• /
    • Archives /
  • July 31, 2016

Archives For July 31, 2016

Baseball and Baptists

ib2newseditor —  August 10, 2016

Busch Stadium

I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan and have been ever since I can remember. Growing up almost everyone I knew rooted for the Cardinals with the exception of a few odd Kansas City Royals fan.

I grew up watching their games on TV and listening to them on the radio in the family car. My parents would take us to Cardinal games to cheer our team on. When I moved to Illinois I stayed loyal to my team. I was even blessed to marry a fellow Cardinals fan and we continue the tradition of watching, listening, and going to games together.

We may be fans of different teams and squabble like siblings among ourselves, but we’ll always be a part of something greater in our Southern Baptist family through Christ.

I wouldn’t dream of supporting any other team. I am a member of Cardinals Nation, which feels like being part of a family. The atmosphere of camaraderie at the games is exciting. After games, we’ve spent the night at hotels near Busch Stadium and have gone down to breakfast to find the Cardinal mascot Fredbird the Redbird greeting people and posing for pictures with hungry fans.

At one time we even had Cardinal vanity plates on our car. I can remember being stopped at a red light a few times and having the person in the car next to us motion for the window to be rolled down. When we complied they would ask, “What’s the score?” Trips to games on I-55 often include pulling into a rest stop or restaurant. Fans decked out in Cardinal red apparel, who are perfect strangers, strike up conversations with each other about the team and the game they are on way to see.

I can relate this feeling and experience with being a Southern Baptist. My mother started attending our local Baptist church when I was just a few years old. She faithfully took all three of us kids for years until my father became a Christian when I was 12. Then church truly became a family affair. We all were part of a loving church family that worshiped, laughed, cried, and grew together.

Our own church family was part of a larger family of churches in our association, state convention, and national SBC. When we visit other churches and gather for annual meetings and conventions, we feel that same kinship as Christians and as Southern Baptists.

There is much more involved in my being a Southern Baptist than there is my being a Cardinal fan. The beliefs of my Baptist family and its commitment to the Lord are at the core of my being. In my life I’ve studied other denominations and visited their houses of worship, but none have the same belief in God and seek to follow him the way Southern Baptists do.

I suspect the same is true of many of you who are fans of the Cubs, White Sox, and other teams. We may be fans of different teams and squabble like siblings among ourselves, but we’ll always be a part of something greater in our Southern Baptist family through Christ.

-Lisa Sergent

In Commentary , , ,
permalink

Briefing: Illinoisians competing in Rio, World Vision’s Hamas allegations

ib2newseditor —  August 9, 2016

The Briefing50+ Olympians connected to Illinois to watch in Rio
The Tribune is tracking more than 50 Olympic athletes with Illinois connections competing in Rio. The great majority, 67%, are competing for Team USA, with Canada, Jamaica and Nigeria each represented by two athletes with local ties. Twenty of the athletes are competing in track and field events, eight in swimming, seven in basketball and five in gymnastics.

Religious accommodations at the Rio Olympics
At the Rio Olympics, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism are each represented by four chaplains, while four Roman Catholic chaplains and four Protestant chaplains are present to serve the needs of Christian athletes. Each of the religions has their own worship space able to hold roughly 50 people at any time, with different spaces available for Muslim men and women, who frequently pray separately.

Pew: More sermons endorse Clinton
According to a new Pew Research survey, candidates come up most often in sermons at black churches, where 28% have heard their pastors praise Hillary Clinton and 20% have heard them oppose Donald Trump. Presidential talk was reported far less among white evangelical Protestants, 78% of whom say they’ll be voting for Trump in the fall. Just 2% of evangelicals heard a sermon endorsing him.

Human-animal chimera studies coming soon
The National Institutes of Health says that it will lift the ban that prevented researchers from creating human-animal chimeras with stem cells. It will put in place a review process that would require two types of chimera studies to get further review.

World Vision staffer accused of giving millions to Hamas
The manager of the Gaza branch of World Vision was charged by Israeli authorities with funneling millions of dollars to Hamas instead of to Palestinian children in need. Mohammad El Halabi, who has directed World Vision’s operations in the Gaza Strip since 2010, is accused of listing Hamas members as farmers with disabled children so they could receive assistance.

Sources: Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Christianity Today, Time, Christianity Today,

In Briefing , , , , ,
permalink

Ready for Rio

ib2newseditor —  August 5, 2016

Rio_2016_crop.jpgWith the Olympic Games set to kick off Aug. 5, Southern Baptist volunteers will be in South America to share the gospel both with local residents and with the thousands of visitors from across the globe.

“There exists no greater opportunity to reach people from over 200 nations in 30 days than the Olympic Games,” said John Crocker, a missions pastor from Alabama who is leading a mission team to Rio. Crocker’s team will engage Rio residents with the gospel through evangelistic block parties and Olympic pin trading.

“There is an openness by people to talk with one another and to talk about spiritual things,” said Sid Hopkins a retired director of missions from Georgia who ministers at the Games by distributing pins made especially for the Olympics that tell the story of Jesus.

“We have seen many people who come to the Olympic Games open to listen to the gospel because the atmosphere created is one of friendship on a global level. Ministry during the Olympics is simply electric.”

Pre-event publicity for the Olympics has been largely negative, due to concerns over the Zika virus, Brazil’s economic struggles, the fitness of Rio’s water supply, the Russian doping scandal, and other issues. But Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup proved to be successful, and Olympic organizers are banking on a repeat of that success in Rio.

Journalist Tim Ellsworth, former editor of the Illinois Baptist, will cover the Games for Baptist Press, focusing largely on Christian athletes who are competing, including diver David Boudia. He won gold in the 10-meter platform competition in 2012 and is looking to add to his medal count in both that event and the men’s 10-meter synchro competition with his partner Steele Johnson. Both men gave strong testimonies of their faith in Christ following the Olympic trials this summer.

“This is not what my identity is going to be in the rest of my life,” Johnson said. “Yeah, I’m Steele Johnson the Olympian, but at the same time, I’m here to love and serve Christ. My identity is rooted in Christ and not in the flips we’re doing.”

The Illinois Baptist blog, iB2news.org, will have more stories from Rio during the Olympic Games.

– From Baptist Press

In News , , , , ,
permalink

Long Walks and Deep Talks

ib2newseditor —  August 4, 2016

Walking

One thing I love about summer is the opportunity for long walks. Beth and I have a three-mile circuit that takes us from our house down to a nearby lake and back. Usually we walk it after dinner, but before dark, with our blind dog Willy. Our nest of three sons is empty now, and so we have just this one furry kid to follow us around.

It’s not really the walk itself that I value, though. It’s what happens there. By the time we walk, Beth and I have usually taken dinnertime to catch up with one another on the day’s events, and what arrived in the mail, and what we each heard from friends or family that day.

The walk is for deeper talk. That’s when we tend to discuss longer term plans for the future, or longer view reflections on where we’ve been. We talk not just about our kids’ activities, but about their well-being and their life decisions. We talk not just about short-term purchases, but about long-term investments. We talk not just about our church routines, but about our spiritual lives.

It usually takes a while to get past perfunctory, obligatory prayers I tend to settle for when time is short.

Sometimes our local son, Caleb, and his wife, Laura, walk with us. Those are rich times. Often Laura will walk alongside Beth and engage in one conversation, while Caleb and I will pair up a few steps behind them. Sometimes the two conversations will blend, and mix, and then separate again. We all like to hear as much as possible.

But these aren’t the 10- or 20-word texts we exchange with our kids during the day. These are often significant conversations about problems, and dreams, and life decisions, and dilemmas. Long walks encourage deeper talks.

And then there are the long walks I take by myself, to have deeper talks with God. Sometimes I make time for them during the regular routine of life. But often I need a vacation or a few days off or a different setting in order to pull away.

During the regular rhythms and busyness of life, my prayer times can grow so brief, so repetitive, so lightweight. Like the chitchat of a dinner conversation or the insufficiency of a text, I can settle for such trivial communication with God. But when I walk for a while with him it’s easier to remember that he really knows and loves me in my deepest, innermost parts, and that he longs to meet me there too, and not just in the shallows of a busy life.

Over a few recent days of long walks and deep talks this summer, I remembered again that it usually takes a while just to get past the perfunctory, obligatory prayers that I tend to settle for when time is short. I know there’s nothing wrong with those prayers, just like there’s nothing wrong with catching up over dinner on the day’s activities. It’s just that there are so many more significant things to talk about. But you only seem to get there when you take the time.

This past week I walked and talked to places of deep confession, and pleading, and worship, and peace. Once the lighter weight stuff was off my chest, there were several minutes and miles of silence as I looked for the right words to tell God things I then remembered that he knows already. Yet when those words came, they were cathartic and soothing to my soul.

Long walks can lead to deep talks, with our spouses, our kids, and yes, our God. May you find time for the long walks you need this summer.

– Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

In Commentary , , ,
permalink

It’s time to speak up

ib2newseditor —  August 3, 2016

Adron RobinsonThe week of July 4, 2016, was a very dark week in America. It began with my wife and me celebrating Independence Day with our family and watching the local fireworks display. But there would be a different type of fireworks in the days to come.

On July 5, a Baton Rouge police officer pinned down Alton Sterling and shot him several times while he was on the ground, killing him in front of witnesses.

The very next day in Minnesota, Philando Castile was pulled over in a routine traffic stop and shot multiple times by a police officer. Castile’s girlfriend videotaped the aftermath of the shooting and broadcast it live on Facebook for the world to see.

If those incidents weren’t enough, on July 7, at the end of a peaceful protest of these killings, an armed gunman ambushed Dallas police officers, killing five and wounding seven others.

How can the church remain silent when the sin of racism is screaming so loudly?

It truly was a dark week in America. As I sat at my desk praying about how to process these events and address these issues with my congregation, God led me to Matthew 5:13-16.

We live in a dark and decaying world, and the darker the world gets, the more it needs the church to be salt and light. Light shines brightest in darkness, and God has providentially placed the local church in the community to shine the light of the gospel to a world that desperately needs that light.

The killings of African Americans at the hands of police officers, and the denial of justice to the families of those slain, reveal the high level of personal and institutional racism in America.

The truth of the matter is that an encounter with the police is a life or death matter for many people of color in America. We pull over praying. Praying that the officer who stops us will uphold the law and not manipulate it to cover up his own racial prejudice. Praying that we will be treated the same way every other citizen of this country is treated. But most of all, we are praying that we are not killed by the very people our taxes pay to serve and protect us.

This is not the experience of my non-minority brothers and sisters. And it should not be the experience of anyone created in the image of God.

My question is, how can the church remain silent, when the sin of racism is screaming so loudly? How can we stand by as injustice continues against those we say are our brothers and sisters in Christ?

We cannot remain silent. In order for there to be change in our culture, the church must stop being silent and step up and be the church. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus calls us to be counter-cultural Christians. This means the church is called to influence our culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christians and only Christians are the salt of the earth. Christians and only Christians are the light of the world. Christians and Christians alone are responsible for stopping corruption and slowing down the decay of this world.

Notice Jesus did not say “you and the government,” “you and the police department,” or “you and the Supreme Court.” There is only one hope for this world, and that hope is in people of God preventing decay and penetrating darkness.

We need to stop making excuses, stop being divided, stop being deceived by the darkness of this culture, and begin shining the light of righteousness and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We will never overcome a hateful world unless we learn to love one another.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we cannot remain silent as our neighbors are being slain in the streets. And we must address the racism in our world, even if it is in our own hearts.

In Acts 10:34, Peter says, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality.”

I pray that soon and very soon, the church would do the same.

– Adron Robinson is senior pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills and vice president of IBSA.

In Commentary , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Briefing: Religious freedom curtailed in Illinois, abuse victim fights ‘bathroom’ bill

ib2newseditor —  August 2, 2016

The BriefingRauner signs controversial bills into law
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner recently signed three controversial bills. The marijuana decriminalization bill provides statewide standard for cannabis possession, with a maximum $200 fine for possession of 10 grams or less. The remaining two bills involve right to life issues. The Contraceptive Coverage and the Health Care Right of Conscience bills require health insurance to cover all types of contraception and medical professionals to go against their religious conscience by referring patients for abortion. The Thomas More Society has indicted it is considering legal action against the right of conscience law.

Sexual abuse victim fights transgender bathroom bill
The advent of policies that force schools and other public places to allow people to use the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity and not their biological sex deeply troubled sexual abuse survivor Kaeley Haver. She was fired from her job at the YMCA after speaking out against Washington state’s Human Rights Commission transgender restroom law.

Deadliest July in Chicago in 10 years
Sixty-five people were killed in Chicago in July, a toll that pushed the number of homicides in the city this year to nearly 400. The total for all of last year was 490. It was the deadliest July since 2006, when 65 homicides were also recorded, according to Chicago Police Department records. On the last weekend alone, a total of seven people were killed and 45 others were wounded.

Election 2016: ‘Lesser’ and ‘never’ two evangelical views
The 2016 election is important, but it is too often divisive and open to unhealthy rhetoric. Southeastern Seminary President Danny Akin asked two of the seminary’s ethics professors, Drs. Dan Heimbach and Mark Liederbach, to share their opposing personal positions and approaches to this timely and increasingly crucial question of how to vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Lawsuit targets grant to National Baptists
Atheists have sued a National Baptist pastor and Kansas City government leaders over a $65,000 grant approved for use during the Baptist group’s upcoming national convention in the city. The grant to John Modest Miles Ministries, a community nonprofit arm of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Kansas City, violates Missouri law that prohibits public aid for religious purposes, American Atheists Inc. and two of its Kansas City members claim in a lawsuit.

Sources: Capitol Fax, Thomas More Society, World Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Between the Times, Baptist Press

In Briefing , , , , ,
permalink

Wisdom-Martin to serve as head of National WMU

ib2newseditor —  August 1, 2016
Sandy WM outdoors

Sandy Wisdom-Martin during her tenure as IBSA’s women’s missions and ministries director.

The news spread quickly among Illinois Southern Baptists that one of their own daughters was named to serve as executive director/treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union, SBC. Sandy Wisdom-Martin, an Illinois native who grew up near the small southern Illinois town of Marissa, was unanimously elected by the WMU executive board at a special-called meeting July 29-30 in Birmingham, Ala.

“My commitment has always been to walk where God leads,” Wisdom-Martin said in a press release from National WMU, “yet this has been a difficult process because I am in a very good place. I love the assignment God has given us (in Texas). This certainly caught my family by surprise and was not a part of our plan, but we believe God is sovereign and all the details of our lives are in His hands. I trust Him completely for the future.”

In the release she said what excites her most about this opportunity is to put total trust in the Father, serve Him with reckless abandon and see where the adventure leads.

“I don’t do what I do because of my employment,” Wisdom-Martin continued “I do what I do because I believe in the restoration of brokenness through hope in Christ. Through WMU, the only reason we do what we do is because he is risen and we must tell the good news.”

Evelyn Tully, IBSA WMU Director from 1985-2000, told the Illinois Baptist, “I am thrilled beyond words in Sandy’s selection as Executive Director of WMU, SBC.  Her missions commitment, her ministry lifestyle, and her exemplary relationships have uniquely prepared her for this tremendous responsibility.  I know Illinois missions-minded women will be her strong prayer supporters.”

Wisdom-Martin was the first recipient of the Darla Lovell Scholarship from Illinois WMU while studying at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. While growing up she also served served on the state Acteens Panel, lead five Acteens Activator Teams, and was a seminary intern.

Wisdom-Martin served as IBSA women’s missions and ministries director from 2001-2010 before becoming executive director of WMU of Texas in 2010 through the present. While at IBSA she also served as president of Mississippi River Ministries and led the first international WMU Habitat for Humanity Team, which traveled to Ghana to build houses.

She and her husband Frank, who grew up in Sandwich, IL, are the parents of daughter Hannah.

Prior to coming to IBSA, she served as a Cooperative Program Missionary with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1991-2001.

– Lisa Sergent with additional reporting from National WMU

In Heartland , , , , ,
permalink

The stories will convince you

ib2newseditor —  August 1, 2016

Focus on state missions starts September 11

Wrap cover artOver the course of almost five years, I have traveled to the far corners of Illinois looking for stories. Mostly they’re stories to support the Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer, stories of God’s people whose work is made possible by the missions commitment of Baptists in our state. My partner in this venture, videographer Paul Wynn, and I joke that we’ve spent the last five Mother’s Days together. His kids are grown now, so his wife doesn’t mind if he’s away from home on her holiday. Maybe having a quiet house is what makes it a holiday for her.

On those May weekends and many others, we have visited new churches and compassion ministries. We’ve been from Elgin to East St. Louis, Davis Junction to Iuka, Plainfield to Metropolis, and many points in between. We’ve talked with pastors and joyful believers they’ve led to Christ. We’ve followed teenagers who braved city streets, sharing the gospel with strangers for the first time. And we’ve heard story after story from IBSA missionaries whose life-changing work brings them—and sometimes all of us—to tears.

I suppose the numbers should be compelling enough: There are 13 million people in Illinois, and at least 8 million of them do not have a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. I lived in Chicagoland 15 years, and there the “numbers” are ever before you. So many people. So few believers. I learned what it means to be in the minority, because Christians are so far outnumbered.

The biblical command should be convicting: Jesus said, “Go.” Isn’t that enough?

But what is most convincing is the stories. The stories and the people who share them convince me afresh every year that our mission work in Illinois is vitally important, worth our personal service and our prayer and our giving and our going.

Calling all churches

Hart Family

Hart Family, church planters in Breese, IL

I admit I felt out of place at a bar in Breese, Illinois, but it was Sunday morning and technically the bar wasn’t open. They were having church, and I knew the songs. I’m still smiling about how the young church planter and his wife started a church—in a bar—in his hometown—which, as most hometowns do, knew too much about him. I celebrated when he sent word a couple of weeks later that the church baptized its first new believers in a horse trough.

Their story is featured in our collection for the 2016 Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer.
• Plus, there’s the story of a pastor’s wife we met in Casey soon after her international mission trip to aid oppressed women in South Asia.
• And the student group making its second trip from Sherman to the big city streets during ChicaGO Week.
• And the pastor planting another church nearby his downtrodden neighborhood, hoping to reach unreached people with another chance at hope in Christ.

These stories will all be featured in the Illinois Baptist. And they are included in the Mission Illinois Offering prayer guide for September 11-18, which will be distributed in participating churches. A week of devotions also is included in the special supplement that wrapped this edition of the newspaper. And all the materials are on our new website: missionillinois.org.

Our statewide goal this year is $475,000. The offering supports IBSA’s missions work, including the areas we’re highlighting this year: church planting in rural Illinois, students reaching Chicago, mobilizing Illinois volunteers for missions worldwide, and sharing Christ with unreached people. Yes, there are people in Illinois who have never heard.

Please encourage your church to participate in the Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer. And please pray about your own gift for state missions. If you’re like me, the stories will convince you.

See all videos and mission study materials at missionillinois.org. Contact MIO@IBSA.org if we can help your church observe the Week of Prayer for state missions.

In Mission Illinois Offering and Week of Prayer , , ,
permalink