August 11, 2015 • ISSUE 53
Free medical clinic connects church with neighbors Planned Parenthood refuses to appear before Texas Senate hearing PAGE 9
How Do Singles Help Rebuild the Marriage Culture? PAGE 15
Gary Ledbetter
A citizen Southern Baptist and his politics
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aybe this is a safe time to talk about politics. Few of us know who we’ll be voting for next fall, so the things I say will not be seen as personal—at least not to the degree they would be next August. I write this on the day of a presidential debate between merely 10 of the 20 or so presidential candidates rattling around the country. I frankly can’t name them all without cheating. This day is perhaps the kick off of the noisiest season of American life. Here are a few things I know at this point. I will not vote for third party candidates. I don’t care if my favorites are pushed out of the running, and I don’t care if the best remaining option is nonetheless odious to me—an easy thing to imagine, by the way. Protest votes simply facilitate the candidate we least prefer. The reasonable action is to vote for the best candidate actually on the ballot at each level. I will not vote for a party’s candidate if that party supports, needs or loves abortion. If the Democrat Party has a change of heart this year, we have a horse race. If they do not, my choice is made. “But,” you ask, “what about that city council or ag commissioner who is pro-life but Democrat?” Says I, “How many national candidates started as local politicians? How many national candidates have a ghost of a chance unless they toe
their party’s line, regardless of their own religious or personal convictions?” A party’s candidate is a party’s candidate at every level. I hate straight-ticket voting, but that is what we’re left with until the parties are less distinct on the foundational issues. Hint: The economy and tax structure are not the foundational issues. In another day, I’d like to think that I would have considered slavery “the” issue if it was but one of the issues in the presidential race. I’m flummoxed that my pro-life brethren are not unanimous on this. I will not sit out the primaries or the general elections, even if the two or three guys I like best don’t make the cut. We should be motivated by patriotism and by Christian stewardship rather than fleshly self-interest, celebrity and peer pressure. That means we vote, and vote our convictions. Our system is a gift and a wonder, in spite of its imperfections. Don’t let the annoying volume or stupid comments that surround an election cycle take away your gratitude. The worst candidate running is pretty bad, but that candidate, if elected, will be bound by law. Throw a dart at the map and your odds are not great of hitting another country about which that is true. Even lower are your odds of hitting a country about which that has been true for more than 200 years. I will be disappointed if my pastor, and your pastor, does not preach on these things in the next 12 months. It’s a part of your
discipleship. If you can’t think of a few times in the past year when citizen Christians of a state or city have wished they’d voted in larger numbers, you should read the TEXAN more closely. In the next four years, you’ll be comforted to know you did your duty, or you’ll be ashamed that you did not. Shame will be of no use to anyone. If you have convictions, most of the noise and stress of this election cycle will roll off your back. Neither will you go into the last months as an “undecided” voter. Unless a candidate is unknown to you or unless he changes his mind about something big, you don’t need a hug or a phone call from the candidate’s people before making up your mind. You don’t need to sort through campaign promises unless, again, you have no basis for judging the candidate’s convictions or character. I guess I look at it the way I do Christmas shopping the week before Christmas. There’s a shortage of parking; that’s a hassle. There are thousands of confused people crowding the halls; they are obstacles. And there are a hundred stores between me and my goal; they are background noise. I know what I want and I know where to find it if I’ve done my homework. I just have to survive the hassle, obstacles and noise to get there. On the 2016 election, I’m doing my homework right now. Nothing much a pundit or campaign says in the next 12 months is going to change my shopping list.
CONTENTS
ISSUE
#53
AUGUST 11, 2015
PARENTHOOD REPS REFUSE 09 PLANNED TO APPEAR BEFORE TEXAS SENATE HEARING The lack of oversight regarding the donation of human fetal tissue and the possible circuitous implementation of policies overseeing the regulation of Texas’ 22 abortion facilities were brought to light during the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing July 29. Senators sought to determine if state laws were violated following the revelation that Texas abortion providers, particularly Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), may have sold organs from aborted infants for profit.
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Free medical clinic connects church with neighbors
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Rebekah Naylor devoted 36 years of her life to serving as a medical missionary in India through the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. When she retired in 2009 and returned home to Texas, though, she saw that the Lord was not finished using her skills for his glory.
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CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE MUST BE CONVICTIONAL KINDNESS, BIBLICAL COMMUNITY
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Christians and churches must respond by speaking with confidence, conviction and kindness while also creating biblical community, speakers at the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty’s inaugural Equip gathering, said, July 29.
PROTECTING CHURCHES’ RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES
More than 100 people attended a discussion on same-sex marriage and how churches can navigate issues related to religious liberty, July 13. Sponsored by the Gregg Baptist Association and hosted by Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, the event featured a Q-and-A time with lawyers and SBTC senior staff members.
15 TEXAN Magazine is e-published twice monthly by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, 4500 State Highway 360, Grapevine, TX 76099-1988. Jim Richards, Executive Director Gary Ledbetter, Editor Keith Collier, Managing Editor Sharayah Colter, Staff Writer Russell Lightner, Design & Layout Gayla Sullivan, Subscriptions
Contributing Writers Nathan Lino Bonnie Pritchett Erin Roach
To contact the TEXAN, visit texanonline.net/contact or call toll free 877.953.7282 (SBTC).
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COLUMN:
How do singles help rebuild the marriage culture?
Northeast Houston Baptist Church pastor Nathan Lino explains how Christian singles can help rebuild the marriage culture by preparing themselves for marriage and protecting the marriages around them.
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COLUMN:
Let’s fight for them like we would for us
Staff writer Sharayah Colter addresses the fifth undercover video exposing Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. She calls for Christians to fight relentlessly for the unborn.
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SCOUTS’ VOTE MAY DIMINISH NUMBERS, BAPT. LEADERS SAY The Boy Scouts of America’s executive board has voted to lift the Scouts’ national ban on gay adult leaders and employees—a move Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said may hasten the exodus of Southern Baptists from Scouting. “Sadly and regrettably, I believe churches who stand on the biblical ethic of sexuality will have to cease their sponsorship and involvement in the Boy Scouts of America,” Floyd said. Chip Turner, a Southern Baptist who chairs the BSA National Religious Relationships Committee, told BP that
SATANIST STATUE PROMPTS MICHIGAN BAPTISTS’ RESPONSE Michigan Baptists will not waver in their efforts to spread the gospel throughout their state, even after The Satanic Temple (TST) has unveiled a bronze, 9-foot-tall statue of Baphomet in Detroit, says Tim Patterson, executive director for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. “People have been worshipping Satan since Satan fell from heaven,” Patterson said. “That is nothing new at all. I think what is new about it is the public way it is being portrayed in the media. “I’m not up in arms about it,” he noted. “I’m not worried about it, and Michigan Baptists should not be worried about it either. Our concern is what we’ve been called to do, and
CRAIG JAMES: FOX SPORTS NOT ‘ABOVE THE LAW’ College football analyst Craig James has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against Fox Sports alleging he was fired from a broadcasting position because of his Christian belief that homosexuality is sinful. “This case is much bigger than me,” James said according to a press release from Liberty Institute, the Christian legal organization representing him. “It affects every person who holds religious beliefs. I will not let Fox Sports trample my religious liberty. Today, many people have lost their jobs because of their faith. Sadly, countless are afraid to let their bosses know they even have a faith. 2 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 11, 2015
Scouting is still a viable ministry outlet for Southern Baptist churches. “At no time in the history of the Boy Scouts of America has there been a greater opportunity to give voice to the Scripture on sexual conduct as well as doing one’s duty to God,” Turner said in written comments. “Having a Scouting ministry in local churches also provides Baptists unparalleled opportunities to reach children, youth and families for Christ. The BSA executive board approved the policy change, effective immediately, by a 79-percent majority, the Scouts’ website reported. The vote occurred during a July 27 conference call. Read the story here.
we’ve been called to proclaim the gospel, to plant churches and to make a difference for the kingdom.” Nearly 700 people gathered July 25 in a Detroit warehouse around midnight for the unveiling of the Baphomet monument, which TST unsuccessfully tried to erect beside a 10 Commandments monument in Oklahoma two years ago. According to The Christian Post, TST spokesperson Lucien Greaves said people received an e-ticket revealing the secret location of the event only after signing a contract, giving their souls to the devil. According to Time magazine, TST also overestimated the popularity of the event, telling possible attendees that it would be “the largest public satanic ceremony in history.” Read the story here.
This is America and I intend to make sure Fox Sports knows they aren’t above the law.” After being hired by Fox Sports Southwest in 2013, James, a former NFL running back, worked one game and then was fired. A redacted copy of the lawsuit posted online by Liberty Institute states, “When James asked, Defendants identified one—and only one—reason for terminating James: his beliefs about marriage, which are explicitly religious in nature.” Read the story here.
MOORE, OTHERS BACK LAW TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore has initiated an effort by evangelical leaders calling on Congress to pass legislation to protect the religious freedom of those who object to samesex marriage. Moore and 29 cosigners sent a July 28 letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House John Boehner urging approval of the First Amendment Defense Act. The presidents of all six Southern Baptist Convention seminaries endorsed the letter. The bill—S. 1598 in the Senate and H.R. 2802 in the House of Representatives—would bar the federal government from discriminating against a person, non-profit organization or for-profit corporation that believes or acts on a conviction that marriage is limited to a man and a woman and sex is restricted to such a marriage. Read the story here.
—Briefly section compiled from Baptist Press, other news sources and staff reports
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PRO-LIFE DEMS SEE PATH TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD To win enough Democratic support to become law, proposals to defund Planned Parenthood must emphasize the transfer of funds to other women’s health care providers rather than the mere removal of money from America’s largest abortion provider, according to a pro-life group within the Democratic Party. Democrats for Life of America, a Washington-based group that works to elect pro-life Democrats to public office, also said a push to transfer Planned Parenthood’s funding should follow a congressional investigation of the abortion giant and target Democratic House and Senate members in districts with few or no Planned Parenthood clinics. Some Democrats may vote to transfer Planned Parenthood’s funding to community health centers, Day told Baptist Press, if they are informed about community health centers and if House and Senate leadership bring the transfer of funds to a vote following a congressional investigation of Planned Parenthood. Read the story here.
TENNESSEANS AWAIT RULING ON PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE The issue of physician-assisted suicide or death with dignity has surfaced in Tennessee. Earlier this year the Tennessee General Assembly failed to act on a bill that would have allowed doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs when requested by terminally ill patients. In May, however, well-known Tennessee lawyer and politician John Jay Hooker filed a lawsuit challenging state law that makes it a felony to assist in a suicide, according to a report in The Tennessean on July 10. On that same day, Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy heard arguments on the issue from both sides. Steven Hart, special counsel in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, argued assisted suicide is not a constitutionally protected right, according to The Tennessean. On July 23, the Family Action Council of Tennessee reported the Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a “friend of the court” brief on the Family Action Council’s behalf and for other organizations in Tennessee that support life. The brief defends the constitutionality of the Tennessee law that prohibits physician-assisted suicide. David Fowler, president of the Family Action Council, observed in a blog July 23 that the rationale used by the United States Supreme Court in its recent same-sex marriage ruling could eventually lead to the overturning of state laws prohibiting physician-assisted suicide. He wrote, “The court’s rationale made our ability to govern ourselves and exist as a nation of sovereign states subject to the whims of this unelected ‘committee of nine lawyers’ we call the Supreme Court. Self-government, states’ rights and the Tenth Amendment may have died, too. They were, for sure, put on life support. “But that’s not all that may have died. If the court overrules our laws against physician-assisted suicide, it may just be your right to live that gets overruled if someday you get too old, too costly or too infirm.” Read the story here.
BLACK MINISTERS WANT BUST OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD FOUNDER REMOVED FROM SMITHSONIAN A group of black pastors who advocate ending the black community’s “slavish devotion to the Democrat Party,” has penned a letter to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery asking it to remove a bust of Margaret Sanger, the eugenicist who founded Planned Parenthood. The bust is in the museum’s “Struggle for Justice” exhibit, but it hardly seems to fit with the Civil Rights leaders profiled in the exhibit, the letter said. “Perhaps the Gallery is unaware that Ms. Sanger supported black eugenics, a racist attitude toward black and other minority babies, an elitist attitude toward those she regarded as ‘the feeble minded;’ speaking at a rally of Ku Klux Klan women; and communications with Hitler sympathizers,” the letter to Kim Sajet, the director of the gallery, said.
LIFEWAY OFFERS FREE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE STUDIES
Undercover videos from Planned Parenthood unleashed a national discussion on human life and its value. To help churches navigate those issues, LifeWay Christian Resources has free sanctity of human life Bible studies for download. The free lessons are available in each of LifeWay’s ongoing curriculum lines— Bible Studies for Life, Explore the Bible and The Gospel Project. Philip Nation, content development director for LifeWay, noted Christians’ engagement on the issue can take three forms. Churches should speak the truth with grace, minister to those who have been hurt by abortion, and study God’s word to understand biblical truth, he said. The sessions for each curriculum are available at LifeWay. com/Article/sanctityof-life-Sunday-freebible-study-lessons. Read the story here.
Read the story here.
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BOMBS AT 2 NEW MEXICO CHURCHES HALT SERVICES Small bombs exploded within minutes of each other Aug. 2 at two Las Cruces, N.M., churches—including a Southern Baptist congregation— cancelling Sunday morning services and necessitating evacuations at other churches across the city. No one was hurt in the explosions that caused minimal damage at Calvary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Locust St., and Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1327 N. Miranda St., the Associated Press reported. No arrests had been made as of Aug. 3, but New Mexico state police described the bombs as improvised explosive devices, IEDs, designed to cause harm. About 50 worshippers had already gathered for the 8:30 a.m. traditional service at Calvary Baptist Church when the bomb exploded at 8:20 a.m. in a mailbox attached to the building, Scott Rodgers, pastor of core groups, told Baptist Press. Worshippers remained calm as police arrived and evacuated Calvary Baptist, ushering individuals to the church’s south parking lot, Rodgers said. He preached the Sunday morning service in the parking lot, as youth arts pastor Gregg Higgins led music. But the 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. services were cancelled, as police blocked adjacent streets while investigating the crime.
LIFE ON MISSION CELEBRATED AT SEND CONFERENCE A sold-out crowd of more than 13,000 from all 50 states and four Canadian provinces flooded into Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to celebrate the call of Jesus and the response of life on mission at the 2015 Send North America Conference, Aug 3-4. North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell and International Mission Board President David
Platt welcomed the assembly and challenged attendees to serve wherever God calls them. “This is where I want to call 13,000plus people in this arena, from the beginning [of the conference], to put a blank check of our lives on the table for God—no strings attached,” Platt said. Ezell noted, “We need pastors, students, men and women to rise up. We want this to be more than a conference you attend, we want it to be a life-altering experience.” Read the story here.
Read the story here.
LION’S DEATH OCCASIONS DEFENSE OF LEGAL HUNTING With mainstream and social media in an uproar over the apparently illegal killing of Cecil the lion, Baptist leaders have underscored the legitimacy of legal hunting and condemned the hypocrisy of valuing wildlife over unborn children. “The Bible says much about hunting and without one derogatory word,” said Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “But it is not just hunting at issue. Fishing and the eating of any kind of meat is at issue since [with] all of these, [animals] must die in order to feed people. The Bible makes it clear that the animals were given to men to meet their various needs, including food. I do distinguish between killers 4 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 11, 2015
and hunters. I always taught my children that we use every animal taken. Skinning a rattlesnake, a porcupine and a skunk underscored all of this for my children. They discovered that clothing and in many cases food can be gained but that each creature is God’s artistic creation.” The preciousness of God’s creation requires that humans “not just go out and shoot up the countryside,” Patterson, a veteran of some 20 African hunts, told Baptist Press in written comments. “Almost all the animals taken in Africa go to the poor of the countries to eat, for which, particularly in Zimbabwe, they are most grateful.” Cecil, a 13-year-old Zimbabwean lion, was killed in early July by American dentist Walter Palmer after the animal was lured out of Hwange National Park,
where hunting is illegal, the New York Times reported. Zimbabwean officials say they want to extradite Palmer to face charges, but Palmer claims he was following the lead of professional guides and did not know his actions were illegal, USA Today reported. Cecil’s death had been the topic of more than 425,000 tweets as of Aug. 3, according to the social media analytics site Topsy.com. Read the story here.
Free medical clinic connects church with neighbors STORY BY SHARAYAH COLTER | PHOTOS BY NEIL WILLIAMS
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ebekah Naylor devoted 36 years of her life to serving as a medical missionary in India through the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. When she retired in 2009 and returned home to Texas, though, she saw that the Lord was not finished using her skills for his glory.
In India, Naylor had seen firsthand what James wrote in the second chapter of his epistle: “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:15-17) AUGUST 11, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 5
“I felt that t h e c h u rc h ha d a n o p p o r t u ni t y t o m ee t h e alth ca re n e e ds e ve n a s t he y w e r e a lr e a dy helping w i th food a n d ot h e r be ne vo le nc e m i ni s t r i e s. Thu s, the vision of Me r cy C li ni c wa s bo r n.” — re be k a h N ay lo r
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“I understood well how meeting physical needs and sharing the gospel, leading people to faith, go together,” Naylor said. She also noticed that the neighborhoods around her home church, Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, had grown increasingly populated by low-income families, many of whom spoke only Spanish. Naylor realized their access to health care, like many other basic needs, was lacking or non-existent—a situation not altogether different from that which she encountered in her international mission work. “I felt that the church had an opportunity to meet health care needs even as they were already helping with food and other benevolence ministries,” Naylor said. “Thus, the vision of Mercy Clinic was born.” Today, the Mercy Clinic, located on the Travis Avenue campus, has been fully operational for more than two years, offering free medical services and medications to residents of the 76110 zip code. Adult residents can make appointments or walk in for care two nights a week for everything from diabetic issues
TEXAS MISSIONS FOR KIDS The Mercy Clinic was featured in the 2015 Texas Missions for Kids Curriculum, a resource for educating kids on missions happening right here in Texas. The curriculum features videos and stories and can be used for VBS, Mission Moments or other programs. View the Mercy Clinic video here.
to tooth aches. There is no cost to residents for the services, and clinic volunteers have the opportunity to share the gospel with patients after care has been administered. Registered Nurse Peggy Leitch serves as the clinic’s executive director and echoed the idea that often the Lord leads Christians to minister to physical needs before explaining that Christ is the salve and answer to spiritual needs. “You can hardly talk about Jesus when your mouth hurts so bad,” Leitch said, recalling a patient who came to the clinic with a bad
toothache that left her unable to eat. “Once you’ve addressed that, they’re much more open to hearing from the Lord.” In the office, patients not only hear the gospel from clinic workers but also receive Bibles, tracts about knowing Christ and invitations to church and to the Spanish service, Travis en Español. Patients were also invited this summer to bring their children to Travis Avenue’s Vacation Bible School, which was offered in both English and Spanish. Neldalicia Calpillo has been living in Fort Worth since she was 6-years-old and says the Mercy Clinic has become a vital part of her community. She, along with a handful of other people from the neighborhood, had gathered on the clinic’s porch an hour before it opened in order to be seen by a doctor. “It’s really important because not everybody can afford the insurance,” Calpillo said. “It’s a great opportunity to help a lot of people in need.” AUGUST 11, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 7
Members of Travis Avenue find it an important ministry as well, and Leitch says a wide array of them have stepped up to serve at the clinic and at health fairs held throughout the year. Volunteers, she said, include the young, the old and the middle aged, those with doctorate degrees and those with life experience, those who work at home and those who work in the marketplace. “It brings all these people together,” Leitch said. “It has been a great encouragement for a growing ministry to have such support from the congregation.” The ministry also has the full support of the church’s leadership. “Thousands of people around our church do not have access to basic healthcare,” Travis Avenue Pastor Michael Dean said. “The Mercy Clinic is one way for us to touch 8 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 11, 2015
them with the loving heart and hand of Jesus. Through the clinic, we hope to be a blessing to our community.” Naylor, who would encourage other churches to prayerfully consider similar ministries if the Lord leads, said the efforts put forth and resources pooled to establish the Mercy Clinic have proven fruitful and blessed of God. The most joyous aspects of the clinic’s development, she says, have been people professing faith in Christ, the church growing in unity, and patients displaying heartfelt gratitude. “It has been more than worth the investment of time and money as we see people who are helped physically and experience the love of Jesus and then hear the gospel,” Naylor said.
“ It has be e n more t han w ort h t he inve st me n t of t ime and mone y as w e se e pe o ple w ho are h e l pe d physically and e xpe rie n c e t he love o f Je sus and t he n he ar t he gospel . ”
Planned Parenthood reps refuse to appear before Texas Senate hearing Houston clinic could make as much as $120,000 per month from fetal tissue sales By Bonnie Pritchett AUSTIN The lack of oversight regarding the donation of human fetal tissue and the possible circuitous implementation of policies overseeing the regulation of Texas’ 22 abortion facilities were brought to light during the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing July 29. Senators sought to determine if state laws were violated following the revelation that Texas abortion providers, particularly Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), may have sold organs from aborted infants for profit. The investigations are in response to undercover videos released by The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), purportedly showing the illegal sale of fetal organs to operatives acting as biomedical company representatives. The HHS committee heard testimony from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Department of State Health Services (DSHS) commissioners, Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner, and Texas pro-life organization representatives. Planned Parenthood representatives were invited to testify but responded with a letter refusing to appear, with the PPGC president dismissing the hearing as a farce and “political gamesmanship.” Sen. Charles Schwertner, HHS Committee chairman, called the emergency hearing to determine if state or federal laws were broken
regarding the procurement and dissemination of fetal remains and to determine what, if any, Texas statutes and regulatory provisions are in place to monitor the program. Federal law forbids the sale of fetal tissue and organs but allows the donation of such remains. On July 15, in a strongly worded statement, Paxton announced his office had launched an investigation into what he said is Planned Parenthood’s “calculated slaughter of human babies to maximize the available body parts they plan to sell.” During his testimony, Paxton could not answer specific questions due to the ongoing investigation but did acknowledge his office had “hours of video recordings involving a Texas branch of Planned Parenthood.” Paxton said the videos “appear to be consistent” with recordings released in recent weeks revealing conversations between the undercover investigators and high-ranking Planned Parenthood officials. “But more than any misdeeds involving the sale of aborted baby parts is this fundamental truth: the true abomination in all this is the institution of abortion,” Paxton said. One CMP video, released August 4, came exclusively from the PPGC flagship facility in Houston. On the video, PPGC Director of Research Melissa Farrell is heard discussing payment for human fetal remains. PPGC staff also discuss the gestational age of the aborted babies as being AUGUST 11, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 9
Johnson, who left the abortion industry in 2009, testified the BryanCollege Station clinic received “$200 in compensation per baby.” She said the expense to the clinic for collecting and storing the fetal remains is negligible. The only cost her clinic might have incurred would be a $5-$10 shipping fee. Johnson calculated that the PPGC Houston abortion clinic, which collects 260 pounds of fetal remains every month, could make as much as $120,000 per month.
between 16-22 weeks. Texas law forbids abortions past 20 except in the direst of circumstances for the mother. Testimony from DSHS commissioners Kirk Cole and Kathryn Perkins and Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Chris Traylor revealed the absence of state oversight of the federally regulated donation of fetal tissue. While DSHS regularly inspects abortion clinics and ambulatory surgical centers for state statute compliance, the agents’ surveys do not include investigation of aborted fetal tissue and organ donation protocol. And while DSHS inspectors determine if clinics abide by state policy related to the general operation of the clinic, there is no means by which agents review abortion procedures to ensure they are performed according to the law other than reviewing selected medical records. But in the first two CMP videos, top Planned Parenthood doctors said that the in utero presentation of the baby is sometimes altered in order to optimize procurement of undamaged organs. Doing so is a violation of federal law and would not be recorded by the clinic staff. Kathyrn Perkins, DSHS commissioner for regulatory services, and Abby Johnson, former Bryan-College Station Planned Parenthood director, gave conflicting testimonies regarding the spontaneity of clinic inspections. Perkins told the committee abortion clinic inspections 10 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 11, 2015
were unannounced and performed every 1014 months for clinics providing abortions up to 16 weeks of pregnancy and once every three years for the ambulatory surgical centers performing Abby Johnson abortions from 16-20 weeks of gestation. “That is blatantly false,” Johnson told committee members. “We knew exactly when they were coming. … We were allowed to pull (records) ahead of time so we would be able to scrub charts and make sure everything looked accurate before they were reviewed.” Johnson’s clinic was part of the group of Planned Parenthood clinics associated with PPGC. She said other PPGC clinic managers also knew when DSHS would arrive for inspections. When the Senate committee later recalled the commissioners, Perkins was asked if abortion clinic employees were notified of DSHS inspections. “Not to my knowledge,” Perkins responded. “What I was speaking to was our current policies and procedures and how we do things.” The statute mandates unannounced inspections. Perkins said she would investigate to determine if agents and clinic directors were in communication about upcoming inspections. Johnson also disputed the claims by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, that abortion clinics are merely reimbursed for their costs of procuring, storing and shipping aborted fetal tissue and organs. The undercover videos indicate a negotiable price range for the organs. Johnson, who left the abortion industry in 2009, testified the Bryan-College Station clinic received “$200 in compensation per baby.” She said the expense to the clinic for collecting and storing the fetal remains is negligible. The only cost her clinic might have incurred would be a $5-$10 shipping fee. “Not $200. That is sheer profit for Planned Parenthood,” Johnson said. Johnson calculated that the PPGC Houston abortion clinic, which collects 260 pounds of fetal
remains every month, could make as much as $120,000 per month. Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, asked if the state could examine clinic financial records as part of the regular inspections to determine if the nonprofit Planned Parenthood is indeed operating as such. Reviewing financial records is not part of the DSHS inspection. Acrimony between the Planned Parenthood leadership and some committee members was apparent at the outset of the hearing. In her letter to the HHS Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Schwertner, PPGC President Melaney A. Linton derided the committee, saying, “We believe this committee has no desire to hold a responsible, fair, fact-driven hearing. In fact, this committee cares more about political gamesmanship than the truth.” Linton’s letter and that of Kenneth Lambrecht, president of Planned Parenthood Greater Texas (PPGT)—an association of Planned Parenthood clinics in north and central Texas—were received by the committee only 30 minutes prior to the meeting despite repeated inquiries
by senate staff members the previous week seeking confirmation of the abortion providers’ participation in the hearing. During opening comments, some senators took the opportunity to chastise Planned Parenthood. Perry called the abortion provider arrogant, adding, “By Planned Parenthood not being here shows the contempt they have for this process and this committee.” Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, concurred. Incensed by the rhetoric, she called the letter “an affront to us as elected officials.” Schwertner, visibly frustrated by Linton’s biting rhetoric, noted the written statement from PPGC would not be entered into the record because the organization failed to submit the required witness card with the statement. More than three hours into the four-and-a-half hour hearing, Deborah Hiser, a lawyer representing PPGC, arrived at the hearing to fill out the proper form. Schwertner repeatedly asked her if she wanted to testify on behalf of her clients, but Hiser declined, stating the abortion provider was under active investigation and had been subpoenaed by Paxton.
PROTECTING CHURCHES’ RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES Cary Hilliard, pastor of First Baptist Church in Longview, gives an opening devotional to more than 100 people attended a discussion on same-sex marriage and how churches can navigate issues related to religious liberty, July 13. Sponsored by the Gregg Baptist Association and hosted by Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, the event featured a Q-and-A time with lawyers and SBTC senior staff members Mark Yoakum and Gary Ledbetter. REED LEDBETTER AUGUST 11,PHOTO 2015BY TAMMI TEXANONLINE.NET 11
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Christians must respond to samesex marriage with convictional kindness, biblical community By Keith Collier AUSTIN In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, Christians and churches must respond by speaking with confidence, conviction and kindness while also creating biblical community, speakers at the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty’s inaugural Equip gathering, said, July 29.
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“We have been called to be a people of both truth and grace, of both conviction and kindness, in a world that is often fearful and angry,” said ERLC President Russell Moore during his opening message, based on 2 Timothy 2:22-26. Moore admitted that Christians often associate kindness with weakness or cowering to the culture, but sitting back silently while the world celebrates perversion of God’s design for sexuality is “not an option,” he said.
5SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards welcomes attendees to the ERLC’s Equip Austin event, July 29. The event was primarily funded by a grant from SBTC. PHOTO BY GARY LEDBETTER 3Panelists discuss the gospel and homosexuality at the ERLC’s Equip Austin event, July 29.
“If we capitulate or if we are silent about what the Scripture teaches about marriage and sexuality, we are not just avoiding a social issue or a moral issue—we are avoiding a gospel issue,” Moore said. “The church now has the opportunity to articulate a distinctively Christian witness to marriage and sexuality.” Moore went on to say that the church must learn to teach a biblical theology of marriage and singleness while recognizing that every member of the church is involved in the issue. “We need the entire body of Christ together in the articulation, not only in what to avoid—“flee youthful passions”— but also what to pursue—love, peace, righteousness—and embodying that within our own congregations,” Moore said. Paul’s admonishment to Timothy to “patiently endure evil” means Christians must be
confident in their convictions but speak truth “with a Christian accent,” he added. “People don’t change their minds because of a pile of arguments … (or) because we humiliate them,” Moore said. “People have hearts changed when they encounter the risen Christ, who calls them by name.” Moore concluded his message by calling churches to reach “refugees from the sexual revolution,” those who have followed after lustful passions and found their promises empty and damaging. Those who are best able to reach these hurting individuals will be those who are confident in the truth and gracious in their offer of the gospel. The three-hour event, titled “The Gospel & Same-Sex Marriage,” featured pastors and formerly gay Christians and addressed how churches and Christians should respond to the issue. The event, which was hosted by The Austin Stone
Community Church and funded by a grant from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, was simulcast live over the Internet to homes and churches across the country. A common theme throughout the evening was that churches needed to cultivate gospel community, which involves intentional life-on-life relationships. Mike Goeke shared his testimony of separating from his wife to pursue a homosexual lifestyle before repenting and returning to his marriage. Goeke has a unique opportunity to reach those struggling with same-sex attraction in the church and warned that the solution is not in programs or special ministries but simply “for the church to be the church.” Goeke, now associate pastor of First Baptist Church in San Francisco, said the primary reason many who are saved by Christ out of homosexuality often return to the lifestyle is because of loneliness. Several speakers noted that the LGBT community thrives on networks of close, personal relationships. Churches, then, must model biblical community. “When a gay person walks away from their entire world, when they walk away from their sexual identity and possibly their whole identity, when they walk away from their community to pursue Jesus, they often find no one in the church to walk alongside them,” Goeke said. “Shiny, well-scrubbed, secret-bearing Christianity will never foster anything except more secrets. We need to pull
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community out of a list of programs and graft it into the DNA of our church.” Healing community, Goeke said, is messy and inconvenient, but it is also life changing for every member in the church. Rosaria Butterfield, a former English professor at Syracuse University who abandoned her life as a lesbian and gay activist when she converted to Christ, echoed Goeke’s plea for churches to display gospel community. Her own testimony includes a pastor and his wife who befriended her and welcomed her into their lives as they demonstrated and discussed the gospel with her. Butterfield, author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, stressed that just like every person who repents and believe in Christ, those coming out of homosexuality are exchanging their old identity for a new identity in Christ, yet this transition is not simple. Jackie Hill Perry, who also was a lesbian before coming to Christ, explained that the gospel creates community, saving individuals into communities of people called local churches. For this reason, she encouraged Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction to pursue friendships in the church. “If God has said and created people with roles that will equip us and mature us,” Perry said, “then those of us who are struggling can’t decide, ‘I’m going to grow apart from the way God taught me to grow.’ We have to go to a local body because that’s where these roles are expressed. 14 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 11, 2015
5Former lesbian and gay activist Rosaria Butterfield shares her testimony of how Christ saved her. Butterfield was one of the speakers at the ERLC’s Equip Austin event, July 29. PHOTO BY GARY LEDBETTER
“We need people to help us, and I know it’s scary, but fear is a great place to trust God.” At the same time, Perry challenged churches to get beyond conferences and programs on the topic and to simply be the body of Christ. “Most of us may not be able to empathize or understand the struggle with a specific sin such as homosexuality, but I believe that all people can empathize with sin as a whole,” Perry said. “I think that’s even more crucial to why the church should actually exemplify community. “The thing about the gay community is that it actually is a community—you feel safe, you feel listened to, you feel heard, you feel understood. So I think it’s a problem when those who are unbelievers feel way more safe in a room full of unregenerates than they do people whom God knows.” Matt Carter, pastor of preaching at The Austin Stone, admitted in a panel discussion at the end of the evening that it’s often easy for
churches to stand for truth but more difficult for them to offer grace. He seeks in his preaching to “unashamedly preach the gospel in a loving way,” and by God’s grace, they have seen people drawn to Jesus as a result. Carter encourages his church members to “look at people in this community the same way you would anybody that needs the love of Christ.” At the same time, Carter said, he has been asking himself and his church, “How can we be a family to these people whom we are calling to repentance? We’re calling these folks out of the only family they may have, and how can we be a real, genuine, authentic, biblical community for them?” Butterfield said she appreciates this approach, and added, “We are calling people to lose a community, and of all people, Christians ought to be able to step into loneliness.” ERLC has posted sessions from the Equip Austin event on its website: erlc.com/videos.
Nathan Lino
How do singles help rebuild the marriage culture?
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ecently, I received a great question from one of our church members who is single: How can singles play a part in rebuilding America’s broken marriage culture? While there are a variety of ways in which singlehood does much good for the kingdom, helping rebuild a marriage culture is a vital contribution of singles. Here are two key ways singles can help rebuild a marriage culture in our country. First, prepare yourself for a Christ honoring marriage. Unless you are called by God to be single, you are supposed to get married one day. And, as one of my friends likes to say, Scripture teaches marriage is a cornerstone of life, not merely a capstone. Your future marriage is merely a capstone if your logic is anything like this: I’m going to finish school, get a good job, make good money, so I can buy myself a new car, and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef, and do this and do that, and then when I’ve done all I want to do, I’ll settle down and get married. That is unbiblical and a very low view of marriage and your future spouse. On the other hand, a cornerstone in construction is the foundational stone against which the other stones in the foundation are laid. In other words, all the decisions about the other stones are made in reference to the cornerstone. This is how a single, not called to singlehood, should think about marriage. You should be content in singlehood until the Lord’s timing brings you a spouse, but you should also be very aware that you are preparing
yourself to be someone’s spouse one day. So, decisions in your current reality should heavily take into consideration this future event. Here are examples of how marriage as a capstone vs. marriage as a cornerstone plays out differently in a single’s life: Capstone – Because they are thinking only of their current singlehood and not their future marriage/spouse, they are already thinking selfishly. As a result, these singles pursue all kinds of personal pleasure, racking up debt. Then when marriage comes, they bring lots of debt into their relationships. It is really hard to start a family if the family is steeped in debt. Further, because marriage is merely a capstone, the single will selfishly pursue sexual pleasure and not think about his sexuality in light of his future spouse. Then when marriage comes, he brings lots of sexual history into the relationship. This significantly impacts a marriage relationship. Cornerstone – On the other hand, if a single is preparing herself to be a spouse, it will shape her finances, sexuality and a variety of other arenas in a completely different way. So, the first way singles not called to singlehood can contribute significantly to building a marriage culture is to properly prepare themselves for marriage. Singlehood with marriage as a cornerstone instead of a capstone
bears testimony that marriage is foundational to God’s design for human life and flourishing. We prepare for marriage, we get married, and then we go through life together with our God-given spouse, deeply complementing each other physically, spiritually and emotionally. A second key way singles can help rebuild a marriage culture is to protect the marriages around them. Seek to strengthen others’ marriages and not to harm them. There are a variety of ways this can be done, here are some examples: Don’t engage in personal relationships with married people of the opposite gender. Don’t covet another person’s spouse—don’t flirt with married people, seduce married people, or respond to a married person flirting with you or trying to seduce you. Push people in troubled marriages toward restoration of their marriage, not divorce. Pray earnestly for the married members of your church to have healthy marriages. If there is a good marriage conference at your church or in your area, volunteer to serve in a logistical way so married people can be in the conference. If a married friend is in marriage counseling, volunteer to keep the kids during counseling as a way to encourage the counseling. Two ways singles can help rebuild a marriage culture is to properly prepare themselves for marriage and to protect the marriages around them. Nathan Lino is pastor of Northeast Houston Baptist Church. The original version of this article first appeared on his blog.
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Sooner QB uses position as platform for the gospel By Erin Roach ROCKWALL
Trevor Knight, quarterback for the University of Oklahoma Sooners and 2014 Sugar Bowl MVP, shared his testimony and urged people to follow Christ at a Texas church plant. “I’m just a normal dude, but people care what I have to say now because of what I do—not who I am but what I do,” Knight said at The Church at Buffalo Creek in Rockwall during a morning service July 19. “I always think about that. Somebody’s always watching, so you have to carry yourself the right way.” Knight was responding to a question from the church’s pastor, Stan Britton, about how the star athlete leverages his platform for the glory of God. When he was younger, Knight looked up to University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and was influenced in a positive way, and he said that spurs him on to be a good example for youth today. “Each one of you has a platform somewhere in this life. Whether it’s your family, your job or anywhere in this life, you can turn people to Christ,” Knight said. Britton told the TEXAN he met Knight on a mission trip to Haiti. “He shared his testimony with me, and I was encouraged by his heart for Christ as he stands on a huge platform in collegiate athletics,” Britton said. “He has family in our area, and he offered to come and share with our church.” Knight told about growing up in a good home and then hitting some rough spots in high school when his football team didn’t honor Christ, and he told what it was like to learn from his father—his hero— had cancer. James 1:2 is Knight’s life verse, he said, because it confirms the ups and downs of life. It doesn’t say “if” you face trials, Knight noted, it says “when.” “That’s a promise to all of us right there. It doesn’t even have to be in sports. It can be in any area of your life,” Knight said. “You’re going to face hard 16 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 11, 2015
times, whether you’re the best Christian in the world ... or a lost person.” Three things that help Knight follow Christ daily, he said, are to trust God with all of his heart, surround himself with the right people and dive into the Bible. Britton said Knight shared the gospel clearly. “It was refreshing to know that a young man with so much potential to impact the kingdom has such a vibrant relationship with the Lord,” Britton said. “He shared a vision that the 85,000 people who come to watch the Sooners play in Norman would one day turn their eyes off of the field and off of his team and toward heaven in worship of the one true God.” The Church at Buffalo Creek is a young church plant, and the interview with Knight drew 70 guests to the service. Many of the guests were families who were learning of the church for the first time, Britton said. “We also welcomed several high school coaches and athletes,” Britton said. “As we look to the new school year, these connections afford us opportunities to minister on these campuses.” Watch the video of Knight and Britton here.
Sharayah Colter
Let’s fight for them like we would for us
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his week I watched the fifth video depicting the barbarism that is taxpayer-funded abortion in America. My stomach churned as I watched a scene that belongs in a MA-rated horror movie: A tweezerwielding human hand lifts a pink limb from a glass dish. It is a hand, a wrist and an arm; no shoulder is attached. In the dish below the tiny, suspended arm, I see a leg. Eyeballs and lungs are among the other baby parts identified in the video. I hope you watched the videos and that they made you sick, shocked and trembly. Horrifyingly, some admit they watched but remain unfazed. More than once, Scripture refers to this as people who have “eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear,” (Ezekiel 12:2). If you watched the videos and remarked, “How can anyone watch this and not be devastated?” then you’re familiar with “eyes to see but do not see.” You and I elected many with these unseeing eyes to Congress, and so on Aug. 3, when they had a chance to pass a game-changing, life-saving bill, they didn’t. Be assured, however: This spiritualphysical battle is not over. So as long as you and I are breathing, we must fight for those whose first breath is under siege. Until we have made abortion unimaginable for every sane American, we follow Paul’s directions: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
Christians, we don’t have the option of apathy or the validation of excuses, of which there have been plenty: “I’m not political.” “I’m busy.” “The videos are gross.” “Someone else will do it.” “It’s not my business.” But it is your business. Fleshyhearted humans don’t let other humans do this to each other. So, while those with power, money and influence line up against us like a fifth-year senior linebacker set in his stance across from a string-bean freshman with porcelain bones, we press on. Do you recall that with the Lord’s help scrawny David fought beastly Goliath … and WON? “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) And one thing is for certain: If God is for us, we dare not be against ourselves. Do not acquiesce to the temptation of putting a trendy spin on this “issue” for the sake of—well anything at all. It may be cool in your circle to be self-deprecating and to apologize for everything under the sun in order to appear relatable. But please, don’t apologize for me. I’ll continue to be bothered to the point of righteous anger on behalf of these children. This atrocity demands our response, and while we don’t respond in hate or vengeance, we must agree with our Creator God that this is wrong. I implore you: Beg for these lives as fervently as you would your own life. Philippians 2 tells us to think of others as better than ourselves
and to look out for the needs of others before our own. This is one way we live out that passage. This is laying down our lives for those of our unborn brothers— something Christ did perfectly when he died on the cross for me and for you … and for those who have believed a lie and stolen life. If any of us would turn from our wicked ways, Christ will save us and redeem us (1 John 1:9). We have a duty to fight for the earthly lives of the unborn and the eternal lives of those convinced that the choice of one should trump the chance of another. “Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” (Psalm 31:8,9) Resolve that we will be the generation that roars, “NO!” No, we will not let you kill our brothers and our sisters. We won’t pay for it with our money, and we will fight for it with everything on the line. You may call us names, say we’re ignorant, blast our reputation or threaten us to pieces, but we will stand firm. We will stand for life. We won’t passively allow this to continue in our nation while we go on with the comforts of life, stick our heads in the sand and make weekend plans. We, the army of the Lord, will fight until our commander calls us home. Sharayah Colter is staff writer for the Southern Baptist TEXAN.
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