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  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

Disaster Relief volunteers get national ‘thank you’

Meredith Flynn —  September 11, 2012

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently called North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell to thank him for the work Southern Baptist Disaster Relief workers have done in the wake of Hurricane Isaac.

“She called to say how much she appreciates everything Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are doing and to acknowledge that our efforts are a key part of the response,” Ezell said. “The investment Southern Baptists have made in disaster relief over the years has helped us become a key partner in times of crisis.”

Baptist Press reports that in the days since Isaac hit, Disaster Relief feeding teams have cooked and delivered more than 130,500 meals at field kitchens in Louisiana and Mississippi. Volunteers have also recorded 78 chainsaw, 54 mud-out and 8 roofing jobs; provided almost 2,200 showers and laundry loads for victims and volunteers; provided childcare for 41 children; and made 2,231 ministry contacts and 47 Gospel presentations.

Isaac-related outreach has led to at least five professions of faith and nine other faith-related decisions. Read more, including New Orleans pastor and SBC President Fred Luter’s response, here.

Other news:

Democrats wrestle with God language at national convention
God is back in the official platform of the Democratic party, but some evangelical and minority leaders are wondering if they still belong in their party.

The Christian Post reports that the flap over leaving God out of the platform at the Democratic National Convention (and then voting to put Him back in) has left some African American and Hispanic Christian Democrats worried their party will be labeled “the party that booed God.” (After a motion was approved to put “God” language back in the party’s platform, some delegates booed audibly.)

The news site blackchristiannew.com posted a column by Libertarian party leader Wayne Allen Root questioning whether the party can recover from the moment. “There is room for thousands of delegates at the Democratic Convention. Tens of thousands including the media. On Wednesday, the radical forces in the Democratic Party made it clear there is no room for God,” Root wrote.

Leaders also are concerned about other planks of the party’s platform, including abortion and same-sex marriage, and how they might affect the Democrats’ ability to connect with evangelicals this November. Read more at ChristianPost.com.

Iranian pastor freed after years in jail
Youcef Nadarkhani, a pastor who spent more than 1,000 days in jail, was acquitted of the apostasy charges against him and released Sept. 8. Nadarkhani was sentenced to death in Iran in 2010 for converting from Islam to Christianity, and was given several opportunities to recant his faith in court. He refused each time, and says he was never a Muslim. Although he was cleared of the apostasy charges, he was found guilty of converting Muslims to Christianity, which would have carried a three-year jail sentence. But Nadarkhani was released on time served. Read the full story at BPNews.net.

Death of IMB worker in Jordan ruled foul play
Cheryll Harvey, who had served 24 years with the International Mission Board in Jordan, was killed during a robbery attempt at her apartment in Irbid, Jordan’s second largest city. Police have arrested a suspect. Harvey, 55, originally from Texas, established the ESL language center in Jordan, where 300-400 college students study each semester.

“Cheryll was greatly loved by both our personnel in the Middle East and by her many students,” IMB President Tom Elliff said. “We are faced once again with a sobering reminder of the brevity of life and the importance of faithfully serving the Lord to the very end of our time on earth. Cheryll has left for us a great example that we should follow.” Read more about Harvey’s life at BPNews.net.

Professor and statesman Roy Fish dies at 82
Dr. Roy Fish, who served Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for nearly 50 years, passed away Sept. 10 at the age of 82. News of Fish’s death prompted words of admiration and memorial from many SBC leaders. “Dr. Roy Fish was at once a fabulous lecturer and the most consistent soul winner I know,” said Southwestern President Paige Patterson. “He lit a fire under thousands of students.” Read more here.

 

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What’s in a (hurricane’s) name?

Meredith Flynn —  August 30, 2012

COMMENTARY | Southern Seminary’s Russell Moore blogged about home and hurricane names as Isaac waged war on the Gulf Coast. Isaac means “laughter,” and as Abraham’s promised son, isn’t his name more fitting for a joyous occasion than a hurricane? Moore writes:

Hurricane Ishmael, now that would be more appropriate, I think to myself. Ishmael is, after all, the son of exile, the son of the “will of the flesh” seeking to accomplish God’s work on its own.

But, the more I think of it, maybe Isaac is the right name. Isaac’s story, after all, seems horrific and tragic. In order for Abraham to receive God’s blessing, he must lay on the altar every hope that he can see of being blessed: including God’s promise of this son. God doesn’t accept that sacrifice, we know. But Isaac ultimately dies, and so do all of his children. And, in the biblical story, erased also is the very Promised Land itself. The people of God are left without patriarchs, without kings, and without even the security of home.

As I watch the hurricane Isaac bounce around the weather maps, that’s what I fear, I suppose: the loss of home.

Read his full post at RussellMoore.com.

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‘A reason to sing’

Meredith Flynn —  August 27, 2012

HEARTLAND | Meredith Flynn

Does the world seem a little more broken these days? Words are uglier, crimes are, if possible, more senseless, and things just seem darker. Of course, there’s hope, and an answer, and we know exactly where it comes from. Christ is the only redemptive factor in a broken world. But when we as Christians are dulled by what we see and hear, how can we communicate the hope Jesus brings to those who desperately need to know it? Check out this song by worship duo All Sons & Daughters, and reflect on the reasons He’s given you to sing.

Video courtesy of All Sons & Daughters and Integrity Music.

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When church isn’t safe

Meredith Flynn —  August 8, 2012

COMMENTARY | Daniel Waters

Editor’s note: Just two weeks after a mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater, the country was rocked by a similar crime when a gunman opened fire in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin Sunday, killing six people and wounding four others. In this column, Daniel Waters shares his experience in another place of worship – a Baptist church in Texas – that was devastated by violence, and how God has answered a really big question in his life: How could a good God let this happen?

The recent, terrible shootings have left many asking, “Where was God?” and “How can a good God allow such a terrible thing to happen?” I know that, regardless of the correct theological answer, for people who go through an ordeal like that, the pain will not soon dissipate.

I asked the same questions when as a young man I went through a similar tragedy. At the beginning of my senior year of high school, I attended a city-wide worship service at Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, to celebrate See You At The Pole. This was September 15, 1999. That evening, while we worshiping and reflecting on that morning’s success, a gunman entered the sanctuary and started firing. Seven people were killed and more were injured. I was devastated.

When I returned home that night I asked God those questions, and He led me to open my Bible to Psalm 27. “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?” God was telling me that He holds my life and the only safe place is in His hands. If I had given the lordship of my life to God, I had to trust Him even when everything around me was failing.

This word from God comforted me. But the question, “Why would a good God allow this terrible thing to happen to me?” still had to be answered, and I had to grapple with His sovereignty in order to ever move on from that night. My journey to answer that question showed me a lot about God’s character, my relationship with Him, and the state of our fallen world.

Here’s what I determined: When I asked God, “How could You, a loving God, allow this to happen?” He showed me the problem has to do with the nature of love. If love can’t be chosen, it doesn’t exist. Under the umbrella of His sovereignty, God has allowed men relative freedom to be stewards of his creation and to choose to follow Him.

But if you can choose love, you can also chose hate, which is really only love of the wrong object – usually one’s self and one’s desires.

God showed me we suffer because we all choose to love things other than God. Because God loves the world, this suffering is only temporary; His sovereignty is displayed in his authority to judge everyone by His standard, to punish the wicked and make all things right. In Revelations 21:4, God tells us that, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

When we face such heartache, it seems impossible to move forward. But thank God there is hope and healing when you place your faith in a God who makes the impossible, possible, and can answer even the hardest questions in our darkest hours.

Daniel Waters is associate pastor of Living Faith Baptist Church in Sherman.

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