Texan Digital • August 6, 2014 • Issue #34

August 6, 2014 • ISSUE 34

A surge in the flow of undocumented immigrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border has drawn Baptists from across the state and nation to serve the ‘strangers,’ to seek a solution and to share the hope of the gospel. Local church volunteer teams, convention leaders and conservative politicians have been among those involved in the Southern Baptist response to the border crisis.

ELECTED OFFICIALS: THERMOSTAT OR THERMOMETER?

TEXAS PRO-LIFE LAW SHUTS DOWN AUSTIN ABORTION CENTER

Gary Ledbetter

Who’s the thermostat?

I

was arrested recently by I Samuel 12:14. In this passage, the last and greatest of Israel’s judges is powerfully reminding the people of their sin of rejecting the Lord and asking for a human king like other nations. They got just what they asked for in Saul. I’d never noticed verse 14 and I found it convicting: If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. Israel was apparently trying to put a king between themselves and the obligation to obey God and worship him only—they’d failed to do those things many times since entering their homeland. They would fail in hiding themselves from the Lord but this verse brings that home from a new perspective. “If you [y’all] fear the LORD,” they were told, “both you and the king… will continue following the LORD your God.” Perhaps they thought, as we often do, that having a great person as magistrate will free the people up to live without so much responsibility.

The king or governor or president will tell us what to do, and if it doesn’t work out well it’s his fault. Not so fast.

I’ve heard Richard Land say often that Washington DC is not a thermostat, controlling the climate in America, so much as a thermometer, reflecting it. Isn’t that what Samuel is telling Israel? Saul will be an impressive king like other nations have, but he’ll also represent who the nation is spiritually, no better and no worse.

There’s hope in this message. I take the verse to promise also that the leaders God places over us will become more godly as we become more godly. Either the Lord will change the leader’s heart or his actions or his address. The hard news is that this puts us right back where we started, responsible to God for what we do.

We are just a few months from an important mid-term election day in our country. After

that we have an endless presidential race that will culminate in fall of 2016. Over the course of these months and years we will hear ever more urgent messages about what will happen if a candidate is elected, overblown promises from one side and overblown threats from the other. Our brothers and sisters will send panicked emails about the candidate they favor or the one they fear. For the most part they’ll be wrong in either the content or volume of their promises and warnings. America will get in 2014, and in 2016, the leaders we want and deserve.

The people we elect matter but they won’t determine how God blesses or disciplines America—the elected candidate may actually be the agent of that blessing and cursing, and he will reveal who we are as a nation.

A magistrate can only do certain things. He can restrain us in good and bad ways and he can punish evil doers. He cannot make us good or frugal or devoted parents or faithful husbands. He cannot do much about the most crucial problems our families and communities face. Those problems are ultimately spiritual. Bad parents have a spiritual problem, as do lazy people and thieves. Good parents and good citizens are people who honor God or those who live in the afterglow of God-honoring neighbors or families. As that glow fades, families and communities will become less functional and so will our nation’s leadership.

It sounds easier to just elect people much better than ourselves who would forcibly set the tone for our communities. Places where that has been tried have become the worst regimes in history. We’re still on the hook, responsible for our own deeds and for the well-being of our communities. There is no shortcut to national renewal.

I offer a last caution. A revival of strong families and communities would be a byproduct of something more essential. It is God we are made to worship. Our devotion to him will bear marvelous fruit in the lives of all around us, but our devotion to him is the point and not the revitalization of a nation. Remember that as we pray for our leaders and our country in the run up to future elections.

And, oh yes, Christians who are not registered to vote are on the sidelines of spiritual warfare in our nation.

Registered voters who do not show up on Election Day are in sin. There’s time for you to become a registered, informed voter before this year’s mid-term election.

You should do that. Be good stewards of your Christian citizenship but the hope for any people is, from the first to the last, in the Lord.

CONTENTS ISSUE #34 /////////////////////////////////////////////

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Chickenpox outbreak locks down illegal immigrant facility

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Joshua Code author pens 52 more questions

An outbreak of chickenpox has locked down a facility for hundreds of illegal immigrants on the campus of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, N.M.

With some 250,000 copies of The Joshua Code already in print, people have been clamoring for more essential verses to study and memorize, according to author O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources.

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SBTC Board approves new TEXAN editor

The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Executive Board elected a new communications associate and editor, Keith Collier, and approved a proposed 2015 operating budget of $27.5 million during its summer meeting July 29 in Grapevine.

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Engage teams see record number of salvations in seven week ministry

Five Engage teams serving in a total of 30 churches this summer, saw 107 people profess faith in Christ.

COVER STORY

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At Texas-Mexico border, First Baptist’s volunteer team assists at processing center

Baptist volunteers have been serving alongside Catholic Charities workers to provide food, showers and rest for immigrants at a center set up mere blocks from their own church in McAllen.

Convention leaders and politicians from across Texas and the nation have traveled to the border to see first-hand the situation in processing centers and the efforts being made to serve the immigrants and fix the immigration system.

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52,000 immigrant children and the call to love outsiders

President Obama’s request for $3.7 billion to aid 52,000 young Central America migrants seeking a home in America has sparked outrage among many. Nearly $4 billion is a large amount of money; but what’s concerning is not the expenditure of funds, so much as the question of why the children are here, Southern Baptist leaders say in op-ed.

TEXAN Digital 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 Sharayah Colter, Managing Editor Russell Lightner, Design & Layout Stephanie Barksdale, Subscriptions Contributing Writers Tammi Ledbetter, Bonnie Pritchett, Barry Creamer, Brandon Smith To contact the TEXAN office, visit texanonline.net/contact or call toll free 877.953.7282 (SBTC) On the Cover: Southern Baptists leaders and other religious leaders visit a holding facility in McAllen, Texas built to house 1,000 unaccompanied minor children.

Briefly /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// CLICK HEADLINE FOR FULL STORY

CHICKENPOX OUTBREAK LOCKS DOWN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FACILITY NEW MEXICO

An outbreak of chickenpox has locked down a facility for hundreds of illegal immigrants on the campus of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, N.M. No illegal immigrants are being transferred in or out, according to a congressman, and those housed there are being vaccinated against and treated for the communicable disease. Medical issues have been a major concern for U.S. officials grappling with the surge in illegal immigration.

3A boy lies on a concrete bench inside the Brownsville detention center where a backlog of illegal child immigrants were being processed by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents May 29. He was kept outside of a detention room, but within a security perimeter awaiting processing. PHOTO BY JONI B. HANNIGAN

CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ ‘FACING EXTINCTION’ AT ISLAMISTS’ HANDS IRAQ

Islamic militants have eradicated virtually every trace of Christianity from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, said July 23.

“There are no Christians left in Mosul,” Shea told CBN News. “They have all been driven out. They have been told to convert to Islam or die, or to leave.”

Shea, who formerly served as vice chair for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq

STATE-WIDE PRAYER EFFORT DRAWS LARGE POOL OF PARTICIPANTS AUSTIN

Hundreds gathered at the State Capitol in Austin and in communities across the state, Aug. 2, to pray for restoration, revival and rain in a 2 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

and Syria (ISIS) marked the property of Christians in Mosul with the Arabic word “Nasrani,” or “Nazarene”—a clear reference to Christianity. Christian property owners were then driven out.

According to recent reports from the region, only a few hundred Christian families remained in Mosul before ISIS gave its ultimatum last week. Its stance toward Christians who remained may mean the hardened Al-Qaeda offshoot is becoming even more intolerant of dissenting faiths as it tightens control over a large swath of the plain of Nineveh, where Mosul is located.

ISIS alone is not to blame for the crisis in northern Iraq, Shea said, noting that the inaction of the Obama administration and the Iraqi government have made matters worse.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said on the

“Praying Across Texas” event.

Austin National Day of Prayer organizer Jim McGee, a spokesperson for the event, said participants at the Capitol prayer walked, prayed in various Capitol buildings and sat in small groups on the lawn praying or reading scripture.

A number of large groups also met to pray in churches in Killeen, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso and in other small towns and communities, McGee told the

floor of the U.S. House June 22 that the Obama administration was watching the “extinction” of Christians and other religious minorities take place in northern Iraq.

“I believe what is happening to the Christian community in Iraq is genocide,” Wolf said. “I also believe it is a crime against humanity.”

—GREGORY TOMLIN, BAPTIST PRESS

Texan. In Georgetown, participants met at a park gazebo to pray.

Steve Washburn, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Pflugerville, was at the event in Austin.

“We were just asking for the Lord to protect what happens in this building because as this building goes, so goes the state of Texas and as Texas goes, so goes this nation,” Washurn said.

—JONI HANNIGAN

GARLAND COMEDIAN OPENS AT BLACK CHURCH WEEK IN RIDGECREST NORTH CAROLINA

A Garland, Texas youth pastor and his wife joined more 1,000 gathered in the mountains of Ridgecrest, N.C. for the Black Church Leadership and Family Conference, an annual spiritual enrichment drawing from some 4,000 African American churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The July 21-25 activities centered around praise and worship, Bible study and training highlighting SBC entities. More than 10 percent of those in attendance (147) were members of the church pastored by immediate past SBC President Fred Luter.

FORMER PASTOR WINS CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY WASHINGTON

A Southern Baptist minister who won a decisive victory in a runoff for the Republican nomination for the North Carolina House of Representatives credits his victory to a change from what he calls a message of “great vitriol and anger and rage” to one of “genuine compassion” that is the result of a Christian walk. Mark Walker, the former associate pastor of music and worship at Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., won 60 percent of the vote July 15 against the favorite for the seat in North Carolina’s Sixth District. Other Southern Baptist pastors who have gained seats in Congress this year are Jody Hice in Ga., and Mark Harris in N.C. PHOTO OF MARK WALKER. BAPTIST PRESS PHOTO

OBAMA NOMINEE PROMPTS ERLC CONCERNS WASHINGTON

President Obama has selected a new ambassador at large for international religious freedom amid a sudden flurry of activity on the issue, and the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy entity has expressed misgiving about his choice.

The White House announced Monday (July 28) Obama’s intention to nominate David Saperstein as ambassador after the post sat vacant for nine months. Saperstein, director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, was an original member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCRIF) but has taken liberal positions on various domestic issues.

ERLC President Russell D. Moore said in a statement for Baptist Press, “While we

strongly disagree with Rabbi Saperstein on many issues regarding domestic policy such as the recent Hobby Lobby ruling and issues related to the sanctity of unborn life, we are hoping that he will articulate a robust view of religious freedom around the world as he answers these questions in his Senate confirmation hearings.

“I had hoped for a strong defender of both domestic and international religious liberty, which is why I recommended Congressman Frank Wolf to the president,” Moore said. “Nonetheless, Rabbi Saperstein has my prayers, and I look forward to meeting with him about the vital issue of religious freedom around the world.”

–TOM STRODE, BAPTIST PRESS

JOSHUA CODE AUTHOR PENS 52 MORE QUESTIONS DALLAS

Jason Earls, youth pastor of North Garland Baptist Fellowship in Garland, Texas, and his wife Terri, praise God in an evening worship service at the 2014 Black Church Leadership and Family Conference at Ridgecrest, N.C. Earls, a professional stand-up comedian, performed during the conference’s opening night.

With some 250,000 copies of The Joshua Code already in print, people have been clamoring for more essential verses to study and memorize, according to author O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources. The Jesus Code: 52 Scripture Questions Every Believer Should Answer, released by Thomas Nelson July 29, takes each reader through a year’s study and provides a concise outline.

LIFEWAY PHOTO

—Briefly section compiled from Baptist Press, other news sources and staff reports

AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 3

SUDANESE WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH ARRIVES IN U.S. Escaping a deathby-hanging sentence, Meriam Ibrahim, has arrived on U.S. soil. Ibrahim, who is married to a U.S. citizen and who is the mother of two, was arrested and charged with apostasy 10 months ago. Raised by her Christian mother, she had not adopted the faith of her absent Muslim father but became the focus of an international outcry when a court sentenced her to death by hanging when she refused to recant her Christian faith. Though the court overturned her sentence, Sudanese police re-arrested her in June. She and her children finally made their way to the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum until diplomats from Italy finally negotiated her release. U.S. lawmakers who had called for a stronger push to help Ibrahim said Italy’s success in securing her freedom underscored tepid efforts by the Obama administration to advocate for the wife and children of an American citizen.

BUS ACCIDENT SURVIVORS RETURN MONTHS LATER FOR COMMUNITY MINISTRY TENNESSEE

Fifty members of a North Carolina church returned to the Nashville area where a bus carrying a group of members crashed in October 2013, killing six and injuring 12. Nine of the 12 survivors were among those who traveled north to offer thanks

and minister. The group led missions activities at a local church, hosted two luncheons for the Sheriff’s department and EMT workers and threw an ice cream party for medical personnel at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

“It’s a blessing that they want to come back and do something for us,” said Sheriff Bud McCoig, a member of First Baptist Church in Dandridge. “We are grateful that they are coming back to help our community. God is great. He is the one we live for.”

5Volunteers from First Baptist Church, Dandridge, and Front Street Baptist Church, Statesville, N.C., joined together to conduct a Backyard Bible Club in Dandridge.

PHOTO BAPTIST PRESS

–BAPTIST PRESS

TEXAS PRO-LIFE LAW CREDITED WITH CLOSING AUSTIN ABORTION CLINIC

KILLING OF NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS CONTINUES STEEP INCREASE

TEXAS

NIGERIA

Whole Women’s Health of Austin announced it is closing its doors in Central Texas as the “best abortion care” available to women for more than 10 years. The center reported on its blog page that House Bill 2, passed last summer, and its requirements that such centers “meet the standards of an ambulatory surgical center” forced its closure. The Dallas Morning News recently reported the Austin abortion facility is the 17th such clinic to close in Texas since November because of the new law requiring doctors at the clinics to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles.

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The death toll of Nigerian Christians has risen sharply this year with approximately 1,505 killed in the first seven months of the year.

The seven-month total has nearly reached the number killed in all of 2013, Jubilee Campaign reported July 29. Boko Haram extremists and others attacked religious communities and have also killed Muslims, government officials and other civilians in Northern Nigeria, for a total of 4,239 deaths to date, compared to 3,124 deaths in all of 2013, representing nearly 85 percent of all of those killed last year. Christians killed to date include seven fathers of the 223 Chibok school girls still missing after Boko Haram kidnapped more than 300 students in midApril, according to the Associated Press.

AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 5

SBTC board approves new TEXAN editor

By Tammi Reed Ledbetter GRAPEVINE

The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Executive Board elected a new communications associate and editor, Keith Collier, and approved a proposed 2015 operating budget of $27.5 million during its summer meeting July 29 in Grapevine.

Collier has served as director of news and information at Southwestern Seminary since 2007, managing the writing team in Southwestern’s communications office and editing Southwestern News magazine, The Scroll and other school publications. His writing has appeared in Baptist Press, International Mission Board publications and numerous newspapers.

“KEITH COLLIER IS ALREADY DOING WELL AT SOUTHWESTERN THE MINISTRY WE NEED AN EDITOR TO DO AT THE SBTC.” —GARY LEDBETTER

In introducing Collier to replace Jerry Pierce who accepted a position as editor of DECISION magazine, SBTC Communications Director and TEXAN Editor in Chief Gary Ledbetter said Collier fits the profile of an editor with strong newswriting skills, praising his tenure at Southwestern Seminary. “Keith Collier is already doing well at Southwestern the ministry we need an editor to do at the SBTC.” Collier earned a B.S. in communication from Lamar University in Beaumont in 1999, M.Div. from Southwestern in 2010, and is completing a Ph.D. in preaching and church 6 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Executive Board members listen to Keith Collier give his testimony before unanimously electing him as editor of the Southern Baptist TEXAN. Pictured on either side (left to right) are SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards, Communications Director and TEXAN Editor in Chief Gary Ledbetter, SBTC Board Chairman Bart Barber of Farmersville and Administrative Committee Chairman David Fleming of Houston. PHOTO BY TAMMI LEDBETTER

history at Southwestern.

He and his wife Amy have two sons and a daughter and are members of Normandale Baptist Church in Fort Worth. Called to the ministry at 19, Collier has served as a youth pastor in Bridge City, associate pastor and church planter in Superior, Co., and taught church history and preaching as a teaching assistant at Southwestern.

In his new role as communications associate beginning midAugust, Collier will serve as editor of the monthly TEXAN news journal and as managing editor of Texan Digital, the SBTC’s twice-monthly electronic magazine.

Thomas White, president of Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, and formerly vice president of communications at Southwestern, noted Collier’s desire to “please the Lord in all he does” and his devotion as a husband and father, adding, “He writes well and edits well, but Keith brings the intangible of understanding how to write with an eternal perspective that demonstrates the importance of the gospel.”

Missouri Pathway Associate Editor Benjamin Hawkins referenced working under Collier while at Southwestern Seminary, stating he is “theologically well-informed, believes wholeheartedly in the inerrancy of Scripture, and wants God’s Word to transform both his life and the lives of those with whom he interacts.”

OTHER BUSINESS The board approved a recommended budget for 2015 of $27,559,658 that requires approval of SBTC messengers during the convention’s annual meeting, Nov. 9-11 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. The SBTC will continue to forward 55 percent of CP receipts for SBC ministry and retain 45 percent for Texas missions and ministry.

Through the end of June, Cooperative Program receipts were $13,084,156—slightly down from the $13,315,122 given through June 2013, Chief Financial Officer Joe Davis said. But the net operating income through June was $684,195—mostly the result of underspending, Davis said, with SBTC designated giving and investment income also contributing.

Meanwhile, giving through mission offerings by SBTC churches showed gains over the previous year with giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions closing in May with $9.02 million—up from $8.85 million the previous giving year.

The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions, with nine months reporting, showed an increase of $326,107 for total giving of $2.66 million. Reach Texas was on pace for another record year, up $52,583 through 10 months with a total of $1.23 million given.

The board also renewed affiliation agreements with Criswell College in Dallas through 2017, Jacksonville College through 2019, and Texas Baptist Home for Children in Waxahachie through 2018. Affiliated ministries receive SBTC budgeted funding.

Jacksonville College’s budgeted funding will rise from .75 percent of in-state CP receipts to 1 percent and the SBTC’s representation on the school’s board increases from three to four members in addition to the SBTC executive director as a non-voting member.

Funding to Texas Baptist Home (TBHC), increases from .5 to .75 percent of undesignated in-state CP receipts and increases the SBTC’s representation on the TBHC board from two to three members in addition to the SBTC executive director or his appointee. The board also approved a $25,000 grant to TBHC for improvements to the campus chapel and sound system.

The board approved affiliation requests from 17 churches, bringing the total number of affiliated churches to 2487. Nine churches that have disbanded and two that disaffiliated were removed.

Jimmy Draper of Southlake was approved as the recipient of the 2014 H. Paul Pressler Distinguished Service Award during the SBTC annual meeting.

The policy for Executive Board operations and authority was approved to formally document current operational practices and establish the process for dealing with motions coming from the floor.

Board members heard a report from SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards on a recent visit to the holding facility at Lackland Air Force Base for children who had crossed into the U.S. illegally. He praised the efforts of churches in Brownsville, Laredo and McAllen as they minister when opportunities arose, but noted that access is currently limited.

He rejoiced at the increase in the number of churches planted across Texas, students saved at the four SBTC student camps, and noted that the Engage revival teams had seen more people saved this summer than in any previous year during revival efforts.

Texan Brian Beto takes first place in national Bible Drill youth division

By Bonnie Pritchett DEL RIO

When not drowning in school work or extracurricular activities, many 14-year-old boys are texting their friends, beating the next round of a video game or watching multiple seasons of “Dr. Who” in one sitting. With precious little time to spare for more studies, few can name the books of the Bible, quote Scripture from memory or cite Christian doctrine and its supporting biblical references.

For that matter, how many adults, with equally busy schedules and unlimited Netflix instant viewing, can?

Brian Beto can. And he did.

Beto, 14, became the first Southern Baptists of Texas Convention representative to win the National Bible Drill. Of the three categories of competition, Beto took first place in the Bible Drill Youth Division June 20 at First Baptist Church Helen in Helen, Ga. Beto, the son of Michael and Chong Beto of Del Rio, said studying and practicing for the contest was time consuming. School work, athletics and church praise team practices each demanded a swath of his time. Bible Drill, an optional activity he enjoyed, simply added to his already crowded to-do list. He considered, if only briefly, quitting.

Instead he found a way to compromise.

Studies for the drills began in late November and became more intense in January as the first contest approached and basketball season began.

Beto was able to split his time between the two disciplines, showing up a little late to basketball practice after drill studies.

Lucian Stohler, who coordinates the regional and state Bible Drill contests for SBTC, agreed students must put in the time if they are going to reach the contest’s perfect score of 300. But AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 7

Brian Beto displays his trophy for first place in the national Bible Drill Youth Division.

the lasting benefits, he added, are incalculable. The 69-year-old retired pastor of First Baptist Church Spring said his adult children competed successfully when they were kids and today testify to the lasting impact Bible Drill studies had on their spiritual growth. Both have careers in ministry.

As a teenager, Beto is not so reflective.

“I enjoy it. I like how much I get to know about the Bible,” he told the TEXAN in a telephone interview.

His pastor, Jim Wilson, of Esparanza Del Rio Community Church, said Bible Drill preparation is akin to a catechism, putting spiritual tools in the students’ hands.

Participation in Bible Drill begins in the fourth grade. That is where Beto got his start, spurred, not as much by the Holy Spirit as by sibling rivalry. The fourth of five children, Beto’s oldest sibling, his sister Min, competed in the Youth Speakers competition in high school.

That, along with encouragement from their parents, was enough to get each of the Beto children 8 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

involved in the competition.

Beto and his siblings practice drills together, challenging each other with good-natured competitive ribbing.

At contests, participants are drilled on fundamental Bible knowledge. At the children’s division students must know the books of the Bible, verses and their references and find the verses in the Bible. They are quizzed on that knowledge and have only 10 seconds to answer correctly.

Youth and high school Bible Drill students have only eight seconds to accomplish much more.

In the youth division, Beto had to find a book of the Bible and name the books immediately before and after it; find a specific passage; identify and recite from memory a verse with a short prompt; identify Baptist doctrines and their supporting Scripture references; and answer basic theological questions including Scripture references.

At the high school level, students compete similarly but more comprehensively. Instead of a single verse, students memorize entire passages of Scripture. Theological questions are replaced with memorized questions related to salvation.

“Not to take away from other activities,” Stohler said, “but how many kids know the Bible this way?”

On at least one occasion Stohler said he saw a pastor embarrassed when he underestimated the depth and breadth of Bible knowledge amassed by Bible Drill students and volunteered to compete in front of the church. It didn’t go well for the pastor.

“There’s no adult who would take these kids on,” said Wilson, only half joking.

Beto’s mother Chong has been

“THERE’S NO ADULT WHO WOULD TAKE THESE KIDS ON.” humbled by her children’s commitment to scriptural education.

“God teaches me his Word through my kids,” she said.

The Bible Drill’s influence has even reached the third generation of Stohlers. While at the grocery store recently, Stohler received a call from his 7-year-old grandson, Johnathan. Using the Face Time app on his phone, he could see the boy as he said, “Papa, I want to tell you my Bible verse.”

Standing in the middle of the H.E.B., Stohler began to cry.

“That is what drives me—seeing the Word of God planted in the hearts and minds of our children. If we don’t do it, who will?” he asked.

Beto said he hopes to put his Bible knowledge to good use as God opens opportunities to witness.

And Bible Drill has taught Beto another lesson not explicitly found in the drill’s content. He said the rigors of the contest have taught him to steel his nerves.

“Have a strong mind, think fast and not second guess myself,” he said.

He figures that is true of Bible or basketball drills.

Having reached the pinnacle in one category, Beto has set his sights on the two remaining high school Bible Drill and Speakers Tournaments. National wins in both divisions would net him a triple crown, of sorts, and bragging rights at home, to be sure.

Students give their summer to make and train disciples through Engage ministry

By Sharayah Colter Five Engage teams serving in a total of 30 churches over the course of seven weeks this summer, saw 107 people profess faith in Christ.

Garrett Wagoner, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Student and Collegiate Ministry associate, says the spiritual harvest has been exciting and encouraging. Intentional evangelism, he said, is what Engage is all about.

“That’s really the purpose of Engage,” said Wagoner, who has been the full-time coordinator of the summer ministry for two years.

“Evangelism is being emphasized, and the teams are being intentional about that. We’re training them in prayer and evangelism, and they’re doing that.”

Each year, teams of three to four college students dedicate their summer to traveling from church to church leading vacation Bible school and backyard Bible club, training students in personal evangelism and sometimes hosting community-wide revival services.

The teams tailor their plans to meet the needs and goals of each church, showing up ready to serve people and to share the gospel.

Wagoner says they look for those types of students when they create Engage teams each year, knowing that the utmost aim of the ministry is to partner with local churches to

Engage team leader, Chad Davenport, teaches students during Bible study at First Baptist Church Moody’s vacation Bible school.

take the message of Christ’s salvation across the state of Texas.

“We want that to be the DNA of the students,” Wagoner said.

“Evangelism is what Engage is all about and why it was created.

Team member Chad Davenport understands that.

Davenport was sitting in a contemporary evangelism class at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, where he is working toward a Master of Divinity degree, when he first heard about Engage.

“Garrett Wagoner came to my evangelism class at Southwestern and told us about the Engage ministry. God just really put it

upon my heart that, that was what he wanted me to do this summer,” Davenport said.

Davenport, who plans to graduate from Southwestern in December, said that before this summer, he would share the gospel sporadically. Over the summer, he said, God began to burden his heart to make evangelism a part of his everyday life. He said that in the last week of Engage, the Lord specifically convicted him to set aside time each week for personal evangelism.

The student said he was not really expecting it, but that the Lord changed his life in multiple ways through his time as a preacher on an Engage team.

AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 9

VBS volunteer and Engage team member, Chudy Omelogu, leads children in praise and worship music during one of the seven weeks that Engage teams spent serving in churches across Texas.

“IT WAS REALLY COOL TO SEE THEM REALLY GET EXCITED FOR TELLING OTHERS ABOUT JESUS. WE SAW 36 PEOPLE COME TO CHRIST THAT WEEK.” —CHAD DAVENPORT

“I was expecting to minister to everyone else, but God revealed some things to me about his character and about his plan for my life,” Davenport said. “You always know it’s going to affect you in some way. You’re going to minister, but God will always do something through that obedience of going to tell others. I expected it to be a spiritual high and a mountain top experience. It was more than that.

It grew my faith in God and solidified his calling on my life.

Davenport said the fire of evangelism that grew increasingly in him over the summer lit similar fires in the people they served across the state. While working at Hillcrest Baptist Church in San Angelo, Davenport saw students begin to get excited about sharing their faith.

10 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

“It was really cool to see them really get excited for telling others about Jesus,” Davenport said. “We saw 36 people come to Christ that week.”

Wagoner shared the excitement.

“We have some kids that have never shared their faith before, becoming personal evangelists,” Wagoner said. “It’s pretty powerful.”

Davenport saw a poignant example of just that after a revival service and fellowship one day in San Angelo. He recalls seeing a 13-year-old boy who had been “goofing around” and who did not seem strong in his faith at the beginning of the week, walk up to an adult and ask her about her personal testimony. After she gave a short testimony pointing to her time in church, the boy explained his

own testimony to the woman. She listened as he told her about Christ and explained things he had been learning throughout the week in the evangelism training. Realizing her need for salvation, the woman professed her faith in Christ.

Davenport said it was amazing to watch the shift from seeming apathy to emboldened excitement for the gospel, in the boy.

“Over the week he started changing and really starting to get excited about his walk with the Lord again,” Davenport said. “It was neat to watch that transformation and what the Lord did inside of him.”

Davenport said one of the things that really bolstered his team’s ability to train and equip people in personal evangelism during the summer was cell phone apps and SBTC evangelism tools. He said they used the SBTC’s Game Plan evangelism initiative to help people develop a plan for sharing Christ with friends and family nearest them. They used the 1 Cross app to help people share the gospel with people who did not speak the same language. Both apps were hugely helpful, he said.

“It really helps teach it and helps show them that they can actually do this and that this is not something that only theologians can do, but that everybody can share their faith,” Davenport said. “It was pretty cool to help youth who are pretty new in their faith see that they can share their faith effectively using these resources. When they saw people come to Christ, they really started getting excited seeing that Jesus is still saving and changing lives.”

More than 100 accept Christ’s salvation at SBTC summer camps

By Bonnie Pritchett

Total attendance at four Southern Baptists of Texas Convention camps nearly reached 2,000 this summer, with students attending Youth Week and M3 camps across the state. Youth Week, established in 2006, draws students predominantly from small Hispanic churches and meets once during the summer. M3 (Moment, Mission, Ministry), wrapping up its fifth summer, is held three different times in different locations across the state.

Garrett Wagoner, SBTC Student Ministry associate, coordinates the M3 camps while Jesse Contreras, SBTC Hispanic Ministry associate, organizes Youth Week. Both men touted the role camp played in their own lives, emphasizing the gospel-focused nature of church-sponsored camp and the life-long impact it can have on participants.

“A lot of people serving God can go back to an experience at camp,” said Wagoner, who, at 16, was called to ministry at a camp.

Of the 1600 students who attended the M3 camps this summer 123 were called to ministry and 96 made professions of faith. More than 300 students attended Youth Week, June 23-27, at Palacios Baptist Encampment where 10 students made commitments of faith.

To date, since the first Youth Week at Alto Frio in 2006, more than 230 students have made professions of faith.

The most difficult part about camp for many students is not the being away from home or the full schedule of activities, but the “no electronics” manAUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 11

M3:

1600 96 123

TOTAL ATTENDANCE PROFESSIONS OF FAITH ACCEPTED A CALL TO MINISTRY

Youth Week:

300 10

TOTAL ATTENDANCE PROFESSIONS OF FAITH

date. A week without cell phones, iPods, iPads and computers often seems unfathomable.

But it is effective, organizers say.

“In our high tech world [camp] takes them out of their environment.

They’re not having so much white noise, and they’re hearing God,” said Wagoner.

Guy Cagle, Park Place Baptist Church worship pastor, said the kids his church takes to Youth Week leave behind more than technological distractions. For them camp is a reprieve from a difficult home life or the monotonous, trouble-inducing boredom of summer days.

“For some it’s where they get three meals a day,” said Cagle, who attends camp each summer with the students.

This year’s group of students from PPBC was no different than years past.

Some come from Christian families who are members of the church, but most come from families living in neighborhoods surrounding the south Houston church—many of which do not know Christ as savior.

For some of the students, Youth Week gives them a single week out of the year when they are plucked from their routine and placed in an envi12 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

ronment where neither their peers nor adults want to cause them harm. Contreras said Youth Week, with only 300 campers, lends itself to a more intimate environment in which students, counselors and camp staff can share a joke or poignant question over lunch or during the daily routine.

Not all campers come from difficult life circumstances, though, Contreras said. For some students, there is simply no historical or cultural frame of reference for camp. Camp was never an option either culturally or financially for their parents or church.

“Most of the kids we know couldn’t afford the $25 registration fee,” Cagle said.

Contreras knew the students, and ultimately their congregations, were missing a blessing. Youth Week was created with those congregations in mind. The existence of Youth Week emphasizes that no church is too small to send students to camp and that money need not be a hindrance.

The cost of Youth Week ($175 for early registration to $210 for latecomers) is offset by contributions from the Cooperative Program, allowing organizers to bring in nationally recognized speakers and worship bands without passing on the cost to the campers.

Even so, many of the campers are able to attend Youth Week because of the generosity of donors. As with most of their campers in recent years, the members of PPBC paid for the five students to attend this year.

Both M3 and Youth Week have seen their cultural dynamics shift.

Although created to draw Hispanic teens who might not ordinarily attend camp, Contreras said Youth Week has diversified, if only slightly.

“This is a good thing–drawing from other races,” Contreras said.

The English-language, low-cost camp has begun to draw more teens from Anglo and Asian churches. Although the camp will continue to encourage Hispanic congregations to involve their teenagers in summer camp, Contreras welcomes the cultural mix.

Wagoner, in a separate interview, concurred. He said M3 coordinators seek diversity in their enrollment aspiring to make camp “look like heaven.”

Students gather for Bible study at Youth Week, held June 23- 27 at Palacios Baptist Encampment.

Ten students at the camp made professions of faith.

AT TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER, FIRST BAPTIST’S VOLUNTEER TEAM ASSISTS AT PROCESSING CENTER

By Sharayah Colter McALLEN

chain-link fence along the sidewalk separated De Dorman and the rest of McAllen, Texas, from the immigrant processing center set up at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Beyond the fence, khakicolored tents stood tethered to the asphalt parking lot. Generators ran air conditioning units in each tent, keeping the temperature somewhere near 70 degrees -- a stark difference from the humid, near 100 degrees outside and the reason for the cardboard box of fleece blankets Dorman carried.

Though 70 degrees feels normal or perhaps even warm to the average American, it is a shock to the systems of those who had spent the past several days or weeks traveling from Central America and Mexico to the American border, Dorman said.

De Dorman of First Baptist Church in McAllen, Texas, packs blankets to deliver to children from Central America awaiting processing at a Catholic Charities-run center in McAllen. The blankets are valued items since the children spend significant time inside air-conditioned tents, which can seem cold compared to soaring summer temperatures in the Rio Grande Valley. PHOTO BY SHARAYAH COLTER

AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 13

Air conditioned tents are set up in the parking lot of Sacred Heart Catholic Church where a processing center has been set up in McAllen, Texas, for children and young mothers crossing the Texas/ Mexico border. From McAllen, they will begin the next leg of their proceedings with U.S.officials.

PHOTO BY SHARAYAH COLTER

“Children always freeze in the air conditioning,” she said. “They’re not used to the air conditioning.

So we’ve had people sending blankets, and I got a box yesterday. “ Providing blankets is among the ways a volunteer team from First Baptist Church in McAllen has ministered to children and young mothers crossing the border. The volunteers have washed laundry, cleaned showers and guided whole families through the processing—whatever job needed doing, they’ve done.

And in all of it, they’ve had one goal: point people to the hope found in Christ. The volunteers make a point of saying they have no political motives, reiterating that their only desire is showing compassion and hospitality to those who have landed on the town’s doorstep.

“If we make excuses why we can’t,” Dorman said, “we’ll be accountable for why we don’t.”

The volunteers have worked at the nearby Catholic church in shifts. Dorman, a member of First Baptist and founder of Helping Hands Ministries, has coordinated her church’s involvement. She said she first realized the Lord’s plans for the outreach while stranded in a Chicago airport by bad weather in mid-June. For three days, she slept on an airport14 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

provided cot. As she lay there helpless to change the situation or to resume her travel plans, Dorman began to identify with the plight of those coming into her own city 1,400 miles south.

“The first night I slept on that cot, I thought about the people I saw on television sleeping on cots ... and I just was so burdened for them,” Dorman said of the harrowing circumstances they had faced to, now, become strangers in a foreign land. She knew clearly that the Lord was calling her to minister on his behalf and resolved to seek out how she and a team of volunteers could be of service back in Texas.

When she arrived at the Catholic church hosting the processing center, Dorman saw that it was on Chicago Avenue. What to others may have seemed coincidental was a clear confirmation to Dorman that she was following the Lord’s plan.

Dorman organized a team of about 25 people from First Baptist to begin helping the Catholic church care for the constant stream of people. The Catholic volunteers seemed a bit leery at first of the Baptist group coming to help, but they quickly accepted them, weary from trying to do everything on their own.

“I sensed a relief on their part because in the beginning there was such a demand on them. They

were exhausted,” Dorman said.

Sister Norma Pimentel, the local Catholic Charities executive director, said as much when she spoke to reporters at the processing center July 19.

“It’s been fantastic,” Pimentel said. “The local Baptist church ... has united in effort to respond and work together in whatever we need to do.”

Jim Richards, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, noted in a visit to the border July 22 that the crisis is “not so much a political crisis as a humanitarian one. In the spirit of Matthew 25:40, we pray that Southern Baptists will seek and find opportunities to meet the basic needs, and the spiritual needs, of these who come to our country without food, clothing, shelter and hope.”

And, at a news conference July 22 in conjunction with the visit of several Baptist leaders to a shelter in San Antonio, Richards noted, “ It is our obligation under the gospel to minister to them and help them, regardless of the circumstances in which they came or their future.

Our main concern is to care for the children.”

Dorman said she and her group have sought to be good stewards of the open door given them by the Lord in McAllen, aiming to show respect for the church and for Catholic Charities. Because of the good relationship built between the two churches, Sacred Heart leadership has allowed Dorman and her team to give bilingual Bibles and gospel-oriented coloring books to the new arrivals along with care packages to take with them for the bus or plane ride to

their next destination.

“We tell them wherever your journey, the Lord wants to go with you,” Dorman said. “We do our best, as God opens the doors, to speak to them and to set resources into their hands for that long bus ride.”

Alisia Pina, another woman with the First Baptist team, said she has had several chances to speak with children—many of whom are scared and emotionally raw. She said she explained to them that Jesus is light, and that when things seem dark and scary in life, Jesus can take care of them and that they can call to him by name.

Dorman said many of those fleeing into the U.S. had relayed to her details from their journey —heartbreaking stories that made comprehending why some of them froze at the touch of a hand or why many seemed too traumatized to speak.

“Some of the mothers have been raped in front of their children on the way,” Dorman said. “Some of them have witnessed murders. I would say ‘shock’ is the word for it.”

One woman expressed her relief at having the hot meal provided by the Salvation Army, saying all the paid smugglers had given her to eat during the journey was an apple. These smugglers, Dorman said, earn up to $5,000 a head to smuggle immigrants through Mexico to the border. The trek is reportedly brutal and often deadly.

Felina Vega, another volunteer with the First Baptist team, has two daughters the same age as many of the children coming through the processing center.

She said the whole experience has

helped her and her children count their blessings.

“Sometimes we take things for granted, and being there makes us see how easy we have it,” Vega said. “It makes you grateful, because God gives you what you need.”

Dorman said assisting at the center in July reminded her what it feels like to be a stranger. When she and her husband moved to McAllen from Ohio 16 years ago, she recalls the feeling of alienation that has helped her minister to those coming into America.

“I never forgot how that felt,” Dorman said, wiping tears from her cheeks. “They need so much, but their greatest need is not material. Their greatest need is spiritual. I believe with all my heart that when they have the Lord Jesus Christ, he’s going to be the Father to them. But they have to make that connection ... that it’s a relationship, not a religion, they need.”

Shannon Talley, First Baptist’s pastor, said he is grateful for the church’s response to the refugees.

Like Dorman, Talley said the most important concern is ministering to the people and praying that his church can touch them with the gospel.

“My political opinion would be I wish the president and the Congress would have made better decisions,” Talley said. “But I’m not a politician; I’m a pastor. And as a pastor I have a heart to reach people, and want to help people. ... For me this is not about politics; it’s about people. Ultimately what we’re hoping is that they get to hear the gospel.”

AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 15

Sen. Cruz tours processing center for children crossing border

By Sharayah Colter

REMOVE AMNESTY AS AN OPTION TO PROTECT MIGRANTS FROM DANGEROUS JOURNEY, CRUZ SAYS. MCALLEN

One day after the TEXAN interviewed Baptist volunteers serving in a nearby immigrant processing center, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joined conservative radio host Glenn Beck to tour the facility and to call on fellow politicians to address what Cruz said is the lure of amnesty that is driving a humanitarian crisis at the border.

Volunteers said those in custody were moved elsewhere on July 19 so that the center was empty for the tour, with Cruz addressing several reporters afterward.

The processing center at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, run by Catholic Charities, has been receiving immigrants by the busload who arrived illegally through Mexico.

Once there, members of First Baptist Church McAllen and Catholic volunteers have tended to immediate needs and helped them connect with family members living in America.

Cruz, a member of Houston’s First Baptist Church, told reporters that he had met with Border Patrol officials and other law enforcement agencies to discuss the surge in illegal immigrants crossing into America.

“I asked first of all the question, ‘Why are so many coming? What has happened to change this, where we’ve gone from 6,000 children just three years ago to 90,000 this year?’ The answer that was given was, ‘They’re coming because they believe they’ll get amnesty.’ That is why they’re coming.”

Cruz said he has introduced legislation that would remove the prospect of amnesty—something that would curb the human suffering related to the long, dangerous journey many minors are making from Central American 16 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks with Sister Norma Pimentel of Catholic Charities during a visit to a McAllen processing center for illegal immigrants, mostly children from Central America who have crossed the border after a long, dangerous journey. PHOTO BY SHARAYAH COLTER

countries up through Mexico at the hands of paid smugglers.

“No one should want to see so many children brutalized and victimized. If we don’t fix the problem, we will continue to see tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of children abused, and that is the opposite of a humane act,” Cruz added.

Cruz said 622 illegal immigrants were apprehended, for example, in the Rio Grande Valley on July 18—approximately 25 percent of them unaccompanied children. He said more than 50,000 unaccompanied children have entered the country so far this year and that estimates point to a total of 90,000 arriving by the end of the year.

“The border is anything but secure,” he said.

And with the border unsecure, and the allure of “permisos,” Cruz said, parents will continue to send their children with dangerous cartels, hoping they might make it to America and be allowed to stay. Cruz said an official at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio where many of the unaccompanied minors are detained told him of the horrific journey children are taking to get here.

“A senior official described to me how these drug cartels, when they have the children in their custody to smuggle them in illegally to this country, that they will sometimes hold the children for ransom to get more money from

the families,” Cruz said.

Those situations and conditions are what Cruz says should drive a bipartisan solution to the immigration crisis. He said his proposed bill would “codify into law what [the Obama administration spokesmen] say is their position.”

“I will note that the senior spokespeople for the administration say publicly these children will not be eligible for amnesty,” Cruz said. “If that’s the case, if they believe that, the president should support the legislation I’ve introduced.”

While lawmakers discuss and

debate the next step in the border crisis, Cruz says he is thankful that churches and charities are stepping forward to reflect America’s values in their care and hospitality for the foreign families and children.

“I want to thank the church, I want to thank the Catholic Charities that are there working to care for these children and care for these families,” Cruz said. “America is a humane, compassionate nation, and treating these families with humane, compassionate care reflects our values. At the same time, if we want to stop the abuses that are happening, the only way

to do so is to remove the promise of amnesty and to expeditiously reunite these children with their families back home. So we need to set up humane, expeditious processes to return these people home.”

On July 21, Texas Gov. Rick Perry directed the deployment of 1,000 National Guard troops to the border to aid the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in protecting the border and preventing criminal activity connected with illegal immigration from traveling northward.

AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 17

Barry Creamer Brandon Smith

52,000 immigrant children and the call to love outsiders

P

resident Obama’s request for $3.7 billion to aid 52,000 young Central America migrants seeking a home here has sparked outrage among many.

Nearly $4 billion is a large amount of money; but what’s concerning is not the expenditure of funds, so much as the question of why the children are here.

Why are the children here?

All of us should be concerned that there are 52,000 children being held in what amounts to refugee centers. Why are they coming to the U.S.? What is bringing them across the border? They aren’t here to get free medical care or exploit our government. These are children, not criminals. Even at 16 or 17 years old, children don’t understand how to mastermind an economic strategy for escaping their homeland and making their lives better or easier somewhere else.

The reason the children are here is because their parents are sending them.

These families live in an extremely insecure environment and want a better life for their children. Ironically, a trip to the U.S. doesn’t even guarantee safety. Coyote marketers promise safe passage for the children, but fail to deliver. In the same way we get scammed by telemarketers, these couriers market a better life in the U.S. Oftentimes, the children end up sexually abused, sold into sex trafficking, or initiated into drug gangs. Yet these families are desperate enough to take a chance, even one that seems insane to us.

But we can understand these parents, can’t 18 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014

we? After all, it’s not unique to American society that parents should love and protect their children. Parents who send their children across Mexico into the U.S. are clearly afraid for their children’s safety. There must be something seriously dangerous in their home environments for them to go to such an extreme. It’s not hard to sympathize with that, whether these choices are ultimately right or wrong.

Parents in East Germany felt this tension during the Cold War. We heard story after story of East Germans doing this, and we were cheering their kids across the border–illegally, mind you. We sympathized then, and we should sympathize now.

How should Christians respond?

As Christians, we simply need to be more like Christ in how we respond. The children are here and need care. Let’s not shout from the rooftops, “Send these criminals back!” Such a calloused response is irresponsible and inconsiderate; it simply won’t do.

We don’t punish the children because their parents may have acted negligently or naïvely; we love children that God brought into the world, no matter how they got here. If a woman gives birth and then gives her child away, we don’t say, “That mother is irresponsible! Let the kid suffer!” No, we adopt the child. This situation is no different.

A Christian immigration policy does not have to be an open border policy. Don’t misunderstand. But the Lord will not punish anyone for taking care of children, even ones we erroneously think don’t deserve care. Kudos to anyone seeking to take care of them–even an administration that we regularly disagree with on a variety of subjects.

What about the broader issues?

First, we need to enforce immigration laws on domestic companies. It’s not irrational to assume that we spend more money on trying to shut down drug production than we spend on domestic laws preventing consumption. It doesn’t make sense to spend more money enforcing laws on foreigners than on our own citizens who are creating the illegal market to begin with.

More importantly, there’s an economic invitation to migrant workers. We’re paying at least 12 million undocumented workers extremely low wages and keeping it from the government. Then we say, hypocritically, “Oh by the way, we hate that you illegal immigrants are sneaking across our borders!” We allow this workforce to massively shape our economy while not providing them with basic human protection. Fearing deportation, they’re hesitant to go to the hospital when they’re sick or call the police when they’re victimized.

We won’t solve this problem by attacking other countries’

drug lords or sending 12 million immigrants back to their countries. We need to enforce sufficient laws upon domestic companies, to the point of shutting them down. The workers come across the border because the market exists.

Second, we need to create some kind of realistic worker permit system for foreign workers. The truth is, these workers support our economy; we can’t pretend otherwise. Not only do we need these workers to be here legally, but we should go a step further and find a way to appropriately appreciate them for keeping prices low at the local Walmart.

Finally, we need to stop confusing the issues.

Documentation problems and criminality are not the same thing. A person can get a speeding ticket and not be involved in criminal prosecution. These immigrants aren’t criminals because they’re immigrants. We simply have an immigration problem.

Moreover, we have to stop confusing non-English speakers with criminals. We shouldn’t say, “Well if they aren’t willing to learn our language, they need to get out!” Remember, English is not our language; it’s English. We must be careful how we speak of undocumented immigrants, guarding ourselves against racial insensitivity.

Scripture tells us that if we don’t treat outsiders

“... WE NEED TO STOP CONFUSING THE ISSUES. DOCUMENTATION PROBLEMS AND CRIMINALITY ARE NOT THE SAME THING. A PERSON CAN GET A SPEEDING TICKET AND NOT BE INVOLVED IN CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. THESE IMMIGRANTS AREN’T CRIMINALS BECAUSE THEY’RE IMMIGRANTS. WE SIMPLY HAVE AN IMMIGRATION PROBLEM.” well, God is not going to treat us well. This does not mean we shouldn’t have reasonable laws and borders that define us, but we should always treat human beings as God prescribes for us throughout all of Scripture–with love and mercy.

This article first appeared at erlc.com.

—Barry Creamer is President of Criswell College and a trustee at the ERLC. He is also the host of “For Christ and Culture,” heard weekdays on 90.9 KCBI in Dallas/Fort Worth.

—Brandon D. Smith is Executive Director of Gospel-Centered Discipleship and serves as an editor for the Criswell Theological Review and The Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood.

august 14-16

North Richland hills baptist church

FRIday evening

REAL MEN OF IMPACT

RALLY 7:00 - 9:15 pm

47% of Christians

said pornography is a major problem in the home

The statistics show there is an epidemic among men in our churches with pornography and sexual addiction. The Real Men of Impact Rally is designed to challenge and help men understand that their hope for overcoming any addiction can only be found in Christ.

40%

72%

of sex-addicted males will lose their spouse

JON KITNA

Former NFL & Dallas Cowboy Quarterback

TERRY TURNER Pastor, Mesquite Friendship BC

of pornography viewers are men

RYAN RUSH

MICHAEL ARMSTRONG AUGUST 6, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 19 Worship Pastor

20 TEXANONLINE.NET AUGUST 6, 2014