Leaders in every church should ask themselves the question, ‘What John Harris are we trying to do?’ There is a balance to be found between the goal ‘make disciples of all nations’ and ensuring 100 percent safety ... we cannot provide both,” Harris said.

“You can buy security cameras, place uniformed and plain clothes guards on your campus, and even recover your pews in kevlar, and that will not stop a lone gunman intent on doing harm from doing so.”

Harris said churches should encourage people to “think through personal protection in a way that will not inflame the debate.”

“As with everything else, we use the wondrous organ that God gave us, our brain, to navigate the difficulties.”

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 9

In children’s ministry, security plan crucial Sexual assault prevention also something churches must tend to, consultant urges.

By Michelle Tyer An important aspect of children’s ministry involves not just the spiritual training of the children but also their physical safety while they are at church.

During the leadership portion of the SBTC’s Family First Aid Conference on Feb. 15, Christopher Taylor addressed the issue and gave tips on how to keep children on church campuses safe from sexual assault.

“We assume that it’s a problem on the other side of the tracks where the grass isn’t as green,” Taylor said of the sometimes overlooked issue.

Taylor is a director of MinistrySafe, an organization that not only gives churches advice on safety but other organizations such as the United States Olympic Committee among about 3,500 other clients around the country.

“We want first and foremost to protect children in the church,” Taylor said.

The first thing a church should do, Taylor said, is to take sexual abuse awareness training.

That training will be a guide to 10 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

church leaders who may not understand the issue or know how to respond to it.

Taylor said that although background checks can reveal applicants with criminal backgrounds, those checks may not be sufficient when a child’s safety is at stake. More diligent applications can reveal more information since many child abusers are not in the criminal justice system because victims may not be willing to speak up.

Taylor said leaders and teachers themselves also need to be kept accountable as a safety precaution.

“Ninety percent of victims know and trust their abusers,” Taylor said.

Such safety precautions will protect the children from assault and the church from allegations, Taylor said.

Three companies that can help your church with background checks and other security related issues: Volunterselectplus.com; Reducingtherisk.com; Ministrysafe.com.

Pregnant Houston teen wins life-affirming case against parents Judge’s ruling forces parents to cease any coercion of daughter to have abortion.

By Bonnie Pritchett HOUSTON

A judge on Feb. 18 granted an injunction against the parents of a pregnant teen who alleged they were forcing her through intimidation and threats of violence to have an abortion. Stephen Casey, an attorney representing the 16-year-old girl, said she and the teenage father of the baby are both relieved by the decision of Judge James Lombardino of the 308th Harris County Family Court that frees her to carry the pregnancy to term without coercion from her parents.

“We are very proud of our teenage client for being strong enough to stand against her parents to save her unborn child’s life,” said Greg Terra in a press release issued by the Texas Center for Defense of Life. Terra and Casey, founders of the Texas organization, represented the girl known in court documents as R.E.K. Taking the Roe vs. Wade decision and “turning it on its head” as he put it, Casey argued the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand also provides women the right to choose life for their unborn babies. A 1979 case, Bellotti vs. Baird, gave minors the right to choose abortion or life.

Casey admits there is an irony in using the 1972 abortion case to champion a pro-life cause. But he lik-

“It was Goliath’s sword.

It wasn’t something David crafted. He used what was there.”

Attorney Stephen Casey, speaking of using previous abortion rights cases to argue for a minor’s right to choose abortion or life for her baby

ened the situation to David’s defeat of Goliath.

“It was Goliath’s sword. It wasn’t something David crafted. He used what was there,” Casey told Texan

Digital.

A family member of the teenage father sought legal assistance for R.E.K. after discovering she was being pressured by her parents to terminate the pregnancy.

Court documents reveal a contentious relationship erupted between R.E.K. and her parents following the discovery of her pregnancy by her parents in mid-January. The teen’s mom reportedly suggested slipping an abortion pill into a drink for her daughter.

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 11

Casey obtained a temporary restraining order against the parents Feb. 12. “[Her parents] agreed not to coerce her to have an abortion for the duration of her pregnancy,” Casey said following the hearing.

The parents of both teens agreed in the final order to equally share financial responsibility for medical care related to the pregnancy. If the teens get married the financial burden will fall to them. R.E.K.’s parents, the defendants in the case, gave “irrevocable consent” for their daughter to marry the father of her baby. Under a 2005 Texas law, teens as young as 16 can marry with parental consent.

Texas minors can circumvent parental consent and seek judicial intervention when determining whether or not to have an abortion. Pro-life proponents and their legal advocates claim a majority of abortions are performed on minors who are unaware they can deny consent to the procedure. The Texas Center for Defense of Life provides pro bono legal aid to pro-life organizations and women under pressure to terminate their pregnancies.

Those who coerce women to have an abortion violate state and national laws, the attorneys said.

The mother of R.E.K., who indicated she had undergone four abortions, reportedly said an abortion for her daughter was “the right thing to do.” Initial intervention efforts temporarily quelled the situation. When those measures failed Terra and Casey were called on for help.

12 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

“A lawsuit is the nuclear option,” Casey said.

Allan Parker, executive director of the Texas Justice Foundation, said the issuance of a “Dear Parent Letter” usually pacifies parents’ aggression. Created by the TJF, a San Antonio-based non-profit that provides legal assistance for clients like R.E.K., the letter outlines the rights pregnant minors possess. Minors “old enough to get pregnant” can take their case before a judge to keep or abort their babies, he said.

But most minors wanting to keep their babies do not know the law is on their side. The “Dear Parent Letter” effectively lays out the case on their behalf.

In part, it reads: “Dear Parent … You (or any other person) may not force, coerce, or pressure your daughter to have an abortion. Besides criminal prosecution … you and the abortionist could be held liable for the various civil torts, such as battery, negligence, false imprisonment, or other claims.”

The letter is used by more than 3,000 crisis pregnancy centers across the nation. Parker credits the letter with saving several thousand unborn babies each year.

Parents usually back down from their intimidating efforts once they learn of the legal ramifications, Parker said.

When the fighting stops more reasoned and life-affirming decisions can be addressed.

Though court intervention is the last resort, the goal is always to bring the family together and not further alienate the daughter from her parents. The reconciliation of the family is a priority in all cases, according to pro-life advocates.

R.E.K., who had lived with her boyfriend’s parents for several months prior to this case, now lives with her mother.

Under the ruling, R.E.K. must maintain a “B” average in school in order to have unrestricted use of her vehicle.

Against the odds Bills in state House & Senate face slim chance of overturning Texas marriage amendment, conservative group says.

By David Roach AUSTIN

State legislators in the House and Senate are trying to amend the Texas Constitution to legalize gay marriage, a move that would repeal the state constitutional amendment passed in 2005 defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

But the leader of Austin-based Texas Values said the effort has little chance of succeeding and is an attempt to grab media attention.

“These bills that are an effort of the homosexual lobby to repeal our constitutional amendment have no chance of passing,” Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, told the TEXAN. “And talk of repeal of the definition of marriage as it stands is really just for headlines and not reality. It’s obvious that the homosexual lobby is engaging in a desperate effort to create the illusion that they have support for these matters and measures when they don’t.”

Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, has filed a resolution that would repeal the marriage amendment in each legislative session since 2005, but this is the first time a companion bill has been filed in the Senate. Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, co-sponsored Coleman’s resolution in the House, and Sen. Jose Rodriquez, D-El Paso, filed the Senate bill.

If passed and signed by Gov. Rick Perry, a defender of traditional marriage, the resolutions would put the repeal before voters.

Also, separate legislation filed by Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, would remove gay marriage restrictions from state law if the marriage amendment were overturned.

While support for traditional marriage in Texas is high, a 2012

poll by the Texas Tribune and the University of Texas found that backing for gay marriage may have increased since 2005, when three-quarters of voters approved the constitutional amendment. The poll found that 36 percent of voters believe same-sex couples should be able to marry and 33 percent believe they should have rights to civil unions.

Twenty-five percent say same-sex couples should not have the right to marry or form civil unions.

“The time has come to put Texas in the mainstream of American values,” Rodriquez said in a statement, according to the Texas Tribune. “The simple fact is that the government should not stand in the way of people who want to enjoy the legal rights and privileges of marriage that the rest of us enjoy.”

Bob Stith, former SBC national strategist for gender issues, told the TEXAN this effort is part of a persistent campaign by homosexual activists to wear down resistance by framing gay marriage as a civil rights issue.

But Christians must view homosexuality as a moral issue, he said.

“We really have to be convinced that anything less than heterosexual marriage is less than God’s design and God’s intent,” Stith, who lives in Southlake, told Texan Digital.

“And if that is true, then we should want everyone to have the very best that God has for them. Whether they understand that or not, that still is our message—God has something much better for you.”

As they oppose legislation to legalize samesex marriage, believers must never water down the Bible’s standards in order to appear tolerant, Stith said. He added that Christians must learn the whole counsel of the Bible on marriage and homosexuality in order to counter gay theological arguments.

“Scripture is very clear on this, but we’ve got to get a lot more literate in understanding that [the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality] is something more than a few verses from Leviticus,” he said.

Terry Turner, SBTC president and pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite, said that “anyone who believes in traditional marriage between a man and a FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 13

woman should really be offended at the thought that … the holy institution that God has put together would be degraded to the point of allowing a man and a man or a woman and a woman to become united.”

That offense should drive Christians to take a stand for righteousness, Turner said.

“Too often we’ve allowed our society to move in a direction that is immoral, and we just kind of watched it happen,” he added. “And if we’re not careful, we’re going to be consumed with those immoral actions within the very fiber of our society.”

Despite a wave of publicity surrounding the attempt to repeal the state marriage amendment, Saenz said that in order for it to pass the House, all Democrats and 55 Republicans would have to support it—a virtual impossibility, he said.

On the other hand, legislation defending traditional marriage is likely to pass this legislative session, Saenz said.

He pointed to a bill filed by Rep. Drew Springer (R-Muenster) that would eliminate healthcare funding for any school district that offers insurance or other benefits to a person that is not a district employee, their spouse or child.

More than 25 House members signed onto the bill at its filing, according to a press release by Springer, indicating general support.

“Making homosexual marriage legal in the state of Texas is not a winning issue,” Saenz said. “I don’t even know if it’s a winning issue for Democrats. It’s certainly not a winning issue for Republicans.”

14 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

BOOK REVIEW

‘Spirit Hunger’ aims to drive readers to prayer

By Bonnie Pritchett Gari Meacham’s conversations with God during the emotionally wracked junctures of life gave her the faith necessary to hold together her marriage, guide a daughter scarred by sexual assault, and stay grounded during the countless moves required of a family headed by a professional baseball player. But in times of relative calm she realized a believer’s desperate need for God should flow from the reality we are “designed to thirst for God,” not merely because of life’s crises.

In her latest book “Spirit Hunger” (Zondervan 2012), Meacham lays bare her life in intimate detail. Her conversations with God reveal desperation for him. Like the Psalmist, Meacham sought God as one in a dry and thirsty land. But few Christians recognize they are spiritually parched and desperate.

But what if Christians regularly prayed as the desperate people they are, Meacham asked?

The question motivated her to write about her own experiences “to draw people to engage God in a real way.” Her research indicates most believers do not pray with any regularity, only calling upon God when life spirals out of control. But Meacham said the depths of God’s grace can only be experienced in consistent, intentional prayer.

Meacham’s husband served last year as first base coach with the Houston Astros. The baseball life has been a trial; Meacham writes of moving 47 times in 10 years and the toll it took on her marriage and family.

Though applicable to all Christians, Meacham said women can benefit most from her testimony, and it is written with Christian and secular audiences in mind.

The fundamental elements of Meacham’s prayer life rely on the simplicity of Matthew 7:7-8. Asking, seeking, and knocking mark the threshold crossed into God’s presence. Once there, the craving to return is the beginning of what she calls Spirit hunger.

“Knocking is where we grow up in prayer. … In prayer we need to keep knocking until we get an answer, or until we’re released from praying that prayer,” she writes.

With generous Scripture references (often the source of the answers we seek, Meacham said), “Spirit Hunger” encourages the reader to earnestly seek God in the throes of tumult and on the grassy banks of still waters.

GuideStone announces release of its Ministers Tax Guide DALLAS

The 2013 edition of GuideStone’s annual Tax Return Preparation and Federal Reporting Guide is now available. In this helpful guide, both active and retired minsters will find step-by-step help in understanding the latest tax laws along with sample tax forms to assist them in preparing their 2012 federal tax returns.

The guide was written again this year by Richard Hammar, a noted CPA, attorney and widely published author who specializes in legal and tax issues for ministers. Additionally, the material is edited by GuideStone’s Compliance staff to ensure that it addresses, in detail, the tax issues directly affecting Southern

Baptist pastors.

“As our tax system grows more complicated each year, it is a joy and a privilege for GuideStone to stand alongside the ministers we represent and provide solid counsel from a trusted source,” said O.S. Hawkins, GuideStone president.

“Each year so many pastors tell us how thankful they are for this guide and how much is helps them navigate the unique ministerial tax laws. We are blessed to be able to help them with the important task of ensuring that their income tax returns are correct.”

The tax guide, which also includes a special section detailing federal reporting requirements for churches, can be obtained in

PDF format at GuideStone.org/ TaxGuide. GuideStone participants can order a free printed copy by calling 1-888-98-GUIDE (1-888-9848433) between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. CST Monday – Friday.

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 15

Russell Moore

Why the afterlife bores us

I

have long suspected that many Christians dread not just death but heaven.

We won’t admit that, of course. Our hymnody, of whatever era, is filled with songs about the joy of the afterlife, and “what a day of rejoicing that will be.” We’re glad we’re not going to hell or to oblivion. But most of our songs and sermon mentions are about that first few moments in heaven: when we see Jesus, when we’re reunited with our loved ones, and so on. It’s like the happy ending of the story. And that’s the problem.

The gospel tells us that Satan keeps unbelievers bound by fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Believers, too often, dread death also, though not as much from fear as from boredom. We see the story of our lives as encompassing this span of seventy or eighty or a hundred years.

The life to come is our “great reward” in “the afterlife.”

But just think about that word “afterlife.”

It assumes eternity is an endless postlude to where the action really happens. It’s “after.”

Our “reward” happens after we’ve lived our lives. Here’s why this language matters.

Imagine a couple referring to their marriage as their “after-love.” They explain to you that years ago they met, fell in love, and married.

The years since are their “after-love” years, since they follow their falling in love with each other. You would, no doubt, ask whether they still loved each other and, if so, why they would relegate their lives together now as “after” anything, and why they seem to put their “love” in the past tense. You would think they were downgrading marriage and missing out on joy by talking like that.

And you’d be right.

16 TEXANONLINE.NET FEBRUARY 27, 2013

Too many Christians see the hope of resurrection life as a capstone on their lives now. We implicitly assume that our focus in the new creation is a backward focus on our lives as they are now.

We talk about all the questions we’ll ask about why this or that happened. We never think about whether we’ll be too busy to care about that, just like we’re too busy in the prime of our careers to ask our kindergarten teacher why she had snack time after recess rather than before. We talk about our reunion with loved ones, but even they often implicitly have a past focus.

A high school reunion can be fun. You catch up with old friends, and remember good and bad times. But the focus is usually on “remember when” and “whatever happened to” conversations. That’s great for an hour or four, but four trillion years of that would be hell. That’s not what Jesus promised us.

He promised us life.

If we miss this, then we become just like those with no hope.

We talk about our “bucket lists” of what we have to do before we’re gone since “you only live once.” We worry about our future and we nurse grudges because we fear our lives can be ruined by circumstances instead of by sin. We essentially move into the same old “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you shall die” except that we cap it with “…and then you’ll stand around with your loved ones singing songs and staring at a light for a quadrillion years and then some.”

God forbid.

Your eternity is no more about looking back to this span of time than your life now is about reflecting on kindergarten.

The moment you burst through the mud above your grave, you will begin an exciting new mission—one you couldn’t comprehend if someone told you. And those things that seem so important now—whether you’re attractive or wealthy or famous or cancer-free—will be utterly irrelevant in the face of an exhilarating new purpose, one that you were prepared for in this era but one that is far more than a mere sequel to your best life now.

Let’s talk about eternity. But it’s no mere “afterlife.” Instead let’s start thinking of this little puff of time, the next 80 or so years, as what it is: the pre-life.

Russell Moore is dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and executive director of the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement. This column appeared on his blog, Moore to the Point.

“Knowing that as individuals we can give a little bit, and that little bit will go into a pool of resources that can be spread across the world to change lives—THAT is absolutely amazing.

I encourage all to give through the Cooperative Program.

It will be a blessing that will last forever.

—TONY MATHEWS, PASTOR North Garland Fellowship Baptist, Garland

JESUS TOGETHER, BUT

GETTING THE GOSPEL OF

CHRIST TO THE LOST PEOPLES OF THE WORLD IS DAUNTING

WORKING THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Toll free 1.877.953.SBTC (7282) www.sbtexas.com FEBRUARY 27, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 17