Texan Digital • Dec. 18, 2013 • Issue #22

December 18, 2013 • ISSUE 22

Connection Community Church is an example of one church plant reaching its Jerusalem. More like it are needed across Texas.

JUDGE: UTAH POLYGAMY LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL

TEACHER SLAIN IN BENGHAZI MOURNED YET HONORED BY HOME CHURCH IN AUSTIN

FEBRUARY 24-26, 2014

Bill Britt

Mac Brunson

Herb Reavis Jr.

Alvin Reid

H.B. Charles Jr.

Charles Roesel

Sagemont Church • Houston

Johnny Hunt

Fred Luter

Eric Metaxes

John Morgan

Steven Smith

Ed Stetzer

Paul Tripp

Robert Welch

MUSIC Afshin Ziafat MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH YOUR COOPERATIVE PROGRAM GIVING

Matt Boswell

Bill Cole

Bryant Jones

sbtexas.com/evangelism

The Old Paths

OR CALL THE SBTC OFFICE AT 877.953.SBTC (7282)

Phillips Craig & Dean

Contents

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

4

Judge: Utah polygamy law unconstitutional

5

U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups declared key parts of Utah’s polygamy law unconstitutional on Dec. 13 in a case involving the Brown family from TLC’s reality show “Sister Wives.”

6

12

Rick Warren’s greatest fear: God’s disapproval “I fear the disapproval of God more than I fear your disapproval or the disapproval of society,” Pastor Rick Warren told CNN’s Piers Morgan when asked if his views on homosexual marriage had “evolved” since the two had last visited on the subject.

Austin Stone member slain in Libya honored, mourned

Texas churches team with Hispanic Baptist Institute to offer theology training Ministry education is more than useful; it is expected, at least in the U.S. But for many people who are called to full-time ministry here and abroad, seminary education is inaccessible. The SBTC and some Texas churches are addressing that through the Hispanic Baptist Institute.

15

8

“Ronnie is not the first person who has died doing what I have encouraged them to do. He won’t be the last. If I thought death were the worst thing that can happen to a person, I would be overwhelmed with regret,” pastor John Piper said of the death of Ronnie Smith.

COVER STORY: Church planter: Let God use you to push back the darkness In less than three years, C3 Church in Rowlett has grown to more than 400 in worship and this year baptized 53 people.

Pastor Shane Pruitt says God can use willing churches to do the same all over Texas.

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

Culture War: Baptists could learn from the English Puritans As is often the case, we can find direction for moving forward by studying the history of those who preceded us. In many ways, the English Puritans of the late 16th century experienced the same sense of political failure that the Religious Right is feeling now.

Gary Ledbetter, Editor Jerry Pierce, Managing Editor Sharayah Colter, Staff Writer Russell Lightner, Design & Layout Stephanie Barksdale, Subscriptions Contributing Writers Bonnie Pritchett, Paul F. South, Neal Murphy, John Ambra, Jane Rodgers, Zach Crook To contact the TEXAN office, visit texanonline.net/contact or call toll free 877.953.7282 (SBTC)

Gary Ledbetter

Grateful to be here

I

n this final Texan Digital of 2013, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you why we do what we do. Our sincerest effort goes into providing stories and articles that you may find useful— inspirational, informational or thought provoking. I’d say that is our primary function, to provide our readers with what they need to better pursue the Great Commission. In doing so, our secondary function comes into play. Our best stories tell what your church and others are doing. These are the most inspirational and often the most informative.

By reading these we hope you’ll get a vision of what your church might do in its own context and according to its own resources. When you read of what a sister church is doing in Texas or even what your state convention is doing you are reminded that we are stronger together.

Our secondary purpose is to connect churches that by profession claim to follow the same mission, doctrine and Lord. This secondary purpose is significant.

I’m reminded of that as I see state papers across the country languish or even disappear.

The state paper that was the largest when I started as an editor 25 years ago has ceased printing and now has only an online presence.

One of the oldest state papers has merged with a liberal news service, burying its identity into a fellowship only vaguely Baptist. We’ll see more papers disappear or become insignificant as life becomes tougher for those whose livelihood is based on newsprint. For the most part, Baptist papers that require payment for online access have found little remedy for their problems. The problems are real amid rapid and chaotic changes.

State conventions that allow their state papers to become insignificant are being shortsighted. During a time when denominational enthusiasm seems to be in decline, these state conventions are abandoning the convention 2 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

resource that still has the largest audience of any ministry in the state. If the Southern Baptist TEXAN (print) lost 75 percent of its recipients, we would still have the largest mailing list owned by our convention. Simply, no one in our state convention reaches the number of people we do. I think that would be true of just about any state paper in just about any state convention.

How do state conventions “abandon” their papers? First, some state conventions have reduced their papers to merely promotional tools or digests of news service reports. When that happens, their audience dips further (because they are getting nothing new) and the expense of producing the paper results in little or no convention unity. I say that conventions “allow” their papers to become a shadow of their former selves because no more than one, if that many, of our state papers is economically free to ignore the wishes of the state convention’s leadership. The paper will ultimately be what the convention’s leaders want.

The second abandoning is simply financial. Conventions are struggling to continue their ministries in the former style. Pastors are demanding that more money go to worldwide missions and many churches are starving the state convention by cutting CP or working around the traditional definition of CP. Too often state conventions cut funding to what they can do without. The newspaper is high on that “optional” list. That action reminds me of the medical practice of bloodletting, which continued well into the 19th century. By some accounts, weak patients were drained of as much as half their blood during a short period of time in the belief that bad bodily humors were weakening the patient.

The treatment and the malady were often the same thing. In that way, state conventions sometime decry the decline of denominational unity and then drain their primary means for addressing the situation. The state paper is far from the least significant ministry of most state conventions.

I’m grateful that our convention has been far-sighted enough to support its primary communications tool from the start. I’m grateful that our churches continually provide us with heartening news of life and ministry across the state.

We love to tell the stories.

Let me offer a primary and secondary way you can help us continue our mission. First, send us names and addresses (our print edition) and email addresses for the TEXAN Digital e-magazine. We will happily send our newspapers without charge to all who want to receive them. Second, and you’ll have to admit I don’t mention this even once a year, we do receive donations from individuals and churches. We’re happy to receive them; they are always an unexpected blessing. Click here if you’d like to make an online donation. We appreciate the multiplied ways you support your state paper.

Briefly //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// DRAPER ADDRESSING STATE’S LARGEST PRO-LIFE RALLY, JAN. 18 The “Stand4Life” March and Rally will be held at the Dallas Convention Center on Jan. 18 (Saturday), commemorating the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy. Addressing the crowd at the rally will be Jimmy Draper, president emeritus of LifeWay Christian Resources and the interim president at Criswell College. Catholic Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Dallas Diocese will also address the crowd.

Organizers expect more than 10,000 to march in the rally.

At 1 p.m., Catholics will celebrate their Mass with Bishop Farrell, while others will participate in a worship service with J.E. McKissic singing. Before and after the service, participants may connect with local pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers at the Pro-life Ministry Fair. At 3 p.m., both groups will march together to the “Stand4Life” Rally behind the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse (1108 Jackson Street).

Kyleen Wright, president of Texans for Life Coalition, who has served on the SBTC Resolutions Committee, noted that the battle to protect vulnerable women and unborn babies is not yet won and said she hopes many fellow Baptists will join her in the pro-life effort.

“After last year’s mammoth battle to pass modest restrictions on abortion and strengthen safety measures for women, no one can doubt the importance of publicly standing for life, and that is what over 10,000 of us will be doing Jan. 18,” Wright said.

PASTOR SAEED’S WIFE TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS Less than two weeks before Christmas, Naghmeh Abedini testified before Congress on behalf of her husband, United States citizen and pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned in Iran since last June because of his Christian faith.

“My husband is suffering because he is a Christian,” Abedini said when she Naghmeh Abedini, testifying before a congressional addressed a subcommittee hearing of subcommittee Dec. 12, tells of her family’s anguish the House of Representatives’ Foreign since her husband, U.S. pastor Saeed Abedini, was Affairs Committee on Dec. 12. “He is imprisoned in Iran in June 2012. suffering because he is an American.

Yet, his own government ... has abandoned him. Don’t we owe it to him as a nation to stand up for his human rights, for his freedom?

“Not all Americans are Christians, but every American—regardless of their belief—needs to be reassured and know that our government will take decisive action to protect us if our fundamental rights are violated,” Abedini added.

Although this was Naghmeh Abedini’s first time officially to testify before a panel of the House of Representatives, she already has described her husband’s plight internationally through news agencies and while addressing the United Nations in Geneva earlier this year. As a special guest at the Missouri Baptist Convention in October, she recalled telling world leaders at the U.N. meeting that “the solution they’re all looking for to the world’s problems is Jesus Christ.”

During the Dec. 12 House hearing, Naghmeh Abedini and attorney Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law Justice (ACLJ), thanked members of Congress for showing nonpartisan interest in her husband’s release. Yet they expressed dismay that the U.S. administration had failed to use unprecedented negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to demand his release.

Sekulow expressed concern that, during a House hearing two days earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that he had not mentioned Saeed Abedini during nuclear talks with Iranian officials.

According to a transcript released from the ACLJ Dec. 11, Kerry said, “I personally raised the issue with the Foreign Minister Zarif when I met him the very first time, and we have not linked it directly to the nuclear issue because we believe that prejudices them and it also prejudices the negotiation.”

In response, Sekulow tried, during the Dec. 12 hearing, “to impress upon Congress the desperate need for great urgency, as Pastor Saeed is in a dire predicament.”

Abedini, who was arrested last June while working with government approval to establish an orphanage, was sentenced without due process to eight years in the political prisoner ward at Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, Sekulow explained. Then, as the U.S. administration pursued diplomatic discussions with Iran in November, he was transferred to the criminal ward of Rajai Shahr Prison.

DECEMBER 18, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 3

JUDGE: UTAH POLYGAMY LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups declared key parts of Utah’s polygamy law unconstitutional on Dec. 13 in a case involving the Brown family from TLC’s reality show “Sister Wives.”

The decision by Waddoups, as described by the Salt Lake Tribune, holds that “key parts of Utah’s polygamy laws are unconstitutional.”

The 91-page ruling “sets a new legal precedent in Utah, effectively decriminalizing polygamy,” the newspaper stated.

Russell D. Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, responded to the ruling in an email distribution to the media on Dec. 14.

“This is what happens when marriage becomes about the emotional and sexual wants of adults, divorced from the needs of children for a mother and a father committed to each other for life,” Moore said. “Polygamy was outlawed in this country because it was demonstrated, again and again, to hurt women and children. Sadly, when marriage is elastic enough to mean anything, in due time it comes to mean nothing.

“The loss of a marriage consensus is about more than just social policy,” Moore noted. “Marriage is an embedded picture of the gospel, the union between Christ and his church. That’s why Jesus pointed back to the beginning, to God’s creational purposes. We must talk about these issues not simply from the point of view of nature, but from the point of view of the gospel.

“When reality TV scenarios drive our judicial decisions, we’ve truly reached a strange time in American life,” Moore said. “But the gospel was given in strange times, and remains the power of God to salvation, calling us to repent of our selfmade attempts at autonomy and back to God’s purposes.”

State officials, as of midday on Dec. 14, had not indicated whether Utah would appeal Waddoups’ ruling.

Waddoups, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, was a nominee of President George W. Bush in 2008. Waddoups holds a law degree from the University of Utah’s law school and an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.

The text of Waddoups’ ruling can be accessed here.

4 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

Eric Hankins (left), pastor of First Baptist Church of Oxford, Miss., speaks with Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., during a public dialogue at the seminary about Calvinism among Southern Baptists. Mohler is a Calvinist and Hankins is not, but both served on an ad hoc convention committee that released a report on the topic last spring. SBTS PHOTO

MOHLER, HANKINS TALK DIFFERENCES ON CALVINISM Southern Baptists need to “learn the table manners of denominational life” when discussing Calvinism and the particulars of salvation doctrine, Al Mohler said during a Nov. 7 on-stage dialogue with Mississippi pastor Eric Hankins at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Mohler, president of Southern, and Hankins, pastor of First Baptist Church in Oxford, Miss., co-chaired a 19-member Calvinism Advisory Committee that issued a unanimous report in May to Executive Committee President Frank Page, who assembled the group, acknowledging tension and disagreement within the Southern Baptist Convention. The report urged Southern Baptists to “grant one another liberty” on Calvinism while joining arms for the Great Commission.

Mohler holds to Calvinistic soteriology. Hankins was the primary author of “A Statement of Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation,” issued in 2012 as a retort to Calvinism in SBC ranks.

Mohler invited Hankins to hold the discussion before students and faculty. Hankins also preached in Southern Seminary chapel earlier in the day.

Throughout the hour-long conversation, both men affirmed the need for Southern Baptists on both sides of the debate to exercise humility and show grace to those with whom they disagree.

“We have to learn the table manners of denominational life,” Mohler said. “There is a certain etiquette and kindness that is required, just like in the family reunion.”

The Southern Baptist family is made up of both Calvinists and those who are not, Mohler said.

Hankins said, “There’s been too much ugliness,” noting a friend warned him before issuing the “traditionalist” statement that “Calvinists will maul you. … And he was right.”

“That goes both ways,” Mohler responded, to which Hankins replied, “I absolutely acknowledge that.”

Mohler said “theological humility” requires both sides to acknowledge “we’re doing the very best we can” and that both sides are still capable of cooperating in the Great Commission and other ministries, as long as they can both affirm the Baptist Faith and Message.

Audio and video from the discussion with Mohler and Hankins’ sermon are available at sbts.edu/resources.

—Briefly section was compiled from staff reports and Baptist Press

RICK WARREN’S GREATEST FEAR: GOD’S DISAPPROVAL Pastor Rick Warren spoke a line to CNN’s Piers Morgan that has resonated with people who, like him, have tried repeatedly to explain why they won’t change their stance to support samesex marriage.

“I fear the disapproval of God more than I fear your disapproval or the disapproval of society,” Warren, of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., told the host of “Piers Morgan Live.”

Warren appeared on the show amid a media blitz for his new book “The Daniel Plan” about getting healthy for the glory of God, but his stand for biblical marriage continues to draw attention.

A discussion of Warren’s admiration of Pope Francis turned to same-sex marriage when Morgan asked whether Warren’s views had evolved during the two years since the two discussed the issue on air.

“Have you moved at all now? Are you recognizing that there is this seemingly unstoppable movement?” Morgan asked Warren during the show that aired Dec. 6.

Warren responded, “Well, I don’t get to change what God says is right and what God says is wrong. And I think God is real clear that all sex outside of marriage is wrong. But the issue here is the issue of respect. While I may disagree with you on your views on sexuality, it does not give me a right to demean you, to demoralize you, to defame you, to turn you into a demon.

“Tolerance, Piers, used to mean we treat each other with mutual respect even if we have major disagreements,” Warren said. “Today tolerance has been changed to mean all ideas are equally valid. Well, that’s nonsense. All ideas are not equally valid. You could say the moon is made of cheese and I could say the moon is made of beans and somebody else could say it’s made of rocks.”

Morgan asked whether Warren

Pastor Rick Warren told CNN’s Piers Morgan he fears the disapproval of God more than the disapproval of man.

believes in “equality for all,” and Warren said he does.

“How can you really, as a Christian man, a great man, how can you espouse genuine equality if you don’t allow gay people the same rights to get married as straight people?” Morgan asked.

Warren said he’s more “against the redefinition of the term ‘marriage’ than anything else.”

“I don’t think other groups get an opportunity to redefine a term. For instance, if a Muslim says this is a term we use and all a sudden I take that term and mean it for me, that’s not right,” Warren said.

“I think historically around the world the vast majority of people would say marriage means one man and one woman in a commitment,” Warren said. “Don’t take a term and make it something different.”

Warren noted that it’s not against the law for people to love whoever they choose. He just doesn’t believe they are entitled to hijack a term.

“But that term is from the Bible, right?” Morgan asked.

“Well, certainly the Bible says God created marriage,” Warren said.

“My issue with that,” Morgan said, “is there are many things in the Bible

which simply today wouldn’t fly. If you were to look at me in a lustful way or any woman in this audience, according to the Bible you should be stoned to death. Clearly we don’t do that anymore, so there are a number of things in the Bible which seem very anachronistic.”

Morgan wanted to know whether Warren expects to change his mind on the issue of gay marriage.

“You’re a man under—he has this incredible library, Rick Warren.

Literally one of the great libraries I’ve ever seen in my life, kept beautifully.

You have all these books by all these great scholars,” Morgan said. “Many, many of them will have evolved their thought processes over things depending on how they see things.

“Can you see a time where not just you but other Christian preachers and indeed the Catholic Church and others say, ‘You know what? Actually, real equality means everyone has the same right to get married, gay or straight,’” Morgan said.

Warren replied, “I cannot see that happening in my life. I fear the disapproval of God more than I fear your disapproval or the disapproval of society.”

DECEMBER 18, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 5

Teacher slain in Benghazi mourned yet honored by home church in Austin

By Bonnie Pritchett AUSTIN

Ronnie Smith and his family moved to Benghazi, Libya, 18 months ago so he could teach chemistry at the International School Benghazi, sensing God’s call to be a light in a war-weary land. But on Dec. 5 while jogging, Smith was shot multiple times by perpetrators yet to be captured or claim responsibility for the attack.

Friends, students and fellow teachers in Libya and the U.S. were stunned by the sudden loss. Some despaired at the apparent senselessness of the murder while others voiced hope in God’s providence.

Ahmed @Criminimed posted on Twitter following the shooting: “He left his wife, his son and his country to come to Libya and help our kids get better education and we rewarded him with [sic] bullet.”

The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, in a prepared statement, however, noted: “Although we grieve because we have lost a friend, a husband, and a father, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has a greater purpose than we can imagine right now.”

Smith was an Austin Stone member as is his wife Anita.

The church held a private memorial service for Smith on Dec. 9. Smith served as an associate pastor at Austin Stone for four years prior to the family’s move to Libya. But his desire to serve others drew the 33-year-old to share the gospel with an unpredictable yet lovable people.

Smith was alone in Benghazi, having sent Anita and their young son Hosea back to the U.S. Nov. 12 to begin the Christmas break. Smith was scheduled to leave Dec. 13 after his students completed semester exams.

Principal Peter Hodge, describing Smith as a beloved teacher and friend of the International School Benghazi, wrote on the ISB website that Smith “supported students in their learning and always had time to help when asked. He was a professional who gave his time freely and without question. We cannot 6 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

Ronnie Smith and his family moved to Benghazi, Libya, 18 months ago so he could teach chemistry at the International School Benghazi, where he sought to be God’s light in a war-weary land. On Dec. 5, Smith was gunned down while jogging near the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. PHOTO PROVIDED BY AUSTIN STONE COMMUNITY CHURCH

begin to comprehend why this has happened and it is extremely difficult for his students and his colleagues to accept.”

Libya’s violence left the students “in a state of depression” but Smith was “like a light,” wrote Dave Barrett, Austin Stone executive pastor of operations, in an email response to questions from the Southern Baptist TEXAN. Smith’s death focuses attention once again on a region torn by sectarian violence. Four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stephens, were killed in a September 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate roughly six kilometers from ISB. Smith reportedly was jogging near the compound when his assailants shot him and drove away.

On Nov. 8, Smith had written on Twitter: “Bed time.

Cue the bombs,” referring to the all-too-common sounds of violence.

Three days earlier an unexploded bomb was removed from the Benghazi Medical Center six miles from the school. On Nov. 11 an anti-tank mine was defused in a popular shopping district.

On Nov. 2 when the Rotana Café, popular with women and their children, was blown up, Smith

tweeted: “Wanna blow up something harmful? How about those cafes and sheesha [hookah] spots where men spend all night neglecting their kids and wives.”

So why would a young father and husband move his family to such a place? Barrett sent The TEXAN a link to Smith’s video response. He had obviously given the question plenty of consideration before leaving.

“If there is any single person in the entire universe that you can take a chance on, it’s God,” Smith said.

Yielding to God’s call to go to unfamiliar and potentially dangerous places goes hand-inhand with a commitment to follow Christ, several Austin pastors told the TEXAN. Though they did not know him, they said his faith was evident in his obedience and his death a cause for reflection.

“God may be calling us to go some places—not places we’d pick to live,” said Rod Minor, pastor of Anderson Mill Baptist Church in Austin.

Minor was preparing a sermon on circumstances of Jesus’ upbringing as he considered the Smith family’s call to Libya. Nazareth was not a pretty place to live, Minor said, noting that Jesus was derided for being from a “less than desirable” town.

“That begs the question, ‘Where am I supposed to be? Where is my life going to count?’” Minor said.

The Austin Stone statement answered in part.

“Ultimately, Ronnie’s desire to serve others was motivated by his faith in a God that loves the world and calls us to be a part of making the world a better place.”

“Ronnie is not the first person who has died doing what I have encouraged them to do. He won’t be the last. If I thought death were the worst thing that can happen to a person, I would be overwhelmed with regret.”

—JOHN PIPER

Minor said, acknowledging the risk of sounding trite, that the safest place to be is in the middle of God’s will. It may seem absurd to the lost, but it makes Smith’s testimony all the more profound, Minor said.

Ryan Rush, pastor of Bannockburn Baptist Church in Austin, said Smith’s death hits close to home. And it convicts.

Following God’s call to Libya—and staying there after the deadly consulate attack last year— should compel Christians to live missionally.

Christians may be at odds with the cultural milieu of an uber-liberal city whose motto is “Keep Austin Weird,” Rush said, but churches like Austin Stone are proactively engaging the community, seeking to bless others as a means to an end—sharing the uncompromising gospel of Christ.

More than one member of the congregation posted video links to Smith’s 2010 sermon “The History of Redemption.” The 30-minute presentation, all memorized solely from Scripture, outlines God’s plan for redeeming his fallen creation and again the words echo a prophetic message of a life lived and laid down for the glory of God. Smith’s Twitter feed reflects a man seemingly nonplussed by the inherent dangers of the community where he lived in Libya but engaged in the lives of his students—if only to lovingly goad

them.

The night before Smith’s death, @RazanYMR posted to his teacher: “Knowing I’m getting 100% on my sci exam tomorrow makes me soo happy @ISBchem right?”

To which Smith replied Dec. 4: “Yep. I already recorded it. 10%.”

Though he developed a goodhumored rapport with his students, Smith’s motivation for being in Libya was deadly serious.

“But the whole point of Ronnie’s life is that there is something worse than death,” author John Piper wrote in a Dec. 7 blog titled, “When we send a person to his death.”

Smith had noted that one of Piper’s messages was significant in leading him to Libya.

Piper wrote: “Ronnie is not the first person who has died doing what I have encouraged them to do. He won’t be the last. If I thought death were the worst thing that can happen to a person, I would be overwhelmed with regret.”

Piper called on thousands of others to replace Smith, not in seeking death but rather the “everlasting joy of the world— including our enemies.”

Hodge, in his message to the school’s parents, wrote: “We are all saddened and shocked by this tragedy, but we must continue the important task of teaching your children. There is no doubt Mr. Smith would have wanted us to do so.”

DECEMBER 18, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 7

CHURCH PLANTER: ‘Let God use you to push back the darkness’

By Paul F. South

ROWLETT

hen one of Christianity’s first church planters, Paul of Tarsus, set about his work, there was no cookie-cutter approach. In Athens, a center for academia and false Gods, he engaged the intellectuals and polytheists. In other towns, he learned to sew tents while building relationships with those who would come to faith in Christ.

Simply put, Paul thought like a missionary.

8 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

So it has been for Shane Pruitt and his church planting team at Connection Community Church in Rowlett, a community of 56,000 in the suburban sprawl east of Dallas. In less than three years the congregation that began with 31 people in a living room now has more than 400 in worship Sunday mornings in a building the congregation owns outright. The young church has baptized 53 people this year.

It’s a suburban church planting success story.

But in a Texas so rapidly growing and becoming more diverse racially, ethnically and socioeconomically, the formula that is working in Rowlett may not work in other Texas settings.

“We can still find the stereotypical Texan here. But Houston, from what I understand, is the most ethnically, racially diverse city in the country,” Terry Coy, the SBTC director of missions, said. “The Hispanic population is approaching 50 percent. We’ll get there within the next 10-15 years. We’re already a majority minority state. Immigration of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist background, while still small in number, is growing significantly,” Six of the top 20 fastest-growing cities in America are in Texas, Coy said. The border with Mexico from Brownsville to El Paso is one of the most unevangelized “lost” areas in the United States.

“All that together means we’ve got to plant more churches of all kinds to reach all kinds of people,” Coy said. “This is not your grandfather’s Texas anymore.”

The SBTC has made church planting a priority. The convention hopes to partner in planting 50 congregations in 2014 with an eye toward 100 annually.

Shane Pruitt and his team in Rowlett are exemplars for what can be done with God’s favor, Coy said.

Unlike the apostle Paul, no Damascus Road experience spurred Pruitt to plant a church. God used the simple stuff of everyday life.

While serving at a church in nearby Garland, Pruitt lived with his family in Rowlett.

“Everything we did, communitywise, the majority of our close relationships, discipling, the lost people that we were building relationships with, they were in Rowlett,” Pruitt said. “We just saw a need in Rowlett. There are great churches in Rowlett, but the majority of the churches were what we would call a ‘traditional church,’ reaching empty nesters and above.

“There wasn’t really a church in Rowlett that was reaching young families. The majority of the young families that were going to church were going out of Rowlett to do so.

We saw a great need.”

The call to plant Connection Community Church, known affectionately among its flock as “C3,” was unexpected, Pruitt said.

He talked with friends at the Dallas Baptist Association about the needs in Rowlett. He saw himself as a church planter, but was uncertain about the timing, But over time, the Lord put a call on the hearts of four men and their wives, “specifically for Rowlett,” Pruitt said. He, along with Nick Gainey, Daniel Hancock, John Rogers and their wives set out to plant C3.

“It wasn’t one of those light-bulb,

Pastor Shane Pruitt embraces Hayden Rose, a strong safety on the Rowlett High School football team. Pruitt said several churches have started and floundered in Rowlett. But over time, the church is building a rapport with the community. PHOTOS BY RICK LINTHICUM

“There wasn’t really a church in Rowlett that was reaching young families. The majority of the young families that were going to church were going out of Rowlett to do so. We saw a great need.”

—SHANE PRUITT

Fellowshipping around a table at Community Connection Church in Rowlett are (L-R): Brianna and Brad Malone, part of the original core team; Kelly Watkins, office administrator, Kasi Pruitt, wife of pastor Shane Pruitt, holding Titus Pruitt; Raygen Pruitt and Rex Willeford, also a part of the original core team that planted C3.

DECEMBER 18, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 9

put-my-finger-on-a-globe-and-hit-Rowlett moments. We were already doing life there and saw the need. Through that, it just sort of happened.”

The newness of the church presented a blessing, and a challenge, for the C3 team.

Over a 10-year period, seven churches tried and failed in Rowlett. As a result, the church attracted worshipers from outside Rowlett but struggled in its own backyard at first.

But that has changed.

“Trusting a new church can take time.

Here in Rowlett they have seen many other church plants start and then fail. In a town like Rowlett, they’ve seen that happen, so they kind of sit back and wait to see if it is going to make it, is this something that’s here to stay, or is it something that’s going to be gone tomorrow? So, it took some time to build up that kind of trust.”

But the newness has also helped.

“There’s a newness buzz going on because the church is new and it’s growing, and so people are coming to check us out to see what’s going on and see what God is doing.

Our greatest hurdle has also been one of our biggest selling points,” Pruitt said.

Amid all the busyness and hard work, Jesus must be the focus, he added.

“Obviously, God is sovereign. And if he’s in it, he’s going to do it. He’s creative enough to use many different avenues and many different ways, whether it’s parachuting in or living in a town for a while. He can do whatever he wants,” Pruitt said.

Pruitt gained valuable counsel from another SBTC church planter, Bill Lundy of Heartland Fellowship south of Mesquite: Don’t go it alone. Embrace God’s vision, not your own. And think like a missionary.

“Keep surrounded by other men. ‘Don’t ‘go rogue,’” Pruitt said. “Keep yourself surrounded by other men, other pastors, other people in your network. Every pastor needs to have three men in his life: A Paul, who will be a mentor and pour wisdom into you. Everybody needs a Timothy whom they are discipling and pouring into. And 10 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

Children and young families are plentiful at C3. Pictured walking into the church building are Jackson Birdsong followed by his younger sister Stella. Trailing in the foreground is David Smith.

PHOTOS BY RICK LINTHICUM

everybody needs a Barnabas in his life who’s side by side with them, encouraging them to stay the course,” Pruitt said.

Also, “There’s no greater joy in life than God giving you a vision, you being obedient to that vision and then seeing lives transformed through that. It’s so true.”

He added, “When I see someone get baptized at C-3, it brings tears to my eyes, because I’m reminded of that. Three and a half years ago, this church didn’t even exist. But God had a vision, people were obedient and lives are being transformed.

Pruitt passes on a simple, yet powerful, message to the congregation.

“We’re not called to be parish priests,” Pruitt said. “We’re called to be missionaries. If you’re planting in the suburbs or you’re planting in the urban areas or in the deserts of Africa, you’re in a mission field. Approach it all the same. Learn the culture. Learn the people. Learn the hurts and the needs and let God use you to push back the darkness.”

For more information on church planting, visit sbtexas.com/ churchplanting.

“We’re not called to be parish priests. We’re called to be missionaries. If you’re planting in the suburbs or you’re planting in the urban areas or in the deserts of Africa, you’re in a mission field. Approach it all the same. Learn the culture. Learn the people. Learn the hurts and the needs and let God use you to push back the darkness.”

—SHANE PRUITT

‘ S H OE B OXE S OF LOVE ’

Historic church shows big heart at Christmas, year-round

By Neal Murphy SAN AUGUSTINE

Liberty Hill Baptist Church of San Augustine has a rich and full history. In 1880, the church was established with 11 members among the tall pine trees as the first Baptist church in the area.

All these years later, the church averages 80 in Sunday School each week but it has a world vision and a heart for missions.

During the past 15 years, two special programs have been used to raise funds for the needy locally and around the world.

At Christmas time, the church’s generosity shines brightest.

In 1998 a husband and wife team, Ann and Robert Baker, suggested that Liberty Hill participate in “Operation Christmas Child,” a church-based Christmas ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, led by Franklin Graham. The endeavor involves packing shoeboxes full of gifts and sending them to needy children around the world.

The congregation eagerly agreed, and a goal of 200 shoeboxes each year was established.

The members responded by meeting their goal most every year since. In fact, in 2003 a total of 300 shoeboxes were packed with toys, school supplies, hygiene items, socks, crayons, pens and pencils, and a personal note. This

“As a pastor, it is a blessing to see God’s people love missions because to love missions is to love what Christ loves.”

—PASTOR FRANK HOLRATH

year, church member Brenda Epps and her husband Clyde loaded 182 boxes and transported them to Northwood Baptist Church in Nacogdoches for pick up.

“As a pastor, it is a blessing to see God’s people love missions because to love missions is to love what Christ loves,” Pastor Frank Holrath said. “There are many ways in which we can be a part of the mission work without going to the mission field. Whether it be Samaritan’s Purse shoeboxes or Vacation Bible School offerings, we are participating in the Great Commission to reach souls for Christ.”

The church’s generosity doesn’t stop at Christmas. Each year during Vacation Bible School the children are urged to collect pennies—girls pitted against boys in a friendly competition.

Over 12 years of VBS collections, the copper has added up. This year the kids collected $1,600 dollars, all in pennies, during Vacation Bible School for the benefit of East Texas

Linda Epps, a member of Liberty Hill Baptist Church in San Augustine, stands next to the 182 “Shoeboxes of Love” donated to Operation Christmas Child this year.

Baptist Family Ministry (ETBFM) in rural Shelby County. ETBFM, an affiliated ministry of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, provides living arrangements for retired ministers and their wives, for unwed mothers and for foster children.

Each summer, ETBFM Executive Director Gerald Edwards drives over in a truck to retrieve the pennies, which are placed in a wheelbarrow, loaded up and taken to Citizens National Bank in Henderson.

“I always joke to the church that the bank hates to see us coming, but the truth is they really don’t,” Edwards said. “The church has been extremely generous and it has gone to further God’s work among people who need it.”

As the Gaither song goes, “Little Is Much When God Is In It.” DECEMBER 18, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 11

Texas churches team with Hispanic Baptist Institute to offer theology training Non-traditional, non-formal, no-cost training equips those who can’t attend seminary but are called to plant and pastor churches.

By Sharayah Colter The need for theological education for those called to ministry is more than useful; it is expected, at least in the United States. But for many people who are called to full-time ministry here and abroad, seminary education is inaccessible. Some live in remote areas of the world where no seminary exists. Some have not had access to the education needed to meet prerequisites for college or seminary. Some find their native language to be a barrier.

Dennis Mock, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS), realized this during a 1988 trip to Mombassa, Kenya, where, for one week he taught a group of 93 pastors who had no formal theological training. Then and there the Lord impressed upon Mock the need to train pastors who will never have the chance to attend seminary.

“God gave me a burden for these men and enabled me, over the next two years, to develop a 10-course, 2,200page, 520-hour comprehensive curriculum,” Mock said in an interview with DTS. That curriculum now exists in more than 32 languages and is being used globally. Several years ago, the material became a key tool for several Southern Baptist churches in Texas that began training Hispanic pastors for ministry.

Eighteen months ago, the spark the curriculum had ignited in Texas kindled a fire and led to the founding of the Hispanic Baptist Institute for Biblical Studies by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

The institute serves as a connecting and supporting center for training pastors and church planters using Mock’s 10-course curriculum and is made possible by the Cooperative Program (CP), the shared missions funding plan Southern Baptists use.

David Alexander, an SBTC church planting associate, said the institute does not exist to take the place of 12 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

formal theological training in seminaries but to fill in the gaps by offering training to those who otherwise would not go to seminary at all.

“Hispanic Baptist Institute exists to provide a solid ministry training for those who either do not qualify for accredited opportunities or do not desire to go that route,” Alexander said. “It is a highly reproducible model in that the goal is not just to produce trained people for ministry but trained teachers who can go on to train other faithful people to train others also.”

The institute, he said, provides a community network that helps churches learn best practices from each other, provides a concerted effort in letting churches know about the training tool and allows Texas churches to use the added addendum to the training, which includes lessons on Southern Baptist history and CP. Beyond that, however, the training is up to the churches.

“The training center is kind of a grassroots type of methodology,” Alexander said. “We don’t really push it on a church. We present it as a solution to the problem of not having a place to train people and give them a theological foundation. It’s got to be something [pastors] take ownership of. I can’t push it. I can’t teach it for him.”

And that is where the effort becomes very grassroots and highly church-focused. Each training center is established by a local church. That local church provides a volunteer—usually the pastor or another qualified teacher—to commit to teach through the curriculum.

Then, those who have successfully completed the training are sent out as ministers and as qualified trainers of the next “generation” of students.

“The institute is a tool for fulfilling the mandate that Paul gave to Timothy,” Alexander explained, pointing to 2 Timothy 2:2. “The things that we have been taught, we are to entrust to other faithful men who can go on and

teach others also.”

There is no cost for setting up a center, Alexander said, and several Texas churches have already done so.

Together, those churches have turned out about 130 trained ministers and have seen about eight churches planted from among the graduates. Alexander said he counts those who have completed the training through the institute on par with seminary-trained ministers.

“I tell all of them, I consider them to be just as much my colleagues as those who have doctorates,” Alexander said. “[Most] of them will never have that opportunity, but yet we are still able to give them a seminary-quality education to prepare themselves for ministry.”

Alexander said from here on, no barrier should prevent Texans who are called to ministry to get theological preparation.

“There is no longer any reason for anyone in our state to be without a way to get trained for ministry, and all it takes is a few people willing to invest their lives in the lives of others and to start doing it,” Alexander said.

For information on setting up a center or becoming a student, visit sbtexas.com/hbibs/ or contact Alexander at dalexander@sbtexas.com.

Three hot dogs, three long weeks

By John Ambra DALLAS

All Anna Streeter saw in her refrigerator was three hot dogs and one bottle of apple juice. She was hungry and wanted to go to the grocery store, but her bank account was as empty as her icebox.

Anna wasn’t used to needing to ask others for assistance. For more than 30 years, she had graciously ministered to those in need through the work of Southern Baptist churches. But now, at age 84, she had little left to live on besides a small pension and a modest Social Security check. Then, unexpected major repairs on her 21-year-old car and several medical bills used up the little she had saved.

Anna was facing a trio of troubles.

If she was going to survive, she needed to get help.

Filled with belief that God would provide, Anna called to check on the status of her application for Mission:Dignity, which provides financial assistance to retired pastors, workers and their widows who are struggling to make ends meet.

She was relieved to discover she was eligible for assistance, but discouraged to learn that her check wouldn’t arrive for three weeks. That’s an awfully long time to wait when you’re hungry.

After a long silence, she asked, “Is there any way to get it sooner? I don’t have any food.”

As Christians, we are reminded in James 1:27 to care for our widows in need, and that is exactly what the team from GuideStone’s Financial Assistance department, which administers Mission:Dignity, did next.

They gathered a few gift cards for emergency groceries, picked up lunch

and headed over to bring hope to Anna.

When Anna opened the door and saw the smiling faces and assistance from Mission:Dignity, she began to weep.

Finally, help was on the way and those three weeks weren’t going to be that long after all.

But Anna isn’t the only one who needs our help.

Mission:Dignity proudly serves some 2,000 retired Southern Baptist pastors, workers and their widows. These men and women faithfully served God’s people in small, mostly rural churches and are now struggling to meet their own basic needs.

“We are privileged that the ministry to which we have been entrusted is to provide for these dear servants of the cross in their declining years,” said O.S. Hawkins, GuideStone president.

“More than 60 percent of the people we serve are widows—with one in four being a pastor’s widow over age 85. When our generous donors give to Mission:Dignity, they join us in serving as Christ’s hand extended to these faithful servants.”

Mission:Dignity is funded through direct contributions from churches, Sunday School classes and individuals.

It receives no Cooperative Program funding. All donations given to Mission:Dignity go directly to help a pastor or his widow in need, with nothing held back for administrative expenses, and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Donate to Mission:Dignity online by visiting MissionDignitySBC.org or by mailing a check to Mission:Dignity at 2401 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, TX 75201. Gifts postmarked by Dec. 31 are eligible to be deducted on 2013 tax returns.

DECEMBER 18, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 13

Disaster relief teams minister after North Texas ice storm

By Jane Rodgers FARMERSVILLE

After ice storms pelted North Texas on Dec. 5, Pastor Bart Barber and members of First Baptist Church of Farmersville seized the opportunity to help the community 35 miles northeast of Dallas in Collin County.

First Baptist Farmersville opened its doors to shelter those displaced by the storm.

Since Dec. 6, the church has fed hundreds and provided showers and lodging for dozens.

Volunteers from the church also ministered directly to the community with chainsaw teams from the Southern Baptists of

Texas Convention Disaster Relief ministry deployed to the Farmersville area within a day of the storm.

The icy blast woke Barber and his wife, Tracy, early Dec. 6 when they heard limbs snapping in the front yard of the church parsonage, across town from the church. By 5 a.m., Barber was checking on the situation in the town.

The city had cut power because of five electrical fires, Barber said.

Barber phoned SBTC DR director Jim Richardson that morning. On Saturday (Dec. 7), an SBTC DR chainsaw team headed

by Jim Howard, pastor of West Side Baptist in Atlanta, Texas, arrived in

14 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

Farmersville.

“Within 12 hours of the storm, we talked to the Farmersville city manager, Ben White, and I was able to tell him that the SBTC had a DR chainsaw unit on the way and that we were going to open a shelter at FBC Farmersville on Friday night,” Barber said.

The city was able to restore power to the church, which is near an electrical substation, Barber said.

“We opened the shelter at 5 on Friday and we served a hot meal at 6,” Barber said.

As of Monday afternoon (Dec. 8), 41 people had received shelter at the

Ice weighed heavily on trees like this one in Farmersville after an ice storm in North Texas on Dec. 5. Disaster relief volunteers from SBTC churches served people in the Collin County town northeast of Dallas.

church. Volunteers had prepared and served more than 300 meals, Tracy Barber said.

The family of Kelley and Scott Wagner sought shelter at First Baptist.

The Wagners, who attend the church, have seven children, five of whom live in the Wagners’ country home. The youngest is 9 months old.

“We lost power and tried to tough it out with a generator and space heater,” Kelley Wagner said.

“They have actually let us use the entire preschool wing for my children,” said Kelley, whose husband works for an Oncor energy subcontractor. Scott Wagner had been working round the clock to restore electricity to the community. First Baptist has also provided meals for the Wagners’ older son and Scott’s parents, who remained on the family’s country property to look after the animals.

Instead of regular services on Sunday, First Baptist encouraged all members who could safely do so to come to the church for breakfast at 9:30 a.m., and an abbreviated worship service at 10. More than 60 members came, “from kids to folks 65 and older,” Bart Barber said.

Following the service, First Baptist members joined the SBTC DR chainsaw teams in assisting the community, cutting down trees, clearing limbs and debris and helping elderly citizens.

The SBTC chainsaw teams have been housed at First Baptist. “They are very hospitable here,” said Doug Scott, DR volunteer from Atlanta, who added that SBTC volunteers expected to be in the Farmersville area for several more days before

possibly heading east to the Paris area.

Facebook posts, cell phone calls and referrals from the city of Farmersville requesting assistance have been addressed by the people of First Baptist.

“Over the past decade, we have been very active in helping others in this kind of situation,” Bart Barber said. “We have responded to the need of those affected by hurricanes Rita, Katrina and Ike. We have sent volunteers to Joplin, Mo. “We now get to mobilize here in town for our neighbors, doing what we have been doing for our neighbors around the world,” Barber said.

“I am not surprised by how our church has responded,” he added. “I am very proud to be their pastor.”

Gordon Knight, SBTC field ministry strategist and a disaster relief chaplain, leads a phase 1 DR training for members and pastors of Filipino churches on Dec. 14 at International Victory Christian Church in Pearland, which meets at Calvary Baptist Pearland. Eleven people were trained during the event with the aim of responding to needs in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan.

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention | sbtexas.com/sent

DECEMBER 18, 2013 TEXANONLINE.NET 15

Zach Crook

When it comes to the ‘culture war,’ Baptists could learn from the English Puritans A cursory glance at the state of cultural morality in America is disheartening. The Defense of Marriage Act has been labeled unconstitutional. A healthcare reform act is requiring all businesses, no matter the religious beliefs of the owners, to offer access to abortioninducing drugs. Same-sex marriage is being legalized in numerous states. The list could go on.

If we are honest, we can see that we live in a post-Christian culture. The dominant Christian culture has faded. For someone like me, a pastor of a Baptist church in the Bible Belt of Texas, I hear the alarmists sound the end of Christian influence and the demise of our country. Now that we stand on the other side of a failed “moral majority,” there is one question everyone is asking, “What now?”

As is often the case, we can find direction for moving forward by studying the history of those who preceded us. In many ways, the English Puritans of the late 16th century experienced the same sense of political failure that the Religious Right is feeling now. They had tried for decades to influence the politics of Elizabeth I and reform the Church of England and the religious state of their country. They, much like conservative efforts in the 1980s and ’90s, were galvanized for a time in believing they could influence Elizabeth and the national church, only to realize their efforts were ultimately futile. But it was their response to their political frustration that sheds light on how a religious minority can still influence the future of a nation.

By the 1590s, the Puritans realized they weren’t going to convince the monarchy or the leadership of the Church of England to reform. They had lost the political battle and “retreated” from London to Cambridge. While the political scene in Washington might make 16 TEXANONLINE.NET DECEMBER 18, 2013

it uncomfortable for a Christian to express belief in the authority and inerrancy of the Bible, it was illegal for the Puritans to separate from the Church of England and even gather to worship. If any group could have held a defeatist attitude toward the state of their country, it would have been them. However, while they had to admit their failure to influence the government, they didn’t give up or sound the alarm. They didn’t lament the future of their nation.

They simply changed their strategy.

Rather than continually trying (and failing) to influence the monarchy toward reform in the Church of England, they focused on educating and influencing the next generation of leaders who were studying at Cambridge. The Puritans embraced their minority status and changed their aims. They realized that a top-down approach wasn’t working, so they switched to bottom-up.

No longer focusing solely on those in power, they went about teaching biblical truth to the next generation of leaders. While presenting the power of the gospel to these university students, many were saved and developed a biblical worldview.

Many Puritans eventually separated from the Church of England and started churches that produced theologians like John Smyth, who in turn pastored Thomas Helwys, who began the first Baptist church on English soil.

Additionally, Helwys wrote a groundbreaking work on religious liberty, “A Short Declaration on the Mystery of Iniquity,” which made a lasting impact on generations of believers. He greatly affected those who eventually helped get the Act of Toleration passed, which allowed some conditional religious freedoms to dissenting groups.

It seems that God worked mightily among these Puritans when they stopped trying to change the government and simply started sharing biblical truth with the masses.

This is why the position of Russell Moore and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission should be so encouraging to Baptists moving forward. He has openly stated that we must switch our thinking from a “moral majority” to a “prophetic minority.” We must share the truth of the Bible no matter the cost. We should focus on the gospel and teach a biblical worldview.

As the Puritans learned, who is in political power shouldn’t be our greatest concern. Our greatest concern should be sharing and spreading God’s truth. If we do that, God can work through our prophetic minority in the same way he worked through the Puritans. As believers, we need to continue to fight to ensure that our nation maintains religious liberty. With the freedom to share God’s Word, we should trust in its power to change people and culture.

—Zach Crook is the pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Weatherford and a master of divinity student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.