• /
    • Archives /
  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

Marriage debate begins again

Meredith Flynn —  October 15, 2013

marriage_buttonsTHE BRIEFING | Lisa Sergent and Meredith Flynn

Vote possible during fall veto session

Same-sex marriage could be on the legislative agenda this week as the Illinois General Assembly returns to Springfield for their fall veto session. Meanwhile, people on both sides of the issue plan to make their voices heard at the Capitol.

At issue is SB10, or the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which was passed in the Senate last spring but stalled when it wasn’t called for a vote in the House. Supporters of the bill are calling on the House to vote on it during the fall veto session or in January 2014 when the regular session begins. Due to legislative rules, if passed this fall, same-sex marriages could begin in June 2014. However, if voted on and passed in January, such marriages could begin in February 2014.

In preparation for a possible vote, groups supporting same-sex marriage will rally at the Capitol October 22 for the “March on Springfield for Marriage Equality.” The next day, the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) will host a “Defend Marriage Lobby Day” for supporters of traditional marriage. On the schedule are prayer gatherings in front of the Lincoln statue and inside the Rotunda, and an opportunity to lobby legislators on behalf of traditional marriage.

A major concern of pro-traditional marriage groups is the religious liberty of those who oppose same-sex marriage, should the bill pass in Illinois.

Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune hosted a marriage equality debate where State Rep. Greg Harris (Chicago), sponsor of SB10, told those gathered he believed the bill protected the rights of religious institutions opposed to same-sex marriage.  But some doubt whether individuals are similarly protected.

Peter Breen, senior counsel with the Thomas More Society, countered Harris by sharing the story of Jim Walder, a bed and breakfast owner in Paxton, Ill., who is being sued for refusing to rent out his facility for a same-sex civil union ceremony. The argument against Walder is that Illinois businesses are governed by the Human Rights Act, passed in 1979, which forbids discrimination based on many factors, including sexual orientation.

The Illinois Family Institute and others argue that the Human Rights Act and SB10 protects individuals from discrimination in regard to sexual preference, but not religious conviction.

Same-sex marriage is legal in 14 U.S states and the District of Columbia. Last month, New Jersey became the latest state to allow same-sex marriage after a state judge ruled that because it already allows civil unions for same-sex couples, the state is illegally preventing them from receiving federal benefits. Same-sex marriage ceremonies officially began in New Jersey October 21.

Other news:

Illinois volunteers join flood relief efforts in Colorado

IBSA Disaster Relief teams have joined with teams from 22 other Baptist state conventions to help Colorado residents clean up their homes after they were damaged by recent flooding.

Veteran disaster relief volunteer Butch Porter called it “the worst devastation” he’s ever seen. “It seemed like a tsunami of mud came down from the mountains and destroyed everything in its path,” he said. Butch and his wife, Debbie, are members of a team from First Baptist Church, Galatia, that served for five days in Lyons, Colorado.

Debbie shared the story of one young man, Brian, who needed help removing the waist-deep mud that had settled in his garage. He and his aunt had had worked for two days shoveling out the mud, but only had a small corner cleared.

“When we pulled up and started getting out of the van he looked deflated,” the retiree laughed. “You could tell he thought, ‘All these old people, they can’t do anything.’”

The team spent two days working at his home, and removed all the mud from his garage. His aunt, a Christian, had been witnessing to him and team members continued along the same track. While he had not accepted Christ by the time they left to return home, Debbie believes he is very close.

“I told him, “Your aunt is right, she’s trying to tell you that you need to get closer to God. You need to accept Him.’ I have a feeling we made a big difference and that his aunt will finish the work.”

Read the full story in the October 21 edition of the Illinois Baptist, online here.

Bad choices dog many of us
Nearly half of Americans feel weighed down by a bad decision they made at some point, according to a new study by LifeWay Research. The survey found 47% of respondents are still dealing with the consequences of a bad decision, including 51% of self-identified born-again, evangelical or fundamentalist Christians. The better news: 84% of those surveyed believe God gives second chances. Read more at LifeWayResearch.com.

Mormon missionaries top 80,000
Relaxed age restrictions on Mormon missionaries have resulted in a drastic increase in the number of people serving around the world, according to a report on The Washington Post’s On Faith blog. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced earlier this month that 80,000 missionaries are now on the field, 22,000 more than the previous year. The number of women serving has more than doubled since the age requirement was dropped from 21 to 19 last year. Read more at the On Faith blog.

Moody drops faculty alcohol ban
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago this summer lifted a ban on alcohol and tobacco use by its 600 faculty members and employees. Marketing vice president Christine Gorz told The Christian Post, “Employees of Moody are expected to adhere to all biblical absolutes, but for behaviors that Scripture does not expressly prohibit, Moody leaves these matters to the employee’s biblically-informed conscience.” Students at the 127-year-old school are still required to abstain. Read more at ChristianPost.com.

 

In Briefing , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Wednesday News Briefing: Chaplains, Chicago, baby names, and Rich Mullins

Meredith Flynn —  September 25, 2013

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

Chaplains on the ‘front lines’ of cultural change
The North American Mission Board has released updated guidelines for Southern Baptist military chaplains serving in the days after the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the Defense of Marriage Act. The guidelines reiterate Southern Baptist doctrine, Baptist Press reports, and the expectation that SBC chaplains will not participate in or attend wedding ceremonies for gay members of the military.

The policies are already causing some to say Southern Baptist chaplains should step down from their posts, Southern Seminary President Al Mohler blogged Sept. 17. “Make no mistake, the moral revolution driven by those who demand the total normalization of homosexuality and same-sex relationships will not stop with the crisis over military chaplains,” Mohler wrote. “But at this moment, the chaplains are on the front lines of the great cultural and moral conflict of our times.” Read the full story here.

Iorg: America applauds immorality
The trouble today isn’t the rise of immorality, said Golden Gate Seminary President Jeff Iorg during the school’s fall convocation. “The troubling issue is the applause” that now accompanies it. After a summer that saw the U.S. Supreme Court abolish the Defense of Marriage Act, Iorg addressed students and faculty on the topic of “Ministry in the New Marriage Culture.”

“The last step of rejecting biblical morality is when people applaud or celebrate those who legitimize immoral practices,” he said. “We have reached that point in America.” Watch Iorg’s convocation address at GGBTS.edu.

Chicago tops FBI’s homicide list
Chicago had the highest number of murders of any city in 2012, according to FBI information released this month. At 500, the city’s homicide rate rose 20% above 2011, and was 81 more than New York City, which is three times as populous. So far in 2013 there have been fewer homicides, but Chicago has seen recent rashes of violence, including a Labor Day weekend during which eight people were killed and at least 25 more injured by gun violence.

Pastor Michael Allen, whose Uptown congregation was shaken by a drive-by shooting near the church steps in August, tweeted Sept. 17: “Praying against the spirit/culture of violence and that God would replace that with His Spirit of peace.”

Baby ‘Messiah’ keeps his name
Messiah McCullough will keep his biblical first name, thanks to a ruling that overturned Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew’s earlier decision to require his parents to change it. Ballew ruled in August that the 8-month-old be named “Martin” instead of his given name, because the word Messiah is a title “that has only been earned by one person – and that one person is Jesus Christ.” The baby’s parents appealed her decision and this month won the right to name their child the 387th most popular baby name. Read the full story at ChristianPost.com.

Mullins’ story told on screen
“Ragamuffin,” a new film detailing the life of Christian musician Rich Mullins, will premiere early next year. Best known for an authentic approach to his faith and for praise songs like “Awesome God,” Mullins died in a car crash in 1997. The biopic, produced by Green Color Films, has a trailer online at ragamuffinthemovie.com.

In Briefing , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Uptown congregation prays after violence near church steps

Meredith Flynn —  August 27, 2013

Tuesday_BriefingTHE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago held a prayer vigil last Wednesday evening after a drive-by shooting at the corner of Sheridan Rd. and Wilson Ave. rocked their neighborhood two days before. The church was in the middle of a prayer service when the shots were fired from a passing car, seriously wounding five men. One victim has since died.

Police believe the violence is gang-related.

“Just left the prayer vigil @ ubc tonight,” Pastor Michael Allen tweeted last Wednesday. “Great night. Proud of the Chicago Bride of Christ. We cried, sang, quoted Bible, prayed, hugged…”

Allen also shared through social media that six people were baptized Sunday at Wilson Ave. beach: “‘Out of the ashes we rise…there’s non like You’ Oh God!”

The Chicago Tribune interviewed Allen about his neighborhood shortly after the shooting. Read it here.

Other news:

Christian photographers fined for refusing to photograph same-sex ceremonyA New Mexico court ruled against Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin, photographers who declined an assignment to shoot a same-sex commitment ceremony in 2006. Fox News reports the Huguenins turned down the “because their Christian beliefs were in conflict with the message communicated by the ceremony.” New Mexico has no statute for or against same-sex marriage; the court ruled the photographers were in violation of the state’s Human Rights Act. Read Fox News reporter Todd Starnes’ full story here.

Florida pastors take message of racial reconciliation on the road
The pastors who helped keep the peace in Sanford, Fl., during George Zimmerman’s trial and following his acquittal are on a multi-city tour to help other leaders deal with race issues in their communities. (Zimmerman was on trial for the murder of African American teen Trayvon Martin.) Christianity Today reports the pastors, who took turns sitting through Zimmerman’s trial in a show of unity with one another, were in Detroit last week and will soon visit Toledo, Charlotte, New York, Denver and Minneapolis. Read more at ChristianityToday.com.

Abedini denied reprieve from Iranian court
Pastor Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran since 2012, still faces the remainder of his eight year sentence, even as Abedini’s attorneys and others from the international community fought on his behalf. “The decision is deeply troubling and underscores Iran’s continued violation of principles of freedom of religion, association, peaceful assembly, and expression,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice. The Christian Post reports prayer vigils are planned for Abedini around the world on September 26. The pastor, an Iranian-American, is charged with threatening national security, but his representatives believe his imprisonment is more a result of his Christian faith. Read the The Christian Post’s full story here.

Survey measures American norms a decade after 9/11Americans report being less committed to getting ahead in life, more concerned about the future, lonelier and more stressed out in the years since September 11, 2001. Barna’s fascinating survey looks at how the last decade has changed us.

In Briefing , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Explaining the marriage debate to children

Meredith Flynn —  July 11, 2013

pull quote_MOORECOMMENTARY | Russell Moore, from Baptist Press

With the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decisions all over the news, some Christian parents wonder how they ought to explain all of this to their small children. I’ve faced the same question as my children have asked, “What is the Supreme Court doing that’s keeping you so busy?” So how does one teach the controversy, without exposing one’s children to more than they can handle?

First of all, you should, I think, talk to your children about this. No matter how you shelter your family, keeping your children from knowing about the contested questions about marriage would take a “Truman Show”-level choreography of their lives. That’s not realistic, nor is it particularly Christian.

The Bible isn’t nearly as antiseptic as Christians sometimes pretend to be, and it certainly doesn’t shrink back from addressing all the complexities of human life. If we are discipling our children, let’s apply the Scriptures to all of life. If we refuse to talk to our children about some issue that is clearly before them, our children will assume we are unequipped to speak to it, and they’ll eventually search out a worldview that will.

This doesn’t mean that we rattle our children with information they aren’t developmentally ready to process. We already know how to navigate that; we talk, for instance, about marriage itself, and we give age-appropriate answers to the “Where do babies come from?” query. The same is true here. There is no need to inform small children about all the sexual possibilities in graphic detail in order to get across that Jesus calls us to live as husbands and wives with fidelity and permanence and complementarity.

Some parents believe that teaching their children the controversies about same-sex marriage will promote homosexuality. Christians and non-Christians can agree that sexual orientation doesn’t work that way. Moreover, the exact opposite is true. If you don’t teach your children about a Christian way of viewing the challenges to a Christian sexual ethic, the ambient culture will fill in your silence with answers of its own.

You can tell your children that people in American culture disagree about what marriage is. You can explain to them what the Bible teaches, from Genesis to Jesus to the apostles, about a man and a woman becoming one flesh. You can explain that as Christians we believe this marital relationship is different than other relationships we have. You can then tell them that some people have relationships they want to be seen as marriages, and that the Supreme Court is addressing that.

You can then explain that you love your neighbors who disagree with you on this. You agree that they ought to be free from mistreatment or harassment. But the church believes government can’t define or redefine marriage, but can only recognize what God created and placed in creation. Explain why you think mothers and fathers are different, and why those differences are good. Find examples in your own family of how those differences work together for the common good of the household, and point to examples in Scripture of the same.

Don’t ridicule or express hostility toward those who disagree. You might have gay or lesbian family members; be sure to express your love for them to your children, even as you say that you disagree about God’s design for marriage. You probably have already had to do that with family members or friends who are divorced or cohabiting or some other situation that falls short of a Christian sexual ethic. If your children see outrage in you, rather than a measured and Christlike biblical conviction, they eventually will classify your convictions here in the same category as your clueless opinions about “kids these days and their loud music.”

The issues at stake are more important than that. Marriage isn’t ultimately about living arrangements or political structures, but about the Gospel. When your children ask about the Supreme Court, be loving, winsome, honest, convictional and kind.

Russell Moore is president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. This column first appeared on russellmoore.com.

In Commentary , , ,
permalink

Tuesday Briefing: Will Court’s rulings on marriage affect debate in Illinois?

Meredith Flynn —  July 2, 2013

Marriage_mapTHE BRIEFING | Illinois Baptist staff

While bells were ringing at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court decisions advancing same sex marriage, Christians elsewhere were lamenting the actions. And in Illinois, people on both sides of the issue were considering the impact of the high court’s rulings on the push to legalize same-sex marriage in our state.

The Court ruled against the federal Defense of Marriage Act, effectively giving married same-sex couples financial benefits previously reserved for heterosexual couples. And the justices’ non-action on California’s Proposition 8 allows a lower court’s ruling against it to stand, meaning same-sex marriages could begin in the state very soon. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

The rulings do not change the law in Illinois. But favorable response from the Court does signal renewed momentum in efforts to pass SB10, the state’s gay marriage bill, proponents say.

And those defending traditional marriage are taking the court’s actions as a call to redouble their efforts to stop same-sex marriage in Illinois.

“The ruling doesn’t change what’s required of us,” said Ron Knox, pastor of FBC Royalton, Ill. “We must stand for the truth and proclaim the truth. That’s what we’re called to do.”

A shift in momentum?

The Court’s rulings energized supporters of same-sex marriage in Illinois, who are still waiting for SB10 to be called for a vote in the State House.

“Today the Supreme Court took a historic step by providing equal access to more than 1,100 federal rights and benefits for same-sex couples,” Gov. Pat Quinn said in a statement immediately after the court’s announcement. “Members of the Illinois House now have more than 1,100 new reasons to make marriage equality the law in Illinois.”

Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), the chief sponsor of SB10 in the Illinois Senate, also urged the Illinois House to pass SB10. “The time is right for Illinois to join the 13 other states (counting California) with equal marriage. When the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act becomes law, the legal rights and responsibilities associated with marriage under both state and federal law will apply to committed, same-sex Illinois couples. … Now it’s time for Illinois to take a stand for fairness.”

But even with the momentum, some opponents of same-sex marriage don’t believe the House will take up again as early as they could, during a special session called by Quinn to handle the state’s pension crisis. It is more likely the House would revisit the bill during the fall veto session, which begins Oct. 22. And because the bill wasn’t passed during the regular spring session, it would need a 3/5 majority, or 71 votes, to make it to Quinn’s desk this fall.

The African-American Clergy Coalition based in Chicago, a major force in slowing SB10’s momentum, showed no signs of giving up after the Supreme Court’s ruling. “The people of Illinois…still have the right to determine if gay marriage should become law…” the group said in a statement.

Marriage defenders continue to put their trust in God regarding SB10. “The victory we had in the spring was because churches prayed for God’s mercy and stood up and spoke out,” said David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute. “We need to continue to be diligent in praying for and speaking to our elected officials.”

Some have expressed discouragement after the ruling. Smith understands, “It’s easy to get discouraged by the Supreme Court’s ruling. We need to double our resolve and stand on faith. Churches need to teach why God designed the institution of marriage. It’s vitally important we stand by it.

David Howard, Capitol City Association director of missions, also remains hopeful. “There’s no question Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost and we need to that as well. We need to be salt to continue to preserve what is good, and light to illuminate what is bad. The light will overcome the darkness. Ultimately we will win.”

Reported by Lisa Sergent. Read more in the July 8 issue of the Illinois Baptist, online this Friday at ibonline.ibsa.org.

Other news:

Gay marriage support makes headlines
Leading up to the Supreme Court’s anticipated rulings on marriage, Pew Research found the majority of media coverage focused on support for same-sex marriage. Between March 18 and May 12, 47% of news stories focused on pro-same-sex marriage views, while 9% emphasized the opposite view. Pew found 44% of news stories were mixed or neutral. Read more at Pew’s website.

Producers plan The Bible, part 2
The team behind this spring’s “The Bible” miniseries have signed on to produce a sequel that will focus on what happened after Christ’s death. Spouses Mark Burnett and Roma Downey will produce the series, which has the working title “AD: Beyond the Bible,” for NBC. The network’s chairman of entertainment, Bob Greenblatt, said in a statement that after following the development of the original miniseries, he “knew that the story was far from over after Christ’s crucifixion. In fact, what happened in the aftermath – which is essentially the beginning of Christianity – is utterly fascinating.” Read the full Associated Press story at Yahoo.com.

Ministers bring peace to trial
A ministerial alliance in Sanford, Fla., is tackling the challenge of keeping peace in their community in the midst of a controversial court case, CNN reports. “Sanford Pastors Connecting” rotates religious leaders in and out of the courtroom during the trial of George Zimmerman, charged with the murder of teenager Trayvon Martin.  The pastors have a “ministry of presence” in the courtroom, and are charged with reporting developments to the crowds outside and to their congregations.

“Regardless of what the verdict is, we can avoid the violence,” Rev. Robert K. Gregory Jr., of the Good News Jail & Prison Ministry in Sanford, told CNN. “If we work together, trust can be built.” Read more at CNN’s Belief blog. 

Wallenda prays during long walk
Viewers tuning in to watch Nik Wallenda’s death-defying tightrope walk across a gorge near the Grand Canyon likely heard him praying aloud throughout much of the stunt. Before the walk, Wallenda told The Christian Post he often prays while on the wire. “I find that peaceful and relaxing and He’s the only one up there listening to me.” Read more at The Christian Post.

In Briefing , , , , ,
permalink

How should same-sex marriage change the church’s witness?

Meredith Flynn —  June 27, 2013

pull quote_MOORECOMMENTARY | Russell Moore

Posted on Baptist Press, June 26

The Supreme Court has now ruled on two monumental marriage cases, and the legal and cultural landscape has changed in this country.

The court voted to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act and remand the decision of the Ninth Circuit in the Proposition 8 case, holding that California’s Proposition 8 defenders didn’t have standing. The Defense of Marriage Act decision, meanwhile, used rather sweeping language about equal protection and human dignity as they apply to the recognition of same-sex unions.

But what has changed for us, for our churches, and our witness to the Gospel?

In one sense, nothing. Jesus of Nazareth is still alive. He is calling the cosmos toward His Kingdom, and He will ultimately be Lord indeed. Regardless of what happens with marriage, the Gospel doesn’t need “family values” to flourish. In fact, it often thrives when it is in sharp contrast to the cultures around it. That’s why it rocketed out of the first century from places such as Ephesus and Philippi and Corinth and Rome, which were hardly Mayberry.

In another sense, though, the marginalization of conjugal marriage in American culture has profound implications for our gospel witness.

First of all, marriage isn’t incidental to gospel preaching. There’s a reason why persons don’t split apart like amoebas. We were all conceived in the union between a man and a woman. Beyond the natural reality, the Gospel tells us there’s a cosmic mystery (Ephesians 5:32).

God designed the one-flesh union of marriage as an embedded icon of the union between Christ and His church. Marriage and sexuality, among the most powerful pulls in human existence, are designed to train humanity to recognize, in the fullness of time, what it means for Jesus to be one with His church, as a head with a body.

Same-sex marriage is on the march, even apart from these decisions, and is headed to your community, regardless of whether you are sitting where I am right now, on Capitol Hill, or in a rural hamlet in southwest Georgia or eastern Idaho. This is an opportunity for gospel witness.

For a long time in American culture, we’ve acted as though we could assume marriage. Even people from what were once called “broken homes” could watch stable marriages on television or movies. Boys and girls mostly assumed they had a wedding in their futures. As marriage is redefined, these assumptions will change. Let’s not wring our hands about that.

This gives Christian churches the opportunity to do what Jesus called us to do with our marriages in the first place: to serve as a light in a dark place. Permanent, stable marriages with families with both a mother and a father may well make us seem freakish in 21st-century culture. But is there anything more “freakish” than a crucified cosmic ruler? Is there anything more “freakish” than a Gospel that can forgive rebels like us and make us sons and daughters? Let’s embrace the freakishness, and crucify our illusions of a moral majority.

That means that we must repent of our pathetic marriage cultures within the church. For too long, we’ve refused to discipline a divorce culture that has ravaged our cultures. For too long, we’ve quieted our voices on the biblical witness of the distinctive missions of fathers and mothers in favor of generic messages on “parenting.”

For too long, we’ve acted as though the officers of Christ’s church were justices of the peace, marrying people who have no accountability to the church, and in many cases were forbidden by Scripture to marry. Just because we don’t have two brides or two grooms in front of us, that doesn’t mean we’ve been holding to biblical marriage.

The dangerous winds of religious liberty suppression means that our nominal Bible-Belt-marrying parson ways are over. Good riddance. This means we have the opportunity, by God’s grace, to take marriage as seriously as the Gospel does, in a way that prompts the culture around us to ask why.

The increased attention to the question of marriage also gives us the opportunity to love our gay and lesbian neighbors as Jesus does. Some will capitulate on a Christian sexual ethic. There are always those professional “dissidents” who make a living espousing mainline Protestant shibboleths to an evangelical market. But the church will stand, and that means the Gospel which Jesus has handed down through the millennia. As we stand with conviction, we don’t look at our gay and lesbian neighbors as our enemies. They are not.

The gay and lesbian people in your community aren’t part of some global “Gay Agenda” conspiracy. They aren’t super-villains in some cartoon. They are, like all of us, seeking a way that seems right to them. If we believe marriage is as resilient as Jesus says it is (Mark 10:6-9), it cannot be eradicated by a vote of justices or a vote of a state legislature. Some will be disappointed by what they thought would answer their quest for meaning. Will our churches be ready to answer?

This also means we must change the way we preach. Those with same-sex attractions, who follow Christ, will be walking away from what their families and friends want for them: wedding cake and married life and the American Dream. Following Jesus will mean taking up a cross and following a hard narrow way. It always does.

If we’re going to preach that sort of Gospel, we must make it clear that this cross-bearing self-denial isn’t just for homosexually-tempted Christians. It is for all of us, because that’s what the Gospel is. If your church has been preaching the American Dream, with eternal life at the end and Jesus as the means you use to get all that, you don’t have a gospel that can reach your gay and lesbian neighbors – or anyone else for that matter.

Same-sex marriage is headed for your community. This is no time for fear or outrage or politicizing. It’s a time for forgiven sinners, like us, to do what the people of Christ have always done. It’s time for us to point beyond our family values and our culture wars to the cross of Christ as we say: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

In Commentary , , , ,
permalink

SBC President Luter says his church will cut ties with Boy Scouts

Meredith Flynn —  June 25, 2013

Tuesday_BriefingTHE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

At the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston earlier this month, messengers responded to policy changes made by Boy Scouts of America this spring. (The Scouts voted to allow gay-identifying youth as members, but stopped short of lifting a ban on gay troop leaders.)

Baptists meeting in Houston approved a resolution urging the removal of those who “sought to change both the membership and the leadership policy of the Scouts without seeking input from the full range of the Scouting family.” But the resolution stopped short of prescribing specific action by SBC churches. Rather, it affirmed “the right of all families and churches prayerfully to assess their continued relationship with the BSA,” and encouraged churches who choose to sever ties with Boy Scouts to consider Royal Ambassadors (RA’s), a Southern Baptist missions education program for boys, as a ministry alternative.

SBC President Fred Luter recently announced his church will cut ties with Boy Scouts because of the organization’s policy change. Luter told Alabama news site AL.com, “We’ll be pulling out of Boy Scouts,” at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, which has hosted a troop. Luter, once a Scout himself, also said the Scouts were trying to be “politically correct” by making the policy change, but, “There’s nothing that can be politically right if it’s biblically wrong.”

Read more at AL.com, or more about the resolution at BPNews.net.

What could a Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage mean?
The Illinois General Assembly didn’t take up the same-sex marriage issue during a recently called summer session, but the U.S. Supreme Court could rule on two pieces of legislation – the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 – this week. The Washington Post has an interactive graphic that details what could happen depending on the Court’s decision.

Frank Page on finding comfort in the wake of a loved one’s suicide
Southern Baptist Executive Committee President Frank Page spoke to the Christian Post during the convention’s annual meeting in Houston about some things that have given him comfort after his daughter’s suicide. Page’s new book, “Melissa: how parents struggling with a child’s suicide can find comfort. “Melissa: A Father’s Lessons from a Daughter’s Suicide,” was released in June. Watch the video at ChristianPost.com.

GuideStone announces support for Church Health Plan Act
Baptist Press reports GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention is encouraging pastors to contact their senators and urge them to sign on as co-sponsors of the Church Health Plan Act. The legislation, S.B. 1164, is in response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will allow premium tax credits beginning in 2014 for people who purchase coverage from commercial health care exchanges, but not pastors and others who get their health care coverage from church health plans. “If Congress fails to act, they will be disadvantaging church plans as compared to commercial, secular plans,” said GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins. Read GuideStone’s statement on BPNews.net.

Prodigal son gets modern-day movie treatment
The American Bible Society (ABS) is working on a series of films that update familiar parables from the Bible. The first, based on the story of the prodigal son, isn’t fully funded yet, but already has a trailer viewable here. ABS is utilizing Kickstarter, a website that allows people to help fund creative projects they believe in, to produce the films.

In Briefing , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Denomination’s decline is hot topic at Southern Baptist Convention

Meredith Flynn —  June 18, 2013
Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter was re-elected to a second term during the denomination's annual meeting in Houston last week. Luter is the SBC's first African American president.

Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter was re-elected to a second term during the denomination’s annual meeting in Houston last week. Luter is the SBC’s first African American president.

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

Southern Baptists arrived at the 2013 Annual Meeting in Houston expecting lively conversations about Calvinism and the Boy Scouts. But those issues took a back seat to a report released by LifeWay Christian Resources just before the convention, showing declines in baptisms, average attendance and membership in SBC churches across the country.

Concerns about the report and the denomination’s future were compounded by a low number of registered messengers in Houston – just 5,103 by the time the final total was tallied.

Just before the convention convened, LifeWay released the 2012 Annual Church Profile, which showed declines in baptisms, church membership, average attendance and total giving.

Almost every leader that stepped to a microphone or sat in on a panel discussion in Houston offered input on how to reverse decline in the Southern Baptist Convention. But their solutions didn’t necessarily offer hope that the downturned numbers will rebound. Rather, they encouraged Southern Baptists to look at the effectiveness of their own local churches.

“This is not a convention problem; this is a local church problem,” said David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, at a luncheon for young leaders. “To bring it a little closer to home, this is a pastor problem.”

Are we making disciples, are we multiplying the Gospel, Platt asked. “I want to lead out in this by example.”

Fred Luter’s president’s message rang out across the convention hall with a similar theme: Lord, send a revival, and let it begin with me! And, let us be unified.

“Lord, revive us and make us one like the early believers in Acts 2 where the Scripture says that the believers and Jesus Christ were all together in one accord, in one place,” preached Luter, who was re-elected in Houston to a second term as SBC president.

“Let me say that again, that the believers were all together in one accord, in one place and as a consequence, because they were all together in one accord, in one place, the Bible says they turned the world upside down.”

Do Baptists have the opportunity to change the world, even a world that may not recognize them for the cultural force they once were? In his report, SBC Executive Committee President Frank Page offered an optimistic outlook:

“Some have said that doing denominational work and being a part of a denomination in the 21st century is like the Titanic, it’s headed for disaster. And the best you can do is rearrange the deck chairs,” Page said.

“I choose to believe that kind of analogy is not appropriate. I believe that we together can see victory moving forward and applying Christ-like selflessness, can see days of cooperation and days of victory ahead.”

Read all of the Illinois Baptist’s 2013 SBC Annual Meeting coverage in the current issue, online at ibonline.IBSA.org.

Other news:

Lottie Moon offering tops $149M
Southern Baptists did get a piece of very good denominational news: They gave the third-largest ever Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in 2012, sending more than $149 million to support International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries serving across the globe. The offering, more than $2.4 million more than the previous year, “is a reminder that missions is the stack pole around which Southern Baptists place their hearts, afire for the Gospel,” said IMB President Tom Elliff. Read more at BPNews.net.

Atheist group plans 1-800 hotline
Recovering from Religion, an atheist group in the U.S. and Britain, plans to launch a telephone hotline to offer advice and answers to spiritual doubters, CNN reports. In response to criticism that the 24-hour hotline is devised as a way to convert people to atheism, Recovering from Religion executive director Sarah Morehead said, “Most of the people who contact us are working their way towards disbelief, so of course we are very equipped to handle that. That is not the goal, though, or the job of the facilitators.” Read the full story on CNN’s Belief blog.

Majority says gay marriage ‘inevitable’
A Pew Research survey released this month found 72% of Americans say it’s “inevitable” that same-sex marriage will be legally recognized, compared to 59% who thought so in 2004. Of those in the nearly three-fourths majority, 85% are same-sex marriage supporters, and 59% oppose it. Read more at PewForum.org.

Book explores faith on the field

“Intentional Walk”, a new book by sports writer Rob Rains, explores the Christian faith of several members of the St. Louis Cardinals, including manager Mike Matheny and stars Adam Wainwright, Carlos Beltran and David Freese. The book, subtitled “An inside look at the faith that drives the St. Louis Cardinals,” chronicles the 2012 season. “These players realize how lucky and fortunate they are to play for the Cardinals and to play Major League Baseball in general,” Rains said, “but they also realize how lucky they are to have such a strong faith in God. Read the full story at BPSports.net.

In Briefing , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Lessons from a striped shirt

Meredith Flynn —  June 6, 2013

pull quote_FLYNNCOMMENTARY | Meredith Flynn

Do you ever get the feeling everybody’s looking at you? It happened to me a week ago, when I spent the day at the Illinois Capitol waiting for an anticipated vote on the same-sex marriage bill.

Those of you who read the coverage on this blog know that vote never happened. The bill’s sponsoring representative, Greg Harris, announced that his fellow legislators needed time to go home and talk to their constituents before they could come back in the fall and vote “yes” for same-sex marriage.

That’s the official news, which you likely already knew. What you don’t know is that, in retrospect, I felt as if I almost caused an incident because of a fashion decision.

That morning I chose to wear a bright, multi-colored shirt with horizontal stripes. Almost like a rainbow. I chose it because it’s pretty, no other reason. During the course of the day, it became apparent that my apparel was making a statement I did not intend.

That day, advocates on both sides of the debate held rallies in the Capitol rotunda. The pro-traditional marriage group met first to pray together. An hour later, a larger group of same-sex marriage supporters met. And that’s where I realized my clothes might be talking for me.

I was snapping photos for the Illinois Baptist newspaper, like I’d done at the previous gathering, when a friendly lobbyist stopped to talk to me. I knew she was working for conservative groups that opposed the legislation, and I had noticed earlier how polite she was to some same-sex marriage advocates who had listened in on the prayer meeting. I complimented her on that, and she said something like, “Well I think we can disagree on some things and still agree on others…like you and I probably agree on lots of things.”

I thought, well sure we do, including this. But as she kept talking, I realized she assumed she and I were on different sides of the marriage debate. Then, I noticed someone taking a cell phone photo of me. I looked down at my shirt.

Oh.

Then, uh-oh.

In a matter of moments, my (overactive) imagination envisioned those photos posted on Facebook, then CNN, with people making all kinds of assumptions about me and my beliefs, based on my colorful shirt.

“I better call my husband,” I thought to myself. “And my mom.”

Later, calmer, I began to consider this: As a reporter, I’ve tried to tell the Illinois marriage story fairly, while still holding firmly our convictions that God designed marriage as a union between one man and one woman. But in the moments when I feared my own identity might be in question, I realized how very personal the marriage debate is for the people who are involved.

For a moment, I saw the issue from a different angle. I considered from a new perspective why so much of the debate has been rancorous, why the atmosphere in the House gallery last Friday grew more and more tense as the vote was delayed, and why some same-sex marriage advocates are so angry with Christians.

And after my own brief fears that I would be identified as standing opposite my readers and my employer, I came to see how important it is that we as Christians have a loving attitude – compelled by how deeply we ourselves are loved by a holy God – toward those with whom we disagree.

This marriage business is a serious business; it’s emotional, and where we stand on it is closely tied to our identity. As people, as fellow citizens, as believers in Christ. Let’s walk in truth and in love – a precarious balance sometimes – so that others might look past the stripes on shirts, and see the One we’re called to reflect.

That said, I still think my shirt is pretty.

In Commentary , , , , ,
permalink

SBC Calvinism study group releases report

Meredith Flynn —  June 4, 2013

Tuesday_BriefingUrges cooperation, unity around Baptist Faith & Message ahead of meeting in Houston

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

The advisory committee formed by Southern Baptist Executive Committee President Frank Page to study the divide over Reformed theology in the convention released its final report a week before the SBC was scheduled to hold its annual meeting in Houston.

Page assembled the group last August, after an annual meeting in New Orleans where Reformed theology was a hot-button issue. Much of the conversation then centered on the need to work together despite theological differences; Page wanted the team to help him develop “a strategy whereby people of various theological persuasions can purposely work together in missions and evangelism.”

The group’s 3,200-word statement outlines nine areas of theology that all Southern Baptists can agree on, and then tackles areas of disagreement within those issues. For example:

“We agree that God is absolutely sovereign in initiating salvation, uniting the believer to Himself, and preserving the believer to the end, but we differ as to how God expresses His sovereignty with respect to human freedom,” the report reads.

Pointing to one of the tenets of Reformed theology, the statement continues, “We agree that the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel enables sinners to be saved, but we differ as to whether this grace is resistible or irresistible.”

But those tensions shouldn’t hinder cooperation, according to the advisory committee, which was made up of people from both sides of the theological divide. Rather, “we urge Southern Baptists to grant one another liberty in those areas within The Baptist Faith and Message (BFM) where differences in interpretation cause us to disagree.”

Later in the report, the group points to the BFM, as adopted in 2000, as the confession that “is to serve as the doctrinal basis for our cooperation in Great Commission ministry.”

A report on the group’s work is expected during next week’s annual meeting, which begins June 11. In its closing words, the statement offers a challenge that could be especially important in Houston:

“If we stand together in truth, we can trust one another in truth, even as we experience tension. We can talk like brothers and sisters in Christ, and we can work urgently and eagerly together.”

Read the full report at BPNews.net.

-With reporting by Baptist Press

Other news:

Baptists expected to discuss Boy Scouts at annual meeting
Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land told CNN there is a “100% chance” there will be a resolution to disaffiliate with Boy Scouts during the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention in Houston. “…And a 100% chance that 99% of people will vote for it,” Land continued. “Southern Baptists are going to be leaving the Boy Scouts en masse.” Boy Scouts of America recently voted to allow gay-identifying youth to be members. As autonomous churches, Southern Baptist congregations can choose their own course of action when it comes to Boy Scouts, but many will likely find it difficult to comply with the new policy, SBC spokesman Sing Oldham told CNN. “With this policy change, the Boy Scouts’ values are contradictory to the basic values of our local churches.” Read more on CNN’s Belief blog.

What does Illinois’ non-action on same-sex marriage mean for the rest of the country?The St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked that question in the wake of Rep. Greg Harris’ refusal to call the same-sex marriage bill for a vote before the Illinois House adjourned its spring session May 31. David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, told the paper, “The momentum has been stopped.

“It shows that it’s not as popular with people as the national media is telling us.”

Smith added that the non-action in Illinois could be a “bellwether” for other states, especially those that don’t lean as far to the left. As the Post-Dispatch pointed out, “If gay marriage fails here, how would a state like Missouri ever even flirt with it?” Read the full story here.

One-third of Americans trust God more during suffering
A new study by LifeWay Research found 33% of Americans trust God more during times of suffering that seems unfair. The research, conducted after the devastating May 20 tornado in Moore, Okla., also found 25% of people reported being “confused by God” during such times, and 16% say they “don’t think about God in those situations.” Read more at LifeWayResearch.com.

In Briefing , , , , , , , ,
permalink