Archives For November 30, 1999

Panel discusses the church and roles of men & women, gender issues, homosexuality #SBC15, #cbmw15

Lisa Misner —  June 15, 2015

When Nathan Lino meets with homosexual and transgender church attendees he tells them, “We’re not on your side or on our side. We’re on Jesus’ side.”

Lino was speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) Monday, June 15, at the Southern Baptist Convention. He was a member of a panel focusing on gender, the roles of men and women in the church, transgenderism, and homosexuality. It also included denominational leaders Owen Strachan, Danny Akin, Jason Duesing, and Thomas White.

The pastor of Northeast Houston Baptist Church said his church is dealing with the issue of transgenderism, especially in its gender-based ministry classes.. He spoke about an attendee of several months, assumed to be a man, who came to him and shared about being born a woman, and undergoing the process of transitioning to a man.

“We are up front about what we believe as a church. We don’t want there to be any surprises,” said Lino.

The changes in our culture shouldn’t frighten us, he said. “We have no reason to be panicked or alarmed…The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to all matters. Our solution is we must return to teaching and fully explaining complementarianism.”

According to Lino, the Houston church also has homosexual attendees. “The homosexuals in our church have been taught the design, and have been given the time and space to reflect on that design, and have turned to that design.”

Transgenderism and homosexuality are not the only issues the church should deal with said Lino. “We must also deal with heterosexual sex before marriage. Like transgenderism, it’s a violation of God’s design. We have all violated God’s design. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus has redeemed us and we are living in the design.”

“The mission of the church isn’t to un-gay people,” shared Lino. “The mission of the church is to win people to Christ.”

He asked why churches try to “run off” homosexuals and transgendered people. “Do you realize that it’s a miracle they are there? It’s because of God and it’s glorious.”

The event began with a discussion on complementarianism, which underpinned the entire discussion.

Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, explained the concept as men and women being “equal in essence, but separate in function.”

Strachan president of the CBMW made it clear that the council “does not exist to elevate men over women. We’re in this because we recognize the gospel brings flourishing. We’re 100% for both men and women.”

He also addressed the continued blurring of gender lines in the culture. “We’re not Teletubbies,” he said to some laughter. “We’re not the redeemed androgynous. We are gospel men and women.”

Other panelists also addressed the changing cultural mores.

When asked about the current cultural celebration of transgenderism, most notably in the recent new stories surrounding Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner,  White, president of Cedarville University, said, “Psalm 139 tells us God knew us before we were born…What we’re seeing here is a secular worldview versus a biblical worldview. We need to get back to that biblical worldview.

“We’re seeing the fallen-ness of creation. We should go out in grace and compassion and not laugh or make fun of it.”

Akin pointed out that most Christians were not saved the first time they heard the gospel. He echoed Lino in saying, “We need to give people the time and space to hear the gospel.”

In Uncategorized
permalink

The Supreme Court and the threat to religious liberty

Lisa Misner —  April 30, 2015
Recent arguments in the Supreme Court have raised religious liberty concerns.

Recent arguments in the Supreme Court have raised religious liberty concerns.

An exchange between Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. on Tuesday is raising concerns about religious liberty.

The Supreme Court was hearing arguments April 28 in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which challenges the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution regarding same-sex marriage and state’s rights. While the Solicitor General was arguing for same-sex marriage on behalf of the Obama Administration.

In the exchange, which has sounded alarm bells for many religious leaders, Justice Alito referenced a 1983 Supreme Court decision which stripped Bob Jones University of its tax exempt status for barring interracial dating and marriage among its students.

Justice Alto questioned, “Well, in the Bob Jones case, the Court held that a college was not entitled to tax exempt status if it opposed interracial marriage or interracial dating. So would the same apply to a university or a college if it opposed same-sex marriage?”

Solicitor General Verrilli replied, “You know, I – I don’t think I can answer that question without knowing more specifics, but it’s certainly going to be an issue. I — I don’t deny that. I don’t deny that, Justice Alito. It is — it is going to be an issue.” (Read the transcript)

After the audio and transcripts of the hearing were released, Albert Mohler, president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote about the exchange on his blog, “Keep that in mind as you consider the oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, the same-sex marriage case that sets the stage for the legalization of same-sex marriage in all fifty states — and sets the stage for what may well be, in the United States, the greatest threat to religious liberty of our lifetime.”

“Make no mistake,” Mohler warned. “The Solicitor General of the United States just announced that the rights of a religious school to operate on the basis of its own religious faith will survive only as an ‘accommodation’ on a state by state basis, and only until the federal government passes its own legislation, with whatever ‘accommodation’ might be included in that law.”

In an article for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s website, the organization’s President Russell Moore and Director of Policy Studies Andrew Walker called the exchange the “most shocking moment in the arguments.”

They wrote, “If a revisionist view of redefined marriage is treated as a matter of civil rights, then the government could seek to use its tax power to coerce religious institutions to violate their own God-given consciences and their constitutionally guaranteed free exercise of religion. The Founders warned us that the power to tax is the power to destroy. The Solicitor General is signaling that at least this Administration is quite open to destroying those who hold a view of marriage held by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox, evangelical Protestants, Orthodox Jews, Muslims, many Sikhs and Buddhists. It was even a position held by the President himself until his most recent ideological evolution.”

Other Christian leaders released a document expressing their fears for religious liberty prior to the oral arguments taking place.

The “Pledge in Solidarity to Defend Marriage” calls for the defense of biblical definition of marriage and for the state not to interfere by changing that definition. It is signed by several nationally known religious leaders, including Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse; Dr. Paige Patterson, President Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Dr. James C. Dobson, President and Founder Family Talk Action; and Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Dallas.

The pledge states, “Redefining the very institution of marriage is improper and outside the authority of the State. No civil institution, including the United States Supreme Court or any court, has authority to redefine marriage.

According to the document, “Experience and history have shown us that if the government redefines marriage to grant a legal equivalency to same-sex couples, that same government will then enforce such an action with the police power of the State. This will bring about an inevitable collision with religious freedom and conscience rights.”

It ends with a warning of civil disobedience if the Supreme Court should rule the same-sex marriage is the law of the land. “We will view any decision by the Supreme Court or any court the same way history views the Dred Scott and Buck v. Bell decisions. Our highest respect for the rule of law requires that we not respect an unjust law that directly conflicts with higher law. A decision purporting to redefine marriage flies in the face of the Constitution and is contrary to the natural created order. As people of faith we pledge obedience to our Creator when the State directly conflicts with higher law. We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross this line.”

A ruling by the Supreme Court is expected in June.

Lisa Sergent is contributing editor of the Illinois Baptist newspaper.

In Uncategorized , , , ,
permalink

God’s sovereignty and praying for marriage

Lisa Misner —  April 28, 2015
The IBSA staff, led by Executive Director Nate Adams, gathered this morning to pray for marriage.

The IBSA staff, led by Executive Director Nate Adams, gathered this morning to pray for marriage.

Christians in the U.S. have been asked to pray for marriage today as the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case which could decide if same-sex marriage will be made legal in all 50 states. The outcome could also have far-reaching consequences for churches, military chaplains, Christian business owners, and others.

Many have warned that the case being presented today is of paramount importance comparing it to the Court’s 1972 decision in Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion in the U.S. SBC President Ronnie Floyd wrote on his blog, “What is at stake is great. This is undeniable. We do not control the Supreme Court. At this point, our number one role must be to pray. Regardless of the outcome, may God have mercy on America and teach us how to live daily.”

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), stood outside the Court this morning and described the scene as “circus-like.” He wrote on his blog, “Rainbow flags were waving, as protesters on either side lifted aloft contesting signs. A man screamed through a megaphone about how ‘God hates queers’ right next to men in stiletto heels and nun’s habits. The whole scene drove me to pray, and almost to tears.”

The IBSA staff gathered this morning to pray for marriage. Executive Director Nate Adams led in prayer for attorneys arguing both sides of the case, for the justices, for those involved in homosexuality, for our nation to turn to God, and for Christians and pastors to share Christ in love, not condemnation.

Adams likened what is happening today to how the “Israelites must have felt facing the Red Sea as they heard the pharaoh’s chariots pounding behind them” and noted that God provided a way. No matter the outcome, he reminded, “God is still sovereign and on His throne.”

Regardless of the court’s decision, which is expected to come in June, Moore recognized, “We then must have enough confidence in our gospel to stand with conviction, even when the world thinks we’re crazy. And we must have enough confidence in our gospel to stand with kindness toward those who disagree with us.”

What are the facts in today’s case?

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which is consolidated with three other cases from Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee. The case challenges the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution regarding same-sex marriage and state’s rights.

According the ERLC, the court’s decision will determine:

  1. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
  2. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

Read the full explanation from the ERLC.

In SBC , , , ,
permalink

Platt’s Secret Church simulcast moved due to ‘security threat’

Lisa Misner —  April 27, 2015

A “security threat” against International Mission Board President David Platt’s Secret Church event April 24 forced Platt’s Radical ministry to move the simulcast from The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., to an undisclosed alternate location just hours before it began.

The threat was a small taste of what “our brothers and sisters in Christ experience in other countries,” Platt, former pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, said as the event opened according The Alabama Baptist. Threats cannot stop God’s church and His Word from accomplishing their purposes, Platt noted, and that all attempts to hinder the church ultimately help spread the Gospel more. Read more at BPnews.net

In Uncategorized
permalink

New IRS rules will affect many pastors’ health insurance

Lisa Misner —  April 16, 2015

Starting July 1, the IRS will implement a $100-per-day per employ excise tax on some churches, depending on the number of full-time employees they have, and how they cover health care premiums (IRS Notice 2015-17).

Churches with one full-time employee, and churches with two or more full-time employees in a qualifying group plan will still be allowed to provide pre-tax reimbursement for health care benefits. But churches with two or more full-time employees who have individual policies (or where one or more employees are on their spouse’s insurance plan), will not be allowed to provide pre-tax reimbursement. Those churches may be penalized.

Most pastors who have health insurance through GuideStone will not be penalized, because GuideStone coverage is considered a group plan.

For those who have individual policies and serve churches with two or more full-time employees that would be penalized, IBSA is exploring the option of providing an IBSA Group Associational Plan through GuideStone, which would meet the group policy requirement and protect the church from the excise tax. Pastors interested in this plan should contact IBSA by April 30, as IBSA will only pursue this option is there is sufficient interest.

Additional information is available at IBSA.org.

Contact SylvanKnobloch@IBSA.org or call (217) 391-3133.

In News
permalink

IBSA Disaster Relief surveys tornado damage in northern Illinois

Lisa Misner —  April 10, 2015

IBSA Disaster ReliefSpringfield, Ill.  | IBSA Disaster Relief Coordinator Rex Alexander and other disaster relief leaders are in the Fairdale, IL area this morning assessing tornado damage. A deadly tornado hit the small town in northwestern Illinois at sunset Thursday night. Two people were killed and several others were injured. Tornadoes and severe storms also caused major damage in the nearby towns of Ashton, Belvidere, Kirkland, and Rochelle.

The Illinois Baptist State Association has nine churches and 15 missions and church plants in the storm damaged areas. None have reported any damage at this time.

Chainsaw teams from Metro Peoria, Sinnissippi, and Three Rivers Baptist Associations have been put on alert. “As soon as we are able to respond to the needs in the damaged areas, these three teams and available disaster relief volunteers from Region 1 (northern Illinois) will be the first ‘wave of response,’” Alexander stated.

Brad Pittman, pastor of Grace Fellowship Baptist Church in Ashton, is guiding Alexander and his team through the area to assess the initial damage.  “We will determine how accessible the damaged areas are which helps us to determine how quickly our volunteer teams will be able to respond,” shared Alexander. “If law enforcement agencies are keeping everyone out of the damaged areas, then we must wait until the areas are open to volunteers.”

Alexander asked Illinois Baptists to, “Pray for the people who have been impacted by the storms and that God will open doors for ministry and sharing help, healing, and hope in Jesus name.”

The Illinois Baptist State Association has nearly 1,000 Southern Baptist member churches and missions in Illinois. IBSA’s main office is in Springfield and it was established in 1907. Southern Baptists operate the nation’s third-largest disaster relief organization, behind only the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

In Uncategorized
permalink

Fear and worry in St. Louis

Lisa Misner —  December 18, 2014

COMMENTARY | Growing up in a small rural Missouri community just 90 miles north of St. Louis gave me the opportunity to experience some of the best the city and its surrounding communities had to offer. My family made frequent trips to the St. Louis Zoo, the Museums of Art and Natural History, Six Flags, Cardinals baseball games, the Fox Theatre, and, of course, the numerous malls and shops.

I looked forward to any and all trips into the city. St. Louis seemed so fast and exciting compared to my sleepy little farming community. I still love St. Louis and look forward to any visits I can make there. It’s because of my heart for the city and the connections I have there that the recent events in Ferguson have particularly saddened me.

I’m Facebook friends with former classmates who now live in the metro area. I’ve been following one of my classmate’s posts in particular since the evening of August 29, when a white police officer shot and killed a young black man. She and her family live in a town adjacent to Ferguson and have experienced first-hand the events that have captured the nation’s attention.

She has chronicled the fear and frustration felt by many in the community. She has also shared about being a parent of four young children and how the unrest has affected them. Some nights they could hear the sounds of the protestors from their home.

My classmate has struggled to explain to them what happened, why people are angry, why school has been cancelled, and many other related things. Along with her husband, their top priority has been keeping their children safe and also making them feel safe.

I’ve read with joy when she’s written about her faith in the Lord and knowing He would keep them safe. I’ve read with sadness when she has expressed fears for her family. When the announcement was made that the grand jury had come to a verdict, she wrote that a friend in another town had offered to let them stay in her home if they felt unsafe in their own. She jokingly posted that she hoped they didn’t have to have a “slumber party” that night.

When the school reopened following the grand jury announcement, she wrote about walking her children in and reassuring them of their safety. She also shared about barely making it out the school’s front door before collapsing into tears from stress and worry.

What my friend and her family are experiencing doesn’t have anything to do with whether you agree with the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown. It’s about the sin that is in this world and our failure as a society to seek God.

May we turn to Him to ask for healing and understanding between all races in our nation, and for Him to be glorified through our words and actions.

In Commentary
permalink

Extraordinary Prayer for Ferguson

Lisa Misner —  November 26, 2014

By Lisa Sergent

Pray for St. LouisHow shall Christians respond to the events in Ferguson, Missouri? While protestors head to the streets, some clergy are joining them. Other Christians are shaking their heads, and others still are finding the grand jury’s decision and the resulting riots a cause for prayer. Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats is one of them.

Yeats recently wrote a blog post on the five responses we as Christians should have to what has transpired. Yeats calls on us to unite as brothers and sisters in “extraordinary prayer.”

“The pastors in Ferguson told us last week of extraordinary moments of prayer that have occurred in their city,” he wrote. “What if we joined them? What would happen if one million believers across our nation spent the next days in prayer and fasting on behalf of Ferguson and the needs of our nation?”

Yeats urges, “What if God in His sovereignty desired to use such a moment to bring us to our knees in repentance and prayer, for the ultimate purpose of bringing the blessing of revival and awakening to this city and our nation?”

This Thanksgiving we have been given the opportunity to unite in prayers of thanksgiving for what God is doing through these events, to ask for healing and understanding between all races, and for Him to be glorified through our words and actions.

Read the full blog post from John Yeats

Other notable Southern Baptist voices on Ferguson:

Ronnie Floyd, Southern Baptist Convention President, shared, “Only the Gospel of reconciliation through Jesus Christ can heal the broken in heart, bridge the racial divide that marks our society, and calm the passions that grip the human heart.”

Fred Luter, the SBC’s immediate past president, said, “The only way that the racial problem will be resolved in our country is to understand what really is the main problem. As my friend K. Marshall Williams, the current president of the National African American Fellowship, often says, ‘We do not have a SKIN problem in America, we have a SIN problem in America!’ And to that I say Amen!’”

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, noted, “The answer for the Body of Christ starts with a robust doctrine of the church lived out in local congregations under the lordship of Christ. The reason white and black Americans often view things so differently is because white and black Americans often live and move in different places, with different cultural lenses. In the church, however, we belong to one another. We are part of one Body.”

Ed Stetzer, Executive Director of LifeWay Research, said, “My hope is that as we move into the holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving later this week, we will take a moment with our friends and family to pray for the people of Ferguson, Missouri, and people everywhere in our country who feel oppressed and unjustly treated. Might we love them with the sacrificial, unconditional love of Jesus.”

In Commentary ,
permalink

Ferguson: The Morning After

Lisa Misner —  November 25, 2014

Churches minister together after grand jury’s decision sparks new violence

By Lisa Sergent

Pray for St. LouisFerguson, Missouri | First Baptist Church of Ferguson stands in the middle of the chaos. “It was a rough, volatile night,” said Ron Beckner, the associate pastor. “The Little Caesar’s [Pizza] that burned down to the ground was across from our building, [but] there was no damage or anything on our property.

“It’s very quiet and business as usual this morning,” he noted.

Violence erupted in the St. Louis suburb Monday night, after a St. Louis county grand jury refused to indict a Ferguson police officer on any criminal charges in the shooting death of a young black man. The streets were filled with protestors, some looting and setting cars and buildings on fire. Twelve businesses were burned and 61 people were arrested.

But, as of now, First Baptist Church is unharmed and still reaching out to a shaken community.

Two groups – one from FBC and another from a sister church – used FBC’s parking lot as a staging area Tuesday morning to go out into the community and pick-up trash and other debris left behind by the protestors. Beckner said the church “wants people to see that God’s people are on mission.”

The local school district cancelled classes the day following the grand jury’s decision, but requested the church be a pick-up point for student lunches prepared by the district. The church also allowed the district to have staff present for what he described as “students who wished to have an opportunity for education.”

Beckner described the situation as particularly frightening for people who live close by. “I was watching the Little Caesar’s burn down on TV and couldn’t help but think of the house that sits about 150 feet behind it. What must have been going through those people’s minds?” He walked by the house this morning and found no visible damage.

“We’re praying cooler heads prevail and that city leaders can shut the violence off. We need our leaders to take an active role.”

Referring to the protesters, he said, “It only takes a few to subvert the message… One of the saddest parts of the whole thing is the very businesses that were burned serve this community and provide jobs to the people who live in it.”

Local news is reporting that unlike the riots in August, the perpetrators of the damage to the community on November 24 where from the St. Louis area. Beckner said authorities had warned that outsiders could begin to arrive in 48 hours. “We were told it takes that long for instigators outside the community to arrive. When more and more people arrive from outside the area, it doesn’t bode well for the police or our citizens.”

First Baptist Church averages just over 200 Sunday morning worshippers. The congregation is diverse: over one third of its members are African American and that number continues to grow. “We want to look like our community,” Beckner said.

Beckner also lamented how the national media are portraying the community as racist and segregated. Most of Ferguson is “fifty-fifty white and black,” Beckner said. “There’s not a lot of tension here especially among the older, more mature individuals. This picture being presented is not we lived before this incident took place.”

Throughout the tension that has existed since the August shooting, First Baptist has stood as a beacon of peace in the community. Beckner said, “We’re praying that God will get the glory and that His people will stand tall.”

“Sometimes we pray God will keep evil away from us,” he said. “That’s very noble, but we need to be God’s advocate in the midst of that evil. We need to be looking for doors of opportunity to be His hands and feet.”

Two weeks ago, First Baptist Church hosted a prayer meeting for spiritual awakening in the heartland, an event that was planned months before the August riots. Southern Baptist leaders joined local church leaders and members to pray for the salvation of Ferguson. That story appears in the December 1 issue of the Illinois Baptist newspaper and online at IBSA.org.

In Uncategorized ,
permalink

The Briefing: 1 in 4 Americans has received food pantry help

Lisa Misner —  November 25, 2014

The_Briefing22% of Americans have received assistance from church-based food pantries, according to a new study by LifeWay Research. The survey of 1,158 people found 26% of churchgoers have turned to church-run programs for help, along with 18% of people who never attend services.

As temperatures climb in upstate New York, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are on hand to deal with snowmelt that could result in a food of floodwater in the Buffalo area, Baptist Press reports.

The American Center for Law and Justice continues to campaign for the release of imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini in Iran, as that country negotiates a nuclear deal with the U.S. and other nations. “The American people were heard and Iran was not rewarded with a nuclear deal while it continues to imprison and torment a U.S. citizen. Yet Pastor Saeed is not free,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ, according to The Christian Post.

“Second, the reports indicate that there will be no lull in the negotiations; they will continue as soon as next month. That means now continues to be a critical time to pressure Iran to release Pastor Saeed.” Abedini, an American citizen, was arrested in 2012.

Two pastors arrested for “hurting religious sentiments” in Bangladesh could face sentences of two years in prison if convicted, Baptist Press reports. Police in the largely Muslim country also arrested 41 people who were listening to the pastors’ preaching, but they were released the next day.

“A distinctively Christian urgency” drives Christians to proclaim marriage as a life-long union of a man and a woman, Russell Moore said during the Vatican’s Human Colloquium last month. The president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission was part of the gathering of 300 religious leaders, including Pope Francis.

From The Christian Post: Dueling pro- and anti-Duggar petitions circulated in the wake of reality TV matriarch Michelle Duggar’s public objections to a Fayetteville, Ark., civil rights ordinance that opponents said would allow transgendered men to use women’s restrooms.

In Uncategorized
permalink