Baptist Press Stories for Jun. 13 2012 --------------------------------------- Abdel: Fearless http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38029 150 evangelicals, from left & right, call for comprehensive immigration reform http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38041 SBC church plants: up 27 percent in 2011 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38039 Shamal: 'For those who yearn to be free' http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38030 Miriam: Looking ahead http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38031 Mark: No matter what http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38032 Sameh: Quiet revolution http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38034 Amani: Great expectations http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38038 Whatever happened to the 'Arab Spring'? http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38028 Verdict reversal requested in Fla. suit http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38036 Group criticizes B&H 'Military Bibles' http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38037 FIRST-PERSON: SBC 2011 statistical realities http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38035 WORLDVIEW: Be there http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38033 --------------------------------------- Abdel: Fearless By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38029 EDITOR'S NOTE: It's been more than a year since the early, heady days of what some have called the "Arab Spring" protest movements led primarily by Arab young people yearning for greater personal and political freedoms. In the months since, governments and dictators have fallen or fled in multiple countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen). In other places, regimes are struggling through change -- or hanging on through violent suppression of revolt (Syria, Bahrain). See an overview story in Baptist Press today, [URL=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38028]“Whatever happened to the ‘Arab Spring’?”[/URL] Meanwhile, however, what's happening behind the scenes? How is God working in the lives of young Arabs who will lead the next generation? The following stories take a glimpse into the lives of six men and women coping with radical change. TUNISIA (BP) -- Abdel* says what he thinks and backs it up even when it gets him into trouble. Once a hard drinker, soldier and martial artist, Abdel found trouble on a regular basis in Tunisia, birthplace of the "Arab Spring." He still does from time to time. The difference: When he gets in trouble nowadays, it's usually for telling people about Jesus, not for picking fights. "I'm not smart like these people who can play with words," he says. "If you are wrong I say you are wrong. If you're right, OK." The "old Abdel" surfaces occasionally, the wiry 27-year-old admits with a sheepish grin. Like the time he was caught in one of the biggest demonstrations of last year's "Jasmine Revolution," which toppled the long-ruling dictatorship of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. That revolution, sparked by a young Tunisian who set himself on fire to protest a long string of humiliations at the hands of authorities, launched a social and political tidal wave that soon would sweep much of the Arab world. Abdel was heading home after work one day during the height of the unrest and found himself amid thousands of protestors and police and clouds of teargas in Tunis, the North African nation's capital. "I just wanted to go home," he insists. "So I asked the policeman who was guarding the Metro station, 'Please, can I use the Metro? It's the last train.' He said some bad words about my family and told me to get out. To me it was a question of honor. Kill me, that's OK, but don't say something bad about my mom, my dad, my family. So I put him on the ground." Big mistake. Seven more policemen appeared and Abdel fell into a fetal position, expecting a beating he might not survive. "I know karate, but I'm not Jackie Chan," he says. "I couldn't do anything against seven cops with weapons. So I just started to pray: 'God, I'm stuck, I'm cornered, nobody can help me except You. Help me, or I will be seeing You soon!'" Suddenly he heard a voice yelling for the beating to stop. Out of the thousands of security personnel on the streets that day, one of the seven policemen surrounding him happened to be an old school friend. He grabbed Abdel and pulled him to safety. "I just said, 'God, thank You.' If I spent the rest of my life thanking Him, it would be not enough." REVOLUTION OF ONE Abdel already was on close speaking terms with God by then. His own personal revolution had begun nearly three years before the national one. Born into a Muslim family, he often prayed at the mosque as a young person, but argued with his father about his future. He wanted to seek higher education; his father wanted him to make money. He joined the army, but got kicked out of military school and spent a month in jail for getting into trouble. After finishing his army service, "I felt like I lost everything -- my school, my future job, my relationship with my family, everything." Abdel found a survival job in Tunis, but drank every night. Like so many other frustrated, angry young men in the Arab world, he faced a bleak future. Then a young Muslim friend revealed to Abdel that he had decided to follow Christ. Abdel exploded at him: "What? No way! You cannot! It's wrong. We have Muhammad." His friend insisted he would not turn back, so Abdel demanded to meet with him and his other Christ-following companions to "change their minds." Instead, Abdel found himself being challenged to change. He heard for the first time about God's passionate love for the world and plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. He talked for hours with the believers, peppered them with questions -- and went away thoroughly confused. "I didn't know how to figure out it," he remembers. "Who was the right one? Who was the wrong one? Muhammad? Moses? Jesus? What am I going to do? I asked God, 'Give me a sign, give me something, because I'm going crazy. I want to have a special relationship with You but I don't know how. Tell me.' "Two nights later, somebody came to me as I was dreaming. He said, 'Son, come to Me. I am the way.' I woke up in the morning and said He must be Jesus, but there was something in my heart that said, 'No, don't believe it.' But when I opened my Bible, I found [Christ's words]: 'I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life.'" He immediately called his friends and declared, in classic Abdel style, "I want to believe. That's it. End of story." "That was four years ago. It was the best decision I ever made. I still have some problems but they are not like before because whatever I do, I know that I have Him. When I'm tired, He will hold me. He can help me. He's the real meaning of hope. He is always with me." Today, Abdel has a new philosophy straight out of Matthew 28, his favorite Bible passage. "Go, baptize, and teach them how to live and obey Me," he says, summarizing the last two verses of that chapter. "That's it. We really need to follow those words." He follows them, even though the decision has cost him. He was expelled from his family for a time when he revealed he was following Jesus as Lord. They have since allowed him back but still treat him warily. He prays for them daily. He's been threatened by Islamists, but that's common for any Muslim who declares faith in Christ. For Abdel, there is no turning back. "I'm going to follow Jesus until the end of my life -- that's it," he says. "God said they will persecute you. I'm happy with that. I figure if I don't have a hard time, something is wrong." SEEKERS Besides, even some of the people who curse him want to know more about Jesus. He's ready 24/7 to tell his story and explain the Gospel. He gets calls from all kinds of people. What do they want? Something the "Jasmine Revolution" apparently has yet to provide. Hopes soared after the Ben Ali regime fell in early 2011. But the economy has struggled, and prices have risen along with unemployment. Many Tunisians have left the country looking for work. Even Abdel almost left to find a job, but now he plans to open a small shop. New freedoms hang in the balance as Islamists, moderates and secularists struggle for power in the new political order. But after generations of enforced silence, people are free to express their opinions and seek their own answers -- for now, at least. And they are seeking. "Sometimes I even get calls from Salafists [militant Islamists]," Abdel reports. "They just want to know who is the right God. They want to figure out how to do this, but they don't know because they are afraid to read the Bible. So I think God is really working after the revolution." That's why, on a clear spring day, Abdel and some of his young friends don't hesitate to sing praise songs to Jesus outside at a bustling street-corner coffee shop -- something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago, even in secularized, European-influenced Tunisia. "They are absolutely fearless," observes an admiring friend. "They are going to speak." As Abdel might say: That's it. --30-- *Name changed. Erich Bridges is the International Mission Board's global correspondent. To be free -- that’s what the “Arab Spring” protesters said they wanted last year. Have they found it? See how God is using historic change for His purposes in this video: [URL=http://www.imb.org/main/downloads/flashvideos.asp?mvid=15380&mvidext=mp4]http://www.imb.org/main/downloads/flashvideos.asp?mvid=15380&mvidext=mp4[/URL] Take a visual tour of an Arab world in the midst of change via this photo gallery: [URL=http://www.commissionstories.com/stories/2186]http://www.commissionstories.com/stories/2186[/URL] -- End of story -- 150 evangelicals, from left & right, call for comprehensive immigration reform By Tom Strode Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38041 WASHINGTON (BP) -- Southern Baptist leaders have joined in the strongest effort to date by evangelical Christians to bring about comprehensive immigration reform in the United States. Bryant Wright, president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and Richard Land, head of the SBC's ethics entity, were among more than 20 Southern Baptist denominational leaders, academics and pastors who endorsed an "Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform." The Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), a new coalition, released the statement signed by 150 evangelicals at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday (June 12). In the statement, the signers call for government leaders to work with the American people for a "bipartisan solution" on the controversial issue that: [QUOTE@right@200="Immigration reform is 'an urgent moral issue.'" -- Houston pastor David Fleming]-- "Respects the God-given dignity of every person; -- "Protects the unity of the immediate family; -- "Respects the rule of law; -- "Guarantees secure national borders; -- "Ensures fairness to taxpayers; -- "Establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents." The signers acknowledge efforts to repair what many of them describe as a broken system that has resulted in polarization and a misrepresentation of "each other's positions as open borders and amnesty versus deportations of millions. This false choice has led to an unacceptable political stalemate at the federal level at a tragic human cost." While Land and other leaders of the Evangelical Immigration Table have been promoting comprehensive reform for several years, the statement marks a significant expansion of evangelical endorsers in a cooperative effort. Notably, Focus on the Family took a stance on the issue for the first time when its president, Jim Daly, signed the statement. The coalition includes evangelicals from both the left and right. The EIT "is diverse in its formation, but it is unified in its biblically mandated vision to help create a better life for immigrants" based on its stated principles, Land said at the news conference. Land is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Sojourners President Jim Wallis, known for his left-leaning politics, pointed to the agreement between his organization and more conservative groups such as the SBC, Focus on the Family and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). "That doesn't happen very often," Wallis told reporters. "An effort for immigration reform of this size and this diverse has never been attempted in the evangelical community." It appears there will be no attempt to move immigration reform in Congress this year. The political will does not seem to exist at either the White House or Capitol to pursue action on such a controversial issue before the November election. Yet, EIT members said it is time to promote reform. "There may not be a vote on immigration reform in the Congress before November, but there are going to be a lot of votes in November," NAE President Leith Anderson said at the news conference. The positions of incumbents and challengers on immigration reform could impact the election, Land pointed out. He cited a Pew Forum survey that showed 70 percent of Americans said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who backs comprehensive reform. "That tells me that it's time for the politicians to understand that the country has changed on this issue, and they believe it's well past time for the government to get its act together and to pass immigration reform that is in line with these principles," Land said. "And we as evangelicals are here to say to both parties, 'Get with it.' "We are absolutely convinced that the country is ahead of its elected leaders on this issue -- in both parties," he said. The pastor of a Southern Baptist mega-church told reporters that immigration reform is "an urgent moral issue" for pastors and churches. About 30 percent of the congregation of Champion Forest Baptist Church, which is located on the northwest side of Houston, Texas, is Hispanic, said senior pastor David Fleming. "In churches across America, we deal with the challenges and the failures of our current immigration policy on a regular basis," Fleming said. "The people most affected by the current policy are not anonymous to us. We know their names and their faces, their hopes and dreams, their gifts and their skills. We recognize their inherent value and their great potential as human beings." Sometimes, it is impossible to help those in the church who are caught in an immigration system that does not account for changes in their circumstances, Fleming said. The EIT's statement does not propose precise policies, and one speaker at the news conference acknowledged, "Much, much work remains to be done on the specifics." Tom Minnery, a senior vice president for Focus on the Family, said, "As difficult as it was getting all these signers together, the next step -- getting politicians together -- is a much greater task." The EIT heads -- which include Land, Anderson, Wallis and six others -- met with White House officials and congressional members June 12 and 13. It also is sponsoring radio ads in Colorado and Florida. The June 12 news conference capped more than a year of preparation. In addition to Wright, Land and Fleming, the Southern Baptists signing the EIT statement included Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; former SBC President James Merritt; Durham, N.C., pastor J.D. Greear; Robin Hadaway, interim president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Russell Moore, dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Steve Lemke, provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and Daniel Sanchez, missions professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The statement and the signers may be accessed online at [URL=http://www.evangelicalimmigrationtable.com/]http://www.evangelicalimmigrationtable.com/[/URL]. Messengers to the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, Ariz., approved a resolution on immigration reform that called for the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus while pursuing justice and compassion. The measure urged the government to make a priority of border security and holding businesses accountable in their hiring. It also requested public officials secure the borders, and with secure borders, establish "a just and compassionate path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those undocumented immigrants already living in our country." It specified the resolution was not to be interpreted as supporting amnesty. Land has consistently called for comprehensive reform that includes a pathway to citizenship that would consist of such requirements as paying fines, undergoing a criminal background check, learning English, pledging allegiance to the American government, accepting a probationary period and going to the back of the line behind those seeking to enter the country legally. --30-- Tom Strode is Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press. -- End of story -- SBC church plants: up 27 percent in 2011 By Tobin Perry Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38039 ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- Last year was an encouraging one for church planting by Southern Baptists. According to new statistics released by the North American Mission Board, the number of plants reported by state convention partners grew by 27 percent -- from 780 to 990 -- between 2010 and 2011. [QUOTE@right@210="Southern Baptist churches and state convention partners are doing the work to start new churches." --Kevin Ezell, mission board president]These figures represent the first two-year span using a new church planting reporting procedure instituted in 2010, whereby all NAMB-reported new starts were required to have received an SBC ID. Distributed by LifeWay Christian Resources, SBC IDs are usually obtained through Baptist associations, state conventions or the SBC Executive Committee and are essential to identify and track congregations uniquely. "I think it is important for people to know that we take the task of tracking these new plants very seriously," said Aaron Coe, NAMB's vice president for mobilization. "We have pastors' names and emails so that we can contact them, encourage and support them. And we have the physical addresses of the churches to assist us in strategic placement of future new plants. We want to do whatever it takes to help them survive and thrive in the SBC long-term." This reported increase comes after NAMB announced a new goal of a net gain of 5,000 new congregations by 2022. To reach that goal, the number of church plants will have to continue to climb. Because an average of 880 SBC churches per year ceased to exist from 1999 to 2009, NAMB expects Southern Baptists will need to start more than 13,000 churches during the next decade to reach the 2022 goal. The growth in the number of church plants in 2011 comes as a pleasant surprise to NAMB leadership. Coe expected the number of church plants to either remain the same or slightly decline in 2011. "We thought our starting point might be 650 or so -- instead it's 990," he said. "It's way ahead of where we thought we would be. It's a very positive sign." NAMB President Kevin Ezell credited churches and state convention partners for the increase. "The changes we've been making at NAMB have not yet fully impacted the field, but Southern Baptist churches and state convention partners are doing the work to start new churches," Ezell said. "I can't wait to see what God will do in the years ahead." Coe believes the increased convention-wide focus on church planting, a focus by NAMB on mobilizing bivocational planters and a more effective equipping plan for church plants and partnering churches will boost the number of plants over the goal in the coming years. The Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Florida Baptist Convention all showed significant increases in the number of new churches with SBC IDs in 2011. "We believe God is moving in Maryland and Delaware," said David Lee, executive director of the two-state convention. Our motto has been: 'Moving at the speed of God.' He is really moving! To God be the glory." Lee says the BCMD believes new church plants are the best way to reach the unchurched in Maryland and Delaware. Lee hopes by strengthening existing churches and partnering them with church plants that plant churches they will establish a church planting movement in the region. "We also believe that the success of these new churches will motivate our existing churches to re-dream their dreams of evangelism and missions," Lee said. NAMB missionary and church planter Brian Moon, featured in the summer issue of On Mission magazine, started one of those Maryland/Delaware churches with a new SBC ID in 2011. The young Korean church planter believes God led him to just the right location for his new plant in a North Bethesda, Md., neighborhood. The church now hosts about 40 people from Japanese, Korean and American families on Saturday evenings for children's activities, English classes and Bible studies. On the first Saturday night of each month about 50 people of various backgrounds attend a worship service at the church. Many of the Japanese families who have become involved in Life Mosaic Church come from a Buddhist background and have had little or no exposure to the Gospel. "I never thought [we'd reach the] Japanese," Moon said. "It's amazing to us. It just formed in our hearts that this kind of church was needed." --30-- Tobin Perry is a writer for the North American Mission Board. -- End of story -- Shamal: 'For those who yearn to be free' By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38030 EDITOR'S NOTE: It's been more than a year since the early, heady days of what some have called the "Arab Spring" protest movements led primarily by Arab young people yearning for greater personal and political freedoms. This is one of six stories in Baptist Press today exploring the lives of six men and women coping with radical change. And, for an overview story about the intervening months, see today’s Baptist Press story, [URL=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38028]“Whatever happened to the ‘Arab Spring’?”[/URL] TUNISIA (BP) -- A harsh sun glares down on the dusty town square where Arab history changed one day. It was Dec. 17, 2010, a day like any other in sleepy Sidi Bouzid, a provincial capital in southern Tunisia. But a young fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't take the frustration of paying bribes to local inspectors for the privilege of making a living. Couldn't take the pressure of barely supporting his mother, disabled uncle and five siblings. Couldn't take the humiliation of another day with little hope. So on that day, he refused to pay the expected bribe. They took his apples and pushed him to the ground. One inspector is said to have slapped him. Bouazizi demanded justice at city hall and the governor's office. He was ignored. He went into the street with paint thinner, doused himself and set himself on fire. He lingered in agony for days in the hospital, then died. But his rage and despair set Tunisia -- and much of the Arab world -- on fire. Millions of mostly young people took to the streets to cry for freedom from tyranny and corruption, freedom to pursue a better life. The "Arab Spring" was born. On a spring day more than a year later, another young man, Shamal*, stands in the square in Sidi Bouzid. Clad in jeans, a black warm-up jacket and dark shades, he contemplates the mural of Bouazizi, now a revered martyr, that dominates the street. A memorial sculpture of Bouazizi's fruit cart is adorned with these words in graffiti: "For those who yearn to be free." Shamal understands the meaning behind the words. "I didn't know how it feels to be free, because I never experienced it," he says thoughtfully. That was before. He knows what freedom feels like now -- the kind of freedom no government can give. Shamal's yearning started early. Now 27, he grew up in a small town in northern Tunisia. He dutifully went to the mosque with his Muslim family but got into trouble when he began questioning the tenets of Islam as a teen. "I tried to find God, to look for God, but I was kicked out from the mosque two times," he recounts. "If you are asking too many questions, it's like lack of faith." He grew curious about Christianity and bought an Arabic-language Bible during a visit to Italy. But he couldn't understand it and gave up in frustration. One day, a stranger showed up at the family home asking to rent their other house during vacation time. "I saw him reading the Bible and I told him, 'Yeah, I have one like that. Could you explain it to me?' He said, 'Sure. Grab a chair.' So he spent his vacation talking to me." Later, Shamal met other believers and visited churches in Tunis, the nation's capital. He liked what he heard, but it wasn't enough to make a life-changing decision. He prayed to hear the truth from the source: the Lord Himself. "God answered me with a vision," he recounts. "I saw someone wearing all white. It was so bright. He was stepping forward and I was stepping backward. The first word He said was, 'Do not fear.' I felt someone touch me on my shoulder, and I was alone in the house at that time. It was real. From that day on, I am following Jesus." In those early days of faith, Shamal was so excited about Jesus that he couldn't stay silent -- regardless of the situation. Once again, his readiness to talk about truth got him into trouble. "I was disturbed by the police many times," he says. "The hardest time maybe was the first time I got arrested. I never got arrested before, so I felt really bad that time behind bars. I said, 'God, that's not your plan for me for sure. You don't want me to be here.' I really felt frustrated. I didn't have any courage. I was blaming God: 'Why are You doing this? I'm doing good things. Why am I here?' "But the good thing is I got to share with the police guard in that jail. He said, 'Why are you putting yourself in this position?' So I shared with him my testimony. After a while he became a believer, and all his family. That's when I figured out the plan of God: I was in the jail because of that person. No matter what's happening, I know God is in control." Five years later, Shamal is just as excited as ever about telling people about Jesus. But he's wiser about when to speak up and when to wait. Still, he's ready whenever God moves. Like the time a man on the tram was trying to read a book and couldn't find his glasses. He asked Shamal to read to him. The book turned out to be a Bible given to the man by a taxi driver. Shamal read it to him and later led him to faith in Christ. Or the time Shamal and a friend took a wrong turn driving and picked up a man needing a lift to the hospital so he could donate blood for his ailing brother. He asked Shamal and his friend to pray for his brother. Shamal happily obliged -– and mentioned Jesus in his prayer. "I've been wanting someone to tell me who Jesus is," the man said after Shamal's prayer. "I don't have any idea why I want to know. I just want to know." They explained the Gospel and led the man to Christ on the spot. "He was crying with tears. I got overwhelmed myself at that point," Shamal says, smiling at the memory. "I like to serve God. It's not an easy journey, but I have a lot of happiness in following Jesus." He's also experiencing a lot more freedom of expression and movement since 2011's "Jasmine Revolution" toppled the Ben Ali dictatorship and its stifling control of daily life in Tunisia. The new freedoms could disappear as various political and religious factions jockey for power, but Shamal is taking full advantage of them while they're available. "Before, I was controlled by the government," he explains. "I had to go and sign in every three months and tell them everything -- what I did, where I moved. If I was having any guest in my home, I had to go and ask permission. I really hated that. I feel more free now in doing God's work. He has a plan for Tunisia. But nothing happens without prayer. We need to pray. There's been a lot of change, a lot of new circumstances. I'm sure God will use it to build His Kingdom here in Tunisia." Whatever happens, Shamal has a personal goal he believes is God-given: to disciple and train 100 leaders who will in turn train others to make disciples. "That's my main vision," he states, quietly but firmly. "And I'm not going to give up on it." --30-- *Name changed. Erich Bridges is the International Mission Board's global correspondent. -- End of story -- Miriam: Looking ahead By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38031 EDITOR'S NOTE: It's been more than a year since the early, heady days of what some have called the "Arab Spring" protest movements led primarily by Arab young people yearning for greater personal and political freedoms. This is one of six stories in Baptist Press today exploring the lives of six men and women coping with radical change. And, for an overview story about the intervening months, see today’s Baptist Press story, [URL=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38028]“Whatever happened to the ‘Arab Spring’?”[/URL] CAIRO (BP) -- It's been an anxious year for Egyptian women. Hopes soared when young Egyptians -- men and women together -- led the demonstrations that brought down longtime President Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. Together, they faced down guns and thugs in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, toppled the old order and captured the world's imagination. If they could do that, what could they not do? Many women and girls dared to dream of new freedoms in a society where they have long been subjugated by Arab and religious traditions. They're still dreaming, but little has changed so far. In the immediate aftermath of revolution, social order broke down. Police disappeared. Crime skyrocketed. Citizens had to defend their own neighborhoods from thieves and looters. In the year since, economic turmoil and political uncertainty have continued as various factions compete for power. But day-to-day conditions have improved -- except for women. "I don't feel freedom," says Miriam*, 17, a Christian student in Cairo. "Under Mubarak it was bad, but at least it was safe to walk on the street. But now it's not." In Miriam's neighborhood, a densely packed district of the vast city, women still fear robbery or assault if they go out alone. In the chaotic months after the revolution, "it was difficult for me to go to any school lessons, especially at night, because the area became very empty," Miriam recalls. "So my dad had to stop his job to take me from place to place. It put a lot of pressure on my studying to be afraid to go on the street. It was difficult." Far from gaining new freedoms, women wonder what a heightened Islamist influence in the post-Mubarak era might bring. Many are wearing head scarves and covering any bare skin to avoid harassment from conservative Muslim groups. Even some Christian women now carry head coverings in their purses -- just in case. Fear and doubt permeate their discussions of the future. Even so, Miriam is optimistic as she looks ahead. She aspires to study management and pharmacy. She'd like to open a clinic one day with her sister, who wants to be a doctor. She participated as her church -- located in the poor, heavily Muslim area where she lives -- made many new friends in the community by holding medical clinics open to all. Beyond personal plans or goals, Miriam prays for a new Egypt -- despite its current struggles. "Maybe God has allowed this to happen so the people -- and the Christians, specifically -- will come to Christ again, will know that He is the only Lord of our lives," she says. "It doesn't matter what happens in the street or in the country. I'm not worried about the new president. It's all in God's hand, no matter what president takes the rule. "Maybe we have to wear more clothes and cover our hair, but that's only on the outside." --30-- *Name changed. Erich Bridges is the International Mission Board's global correspondent. -- End of story -- Mark: No matter what By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38032 EDITOR'S NOTE: It's been more than a year since the early, heady days of what some have called the "Arab Spring" protest movements led primarily by Arab young people yearning for greater personal and political freedoms. This is one of six stories in Baptist Press today exploring the lives of six men and women coping with radical change. And, for an overview story about the intervening months, see today’s Baptist Press story, [URL=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38037]“Whatever happened to the ‘Arab Spring’?”[/URL] CAIRO (BP) -- When the big demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square began in 2011, Mark* joined the throngs of people demanding a new Egypt. History was being made. Everyone knew it. Young Egyptians with the courage to face what might happen next wanted to be in the square. Mark went every morning and stayed until midnight 14 days straight. "At first I went for the same reasons as everybody else, to change the government and get rid of [former Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak," says Mark, now 23, an evangelical Christian. After a few days, however, he noticed something: thousands of people with nothing to do but stand around and chant slogans. He took food to share with others. He introduced himself and started conversations. He began to take Bibles each day to give away. "It was easy," he remembers. "There was an openness and a willingness to share down there that was different in Egypt. We felt like a community of our own. Everybody was really, really happy with what was happening. And when Mubarak stepped down it was a big party." Those days are over. More than a year later, many of the Tahrir demonstrators believe their revolution has been hijacked. Uncertainty reigns as political factions maneuver for influence. Islamist parties dominate Egypt's Parliament. Many Egyptian Christians fear what will happen if Islamists consolidate power. Some are leaving the country. But Mark is still sharing the Good News. You can find him at Starbucks: He's the big guy with a big smile, a goatee and jeans, a leather shoulder bag slung over his chair. The bag holds his study Bible and theology texts -- plus some Bibles to give away. "If someone gets close to me I will talk to him," he says. "Most Egyptian people are easy to make friends with. In 10 minutes I will know his wife's name, his children, where he lives and works." Mark grew up in an Egyptian Catholic family but began a personal relationship with Christ at age 14 at a Bible conference for teens. He also developed a deep hunger for Scripture. He later completed his college studies in information systems and now works two jobs while studying in a school of theology. He used to try to debate deep concepts with Muslims during his café outreach sessions. No more. "It's not about explaining theology," he says. "It's about sharing your faith. People will understand by the work of the Spirit, not by arguing over fine points." What if hard-line Islamists step up pressure on Christians? That's OK with Mark. "In the hardest times, it's most apparent that we need a Savior," he says. "Where there's freedom and where people don't really have any problems to worry about, they don't feel like they need the Messiah. But here, the harder it gets, the more people realize their need. Of course I would like for there to be freedom in my country, but the most important thing is for more people to know the Lord. The harder circumstances get, the more people turn to the Lord." What bothers him is the number of Egyptian Christians who want to leave the country. He understands their fears; he has concerns for his own family. But now isn't the time to leave the field to opponents of the Gospel. "If I wanted to leave, it would be to go to someplace even harder," he says. Someplace like Sudan or Afghanistan. "[The Apostle] Paul said to plow new ground, to go to places where there aren't any believers." --30-- *Name changed. Erich Bridges is the International Mission Board's global correspondent. -- End of story -- Sameh: Quiet revolution By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38034 EDITOR'S NOTE: It's been more than a year since the early, heady days of what some have called the "Arab Spring" protest movements led primarily by Arab young people yearning for greater personal and political freedoms. This is one of six stories in Baptist Press today exploring the lives of six men and women coping with radical change. And, for an overview story about the intervening months, see today’s Baptist Press story, [URL=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38028]“Whatever happened to the ‘Arab Spring’?”[/URL] CAIRO (BP) -- A group of Muslim students at Al-Azhar University -- Cairo's world-renowned, millennium-old center of Islamic learning -- researched the life and character of Jesus several years ago. They carefully studied what the Bible, the Quran (Islam's holy book) and various commentaries said about Him. They considered evidence from other sources. They debated controversial issues, such Jesus' crucifixion and whether He really died and rose again. Their conclusion: Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Shortly after they presented their findings to their professors, the students received letters of expulsion from the university. One of those students was Sameh*, a young man from Upper Egypt. He had been searching for the truth about Jesus long before coming to Al-Azhar. He grew up the son of a farmer and attended an Islamic school as a teenager. But he became curious about the differences between the Bible and the Quran. Quietly, he began to study and compare the two using Internet resources. Then, like so many Muslims who hunger for truth, he had a dream. It was a vividly detailed vision of a church he had never seen before and a sermon delivered by a preacher he had never met. Later, he found that very church in Cairo, where he heard that very message. "I knew that this was a revelation, and I understood then that I have to come closer to the Lord and to the church," Sameh recounts. "I was very encouraged to know that God had started to speak to me." He listened, believed -- and followed. Why are Muslims throughout the Middle East and beyond having dreams and visions about Christ? "Because the Lord Himself is working," Sameh contends. "Christians in Egypt have always been afraid to share their faith, so God Himself has started to move," revealing Himself directly to Muslims. God-sent dreams and visions typically direct the seekers who experience them toward Christ, the Word of God or a church where other believers can be found. Sameh, now 27, is relatively quiet, but he exudes determination. He lives and works in Cairo, where it's much easier for a Muslim-background follower of Christ to connect with other believers -- and discipleship training -- than in rural, more conservative areas. His family doesn't know about his spiritual decision, but he prays that one day he can share with them. When Egypt's revolution began in 2011, Sameh felt a mixture of confusion, fear and hope -- as did many Egyptians. But whether social and political change ultimately results in greater freedom for believers or greater persecution, it won't deter him from his own revolutionary goal: "to speak about what God has done with me and to witness to everybody about His work. … He is not dead. He is living." Sameh treasures the memory of Christians and Muslims coming back to Tahrir Square (site of the demonstrations that toppled the Mubarak regime) on New Year's Eve to sing songs together. "Even though a lot of Islamists are taking positions of power, that is not going to continue forever," Sameh predicts. "It is a storm in a cup." As for the church, Sameh is diplomatic, but he believes it's time for Egyptian Christians to take a stronger public stand for the Gospel, despite their long history of persecution by majority Muslims. "Christians have a problem with understanding their own religion because, if they understand their faith, they're going to make real change," he says. "The church has to move; it is not moving towards those from other backgrounds. But there's a positive change these days. I see more openness. I see the church responding to those outside. That is a good beginning, but the political situation stops the church from going on. We have to remember that we are not fully free to evangelize, even after the revolution. Muslims have the freedom to call others to come to their faith, but Christians don't yet have that freedom. "If you want to have a real balance, you have to give the freedom for all Christians and Muslims to choose whether to follow this way or that. Pray for that freedom. Egypt deserves better." --30-- *Name changed. Erich Bridges is the International Mission Board's global correspondent. -- End of story -- Amani: Great expectations By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38038 EDITOR'S NOTE: It's been more than a year since the early, heady days of what some have called the "Arab Spring" protest movements led primarily by Arab young people yearning for greater personal and political freedoms. This is one of six stories in Baptist Press today exploring the lives of six men and women coping with radical change. And, for an overview story about the intervening months, see today’s Baptist Press story, [URL=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38028]“Whatever happened to the ‘Arab Spring’?”[/URL] AMMAN, Jordan (BP) -- Amani* has big dreams and expectations. She doesn't just want a job -- which can be hard to find in Jordan, even for educated women. She wants a career. And she wants it to be fulfilling. "I want to love what I do," says Amani, 29, who lives with her Muslim family in Amman, Jordan's busy urban capital. "I want to have my own business." It's not just talk. Amani finished third in her class ("I was very clever in school") then earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and has handled multiple jobs in human resources -- including one as the only woman manager in a good-sized company. Though Jordanian society, like other Middle Eastern cultures, still favors men in the workplace and other public arenas, professional women like Amani are breaking out of traditional roles. "It might surprise you, but this is really what is happening now," Amani says. "Companies know how a woman can affect business on the good side. Especially in human resources, 'human' is very important. You must be very sensitive when you deal with people. You have to encourage them, to give them all the tools to work as a team. Also, the women here are very educated. They really work. I'm comparing myself with my brothers. I'm the only one who worked hard to finish my bachelor's degree." Yes, she wants to get married and have children, too. She believes she can be a good wife and mother without sacrificing her other goals. The secret, she says, is balance. "My life is not just about career and my children or husband; I have other lives as well," she explains. "My friends, my family, my health -- I have to find time for each of these things to be happy." Over cappuccino with friends at a cafe in one of the city's stylish neighborhoods, Amani is talkative, funny, intelligent. But there's a hint of sadness, of restlessness in her eyes. She wants something more, but she isn't sure what it is. Something spiritual? Maybe, but she hasn't found it in Islam. "I do not believe in religions, but I do believe in God," she says. "My family is different, of course. When I told them this, they had a lot of problems. They can't accept it. I'm not atheist; I believe in God, but not religions. I don't do the things like pray or go to the mosque." Jordan is an island of relative stability surrounded by nations in various states of flux: Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories. It plays host to refugees and immigrants from all of them, depending upon political events and wars in the region. Yet when the Arab Spring revolutions began in 2011, Amani and her friends were caught off-guard. "At the beginning it was a shock, and when it continued, it was like you're watching a series on TV," she reflects. "I hope this is a good step to get freedom and to have a good future, because there's a lot of corruption in the governments everywhere in the Middle East. "Nothing can change suddenly. I think it will take time. How long, I don't know. It might take 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, but this is the first step to change the future. If they don't do this now, it's not going to change at all." In the meantime, she has a message for American women: "Arab women are human like you. They have emotions, they have needs, they have thoughts and beliefs. Don't look to the Arabs as 'terrorists.' Arab people in person are not like what you have heard in the media." Most of all, young Arabs, women and men, have expectations -- like Amani herself. Pray that they will be fulfilled by something greater than earthly freedom or success. --30-- *Name changed. Erich Bridges is the International Mission Board's global correspondent. -- End of story -- Whatever happened to the 'Arab Spring'? By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38028 CAIRO (BP) -- The sight inspired the world: Millions of Egyptians standing proudly in line at countless polling stations, determined to vote for their new president. The two-day vote in May -- to be followed by a runoff between the top contenders in late June -- was the first time in their very long history that Egyptians have had the opportunity to choose a leader in free elections. The word "historic" has been devalued by overuse, but this event was historic. And it brought back, for a moment, the sense of hope and euphoria people felt in Egypt and beyond as the "Arab Spring" protest movement swept across the region in 2011. In the Arab world, however, there's the seen and the unseen -- the roiling surface and what flows beneath. Since early 2011, protests and full-scale revolts have brought down governments in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, and shaken others in Yemen, Bahrain and beyond. Syria slides toward all-out civil war. But has real freedom arrived anywhere -- even in the Arab societies that have experienced relatively peaceful transitions toward some form of democracy? The two candidates who made it to the Egyptian election runoff were Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister to serve under former President Hosni Mubarak. That's right, Mubarak, the personification of oppressive control whom the "Arab Spring" protesters risked so much to overthrow. Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison June 2 for his role in approving violent measures to stop the demonstrations. More than 800 protesters died during the street battles in Cairo and other cities. What happened to change and freedom? One candidate represents hard-line Islamists, who already dominate Egypt's parliament. The other comes from the old order detested by so many Egyptians. Both promise to advance the aims of the revolution and respect the rights of religious minorities -- particularly the nation's original Christians, the Orthodox Copts, who comprise at least 10 percent of Egypt's more than 82 million people. Whoever wins, however, the young idealists who sparked Egypt's revolution would seem to be the losers. "We expected something to be different," says a 23-year-old Christian who participated in the demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square last year that helped topple Mubarak, Egypt's ruler for three decades. "But the army is still in control. It's not fair. I love the revolution and I believe in the revolution, but the people who should protect it stole it." He sees three groups -- the Muslim Brotherhood, the even more extreme Salafist Muslims and the holdovers from the old Mubarak regime -- negotiating control, while the zealous but disorganized young revolutionaries look on from the sidelines. A Muslim taxi driver who misses the fares he used to get from foreign tourists wishes Mubarak were still in charge. "There's a lot of fear" about what the Islamists will do next, he says, taking a deep drag on his cigarette as he steers through Cairo's chaotic traffic. "If I don't want to pray [in the mosque], will they make me pray?" A young Coptic Christian who practices law in Cairo takes a more analytical view: "I'm angry, but not because the revolution failed. What makes me unhappy is that people put too many dreams on this revolution." Unrealistic dreams. Dreams that cannot be fulfilled without plenty of patience and struggle in an overwhelmingly poor nation where the first order of business is survival. You can find a similar sense of disillusionment in much smaller Tunisia, which sits on the Mediterranean coast on the other side of Egypt's western neighbor, Libya. This land of 11 million people birthed the first "Arab Spring" movement after a fruit seller, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in December 2010 to protest official corruption. The resulting demonstrations brought down the long dictatorship of Tunisian President Zine al Abidine Ben Ali and spread quickly to other Arab lands. But moderate Islamist parties won subsequent elections in Tunisia and now contend with secularists and Muslim hardliners over the shape of the new constitution. What's more, the new economic opportunities Tunisians expected "didn't happen," says one observer. The Islamists "have the perfect image of how things should be, but when it comes to the day-to-day work of handling taxes and fixing roads, they couldn't care less." Prices have gone up and job opportunities have gone down. Thousands of Tunisians have left the country looking for work. Disgruntled demonstrators talk about the need for a "second revolution." "I have a master's degree in engineering, and I'm pumping gas," one despairing service station attendant told a foreigner recently. "I want out. Can you help me?" DEEPER CURRENTS Yet these, too, are passing waves on the surface of the vast Arab ocean. Deeper, stronger currents of change are flowing. "The amazing thing was to see Tunisians lose their fear," says a Christian leader in Tunis, the capital city, where much of the 2011 "Jasmine Revolution" unfolded. "The groups marched past the end of our church on their way to demonstrate. There were lawyers, there were women, there were children. There were 100,000 on the Avenue Bourguiba, and whether they were shot at or tear-gassed, they came. Suddenly, overnight, you lost that fear and were able to say anything. I'm so proud of Tunisians. They did this without violence, without bombs." The new freedom to speak also applies to followers of Christ. "Before, you were very careful what you said and to whom," the leader recounts. "If you made a joke and the wrong person heard it, you could be in trouble. Nearly all of the Tunisian believers who are part of this fellowship had run-ins of some sort with the state apparatus. Now, believers are not being harassed by the state. This is unbelievable. It's totally new that they're not watching over their shoulder because the secret police are on to them or calling them in or beating them or whatever." Something else is new: People walk into this Christian leader's church courtyard off the street and say things like, "Excuse me, I'm a Muslim. I really want to know what the Christian faith is about. I've never been in a church before. Can I look at your church?" Some of them have had dreams about Jesus, perhaps many years before. Many are young. "They're looking for spiritual reality," he says. Another Christian worker in Tunisia sees the new fearlessness among both seekers and believers. He senses an undercurrent among Muslims looking for God. He witnesses scenes he never imagined would happen in Tunisia: Believers openly reading their Bibles in public, talking about Jesus, passing around evangelistic DVDs. "When Christ does a work in them, they literally don't care" about the potential consequences of their boldness, he marvels. "They just go out and talk about Jesus to whoever they want. … They're almost like, 'Bring it on, we're ready for it, because we know what we've found is the truth and [Tunisians] need the truth.'" Did the revolution make all this possible? "I don't know how you could see it any other way," the worker says. "God is in control of all of this. I'm not saying it's all roses, but this is the climate we are in. A lot of the believers are beginning to realize now is the time. I had a believer tell me we have about a two-year window, and we've got to get as much done as we possibly can. He thinks [persecution] is going to come back and probably be worse than it was. That's one guy's opinion, but his idea is: Let's take however much time God gives us, get out there and get it done. I think it is something that God is orchestrating for His own glory." The way to make the time count, he stresses, is to encourage believers, train them, give them the simple, reproducible tools they need -- and get out of the way. That's understandably hard for churches in the Arab world, which have long struggled with persecution and fear. Their coping mechanisms often include careful self-regulation of ministry activities. What's needed now, the worker says, is "more of a wildfire versus a controlled burn. I'm looking for no one to control this except the Spirit of God, because that's the only hope we have. If you do a controlled burn, then the government also can control. The religious folks can come in and control. Where it's out of control and God's in control, nobody can stop that. … We've got to let it go. We've got to let God do what He's going to do." 'GOLDEN TIME' Back in Egypt, by far the largest and most pivotal nation in the region, the stakes are even higher. Christians, particularly Copts, have long suffered attacks by militant Islamists. In the chaotic and crime-ridden months after Mubarak fell in February 2011, fear pervaded churches. Some closed their doors for a time in the face of threats. People feared to go into the streets or to their jobs, much less attend worship. Many Christians, opting not to wait for what might happen if Islamists consolidate government control, left Egypt altogether. "The sad thing is that those who can leave Egypt are those who have qualifications, those who have money, those who can get visas," says an Egyptian Baptist leader. "This is a kind of evacuation from the church of the leadership positions." It's sad, he added, because the believers left behind need encouragement to face the days ahead. It's also sad because of the new opportunities that have arisen to stand for the Gospel in Egypt. "Life has been uncertain," says the leader, who admits he was caught off-guard by Mubarak's downfall. "They say when nothing is certain everything is possible. That summarizes our feeling throughout the whole year, because we didn't know what was going on. [But] as a church, we think this is the golden time for us. In this status of uncertainty, people lose faith in everything. That's our time to present them real love and acceptance and tell them that the Bible teaches about a way to be certain about the future. That's something we can do." It's something evangelical churches are doing, such as a small Baptist congregation wedged into a poor, conservative Muslim district of Cairo packed with 1.5 million people. After weathering the storm of the first difficult months after the revolution, church members have begun to reach out to spiritual seekers and to serve their neighbors in practical ways, such as free medical clinics. They're making new friends in the community. "The members here spent 12 years afraid that anyone would know this is a church," the pastor says. "Today, the Muslims are the ones who are happy that there is a church here. That is a transformation we didn't expect. … Something really big is happening." A pastor in a different part of Cairo is leading similar ministries to aid needy people in his church's community -- and getting similarly positive responses. "If the church closes, which is a possibility, we will meet in homes," he vows. "A lot of Muslims are coming to Christ right now, so all the churches will have to decide [what to do if] that time comes. I'm not leaving, and I'm not afraid." IN THE CONVERSATION That is the kind of commitment needed for the days ahead in the greater Arab world, where conditions for believers might get more difficult before they get better. The "evacuation" of traditional Arab Christian communities targeted by militant Islam is an ongoing reality, and continues a trend under way for many years. Islamic sharia law might be imposed in more places. But does that mean Christianity itself will disappear from the region? No. "What is emerging is something quite different," observes a Christian mission leader in the region. "It is not cultural Christianity. Those who emerge as followers of Christ in this part of the world [will be] a vibrant group of people the Spirit is drawing to Himself. It's His mission. He's still directing it." The primary object of His mission: millions of young Arabs searching for something more. Freedom, yes. Prosperity and decent jobs, yes. And something else they can't quite define -- but which they are determined to find. Many of them now feel free at last to seek and ask questions, and they will no longer accept being intimidated into silence. The population of the Middle East has doubled in the last generation. In Egypt alone, a million more people are born every nine months, according to one estimate. Sixty percent of all Egyptians are under age 25. The total population of the Middle East and North Africa combined surpassed 430 million in 2007; it is expected to top 700 million by 2050. One in every three people in the region is between the ages of 10 and 24. And young Arabs are connected. They have smart phones and iPads. They use social media. They absorb ideas from all directions. Whether governments fundamentally change or not, information has been democratized. "We're sitting on a tectonic plate that is shifting," the mission leader says. "If expectations continue not to be met, we'll see another [political] earthquake. But this is a really good time for anybody who wants to discuss ideas. The marketplace of ideas has changed radically. "For the Gospel, we need to be in the conversation." --30-- Erich Bridges is the International Mission Board's global correspondent. -- End of story -- Verdict reversal requested in Fla. suit By James A. Smith Sr./Florida Baptist Witness Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38036 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) -- The Florida Baptist Convention has filed two post-trial motions seeking reversal of an "inconsistent" jury verdict in May that found it liable for sexual abuse committed by a former church planting pastor. While the jury found the convention liable for sexual abuse of a minor committed by the pastor, it also agreed with the convention's contention that the pastor was not its employee. "You can't make a finding that we're responsible for, in essence, behavior that is associated with someone who's under my employ and then turn around and make a decision factually that the person was never under my employ," E.T. Fernandez III, who is representing the convention, said in a June 7 interview with Florida Baptist Witness. "Legally, we call that an inconsistent verdict," Fernandez, of Jacksonville, explained. Fernandez has filed a motion for a new trial and a motion for "judgment notwithstanding the verdict." Lake County Circuit Judge G. Richard Singletary has scheduled an Aug. 1 hearing to consider the convention's motions, as well as a motion from the plaintiff seeking a final judgment on behalf of his client, Fernandez said. Although Fernandez is not optimistic the judge will rule favorably on the motions, he said the judge "would have to realize there is a flaw in the verdict." If the post-trial motions fail, Fernandez said the convention would appeal the verdict. Such an appeal, though, would not happen until later because a separate trial to determine possible damages has yet to commence. The previous judge in the case ruled liability and damages had to be tried individually. After the plaintiff's presentation of its case during the trial, Fernandez said he moved for a directed verdict in favor of the convention on the basis that even before his defense the plaintiff failed to prove its case. The motion was denied. Fernandez said the verdict attempts to "create new law" with the plaintiff seeking damages from a "bigger organization that would have greater resources than either a local association or the church that might employ a pastor." After a two-week trial in May, the jury found Lake County Baptist Association and Bay Street Baptist Church at least partially at fault, although each party had previously settled with the plaintiffs, according to Fernandez. Douglas W. Myers, 63, is serving a seven-year sentence for molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2005 while Myers was pastor of Triangle Community Church in Eustis. He pled guilty in 2007. The boy's mother filed the lawsuit in 2006. Fernandez told the Witness, "At the time these alleged events occurred, there is no dispute [Myers] was on a mission of his own. He worked for his own church. He was not associated with the local county association. He didn't make requests from the convention for any kind of financial support." Myers acknowledged he was not the convention's employee, Fernandez said. The convention did provide a grant to the Lake County Baptist Association for the planting of Harbor Baptist Fellowship in Howey-in-the-Hills in 2002. Both Harbor Baptist and Triangle, both formerly led by Myers, now are defunct. The argument was that because both churches were listed in the Florida Baptist Convention Annual and among new church plants in Florida Baptist Convention articles in Florida Baptist Witness, the convention was "in some way vouching for the morals and character of this individual," Fernandez said. The argument is invalid, he said, because there is an explicit statement in the annual that notes persons listed are "solely for information purposes with no endorsement or approval implied or expressed." Additionally, according to Baptist polity, churches are autonomous, solely responsible for hiring their own pastors in contrast to other denominations, he noted. Fernandez compared the voluntary relationship churches and pastors have with the Florida Baptist Convention to that of lawyers' required membership in the Florida Bar. In contrast to Baptist pastors and their relationship to the convention, attorneys are required to be members of the bar, which stipulates its members must attain and maintain certain educational standards, are licensed and can have their license removed. Nevertheless, the Florida Bar cannot be sued if one of its members violates the law. "These [attorneys] are put in the closest and highest confidence and fiduciary relationships with other people in the state of Florida that equal, if not exceed, as those between a pastor and other members of his congregations," Fernandez said. The convention conducted criminal, traffic and credit background checks as well as personal references on Myers, all of which came back clear, Fernandez said. But the convention did not call churches where Myers previously served in Maryland and Alabama. After the charges in Lake County became public, people associated with those previous churches came forward saying they had similar concerns. The son of a minister who served with Myers in Maryland told his father about inappropriate actions by Myers after the Florida charges surfaced. Still, even that minister said he would not have divulged the allegations if he knew about them at the time, according to Fernandez. "We had no reason to have any suspicions," Fernandez said. In response to the verdict, Ronald Weil, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Orlando Sentinel, "We're very pleased with the verdict. It clearly shows the Florida Baptist Convention failed to follow a basic standard of care." The victim, who is now 19, said Myers earned the trust of his grandmother, a devout Baptist, according to the Sentinel. "He told me it was a normal part of growing up," the young man testified. "He told me he had done it with plenty of other kids at other churches." Cecil Seagle, a former missions division director of the Florida Baptist Convention, testified, "We did not put him here. We didn't recruit him. We didn't place him," according to a Sentinel report. "We had nothing in anything we had seen that would suggest a moral impropriety," Seagle testified. "Of course, we are sad about it. It hurts my heart." At a recent meeting of the State Board of Missions, John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, reported on the jury verdict. He read a prepared statement, explaining he would be unable to answer questions. Sullivan's prepared statement follows: "Since 2006 the Florida Baptist Convention has been a defendant to a lawsuit brought by a mother who claimed the Convention was negligent in the hiring of a church planter-pastor who served two mission churches in Lake County. The mission church pastor pleaded guilty in 2007 to molesting the mother's 13-year old son over a six-month period. The pastor was sentenced to seven years in prison. "Last week a two-week trial concluded in Lake County. The mother alleged the Convention did not do enough to investigate the background of the church planter. The Convention, although it did conduct a background check on the pastor, did not employ the church planter. The Convention only assisted a local church and the Baptist association with funding the mission start-ups. "After nine days of testimony and arguments by the two legal counsels, the jury returned a verdict that was perplexing. The good news is that the jury found that the church planter/pastor was never an employee of the Florida Baptist Convention. The bad news is that the rest of the verdict was completely inconsistent with the evidence presented. "There are expected to be a series of post-trial motions, and likely an appeal of some or the entire verdict. So it seems the liability case will be with us for some time. "Regardless of the outcome of the motions -- or the likely appeal to the appellate courts -- we cannot let this case hinder our efforts to support church planting efforts in our state." --30-- James A. Smith Sr. is executive editor of the Florida Baptist Witness, online at GoFBW.com. -- End of story -- Group criticizes B&H 'Military Bibles' By Staff Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38037 NEW YORK (BP) -- The U.S. Military has revoked its approval of a series of military-themed Bibles, reportedly over trademark issues. The military series of Bibles were published by B&H Publishing, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest non-Catholic denomination. They published four versions of the Holman Christian Standard Bible -- representing the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The Bibles were tailored to each specific military branch. For example, the cover of the Marine version says "The Marines' Bible" -- along with the USMC emblem. The Bibles contain special prayers and devotional material for military personnel. But the Military Religious Freedom Foundation complained that the Bibles were an official endorsement by the U.S. Military. They alleged the Bibles not only violated the U.S. Constitution, but also violated Defense Department regulations. The foundation is claiming victory. "It totally savages one of the most basic Department of Defense regulations that exists," spokesman Mikey Weinstein told Fox News Radio. "It does not allow the endorsement of a non-federal entity by the Department of Defense." A LifeWay spokesman said the publisher received authorization to use the official seals of the military branches in 2003. B&H changed the Bibles last year. "B&H Publishing Group received authorization in 2003 to use the official seals of the U.S. military branches on a series of HCSB Bibles," the spokesman, Marty King, said. "We received notice last year from the various branches withdrawing authorization. After selling existing inventory of those Bibles, B&H replaced the official seals with generic insignias which continue to sell well and provide spiritual guidance and comfort to those who serve." The Department of Defense stressed that the revocation was solely a trademark issue and had nothing to do with religion. A spokesperson said those decisions are typically left up to the individual branches of the military. Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, pointed out that military personnel dating back to General George Washington have taken counsel and been encouraged by biblical texts. "Why should these Bibles be removed because of the demands of a small activist group," he asked. "The MRFF must cease and desist their reckless assault on religious liberty." --30-- -- End of story -- FIRST-PERSON: SBC 2011 statistical realities By Ed Stetzer Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38035 See accompanying charts at end of story. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- And here is your question for the day. Again. What will it take for the largest Protestant denomination in North America to move from decline to recovery to growth? For five years in a row, the Southern Baptist Convention's membership has declined. Total membership has decreased 2 percent since 2007 including a near 1 percent drop this year -- an acceleration of decline. But, the more disconcerting trend is the percent change from year to year. That trend is going exactly where we expected it -- and not where we want it to be. This trend points to a future of more and faster decline -- and it is a 60-year trend. This year, we declined at about the same rate the United Methodist Church has over the last few years. Based on the trend of annual percent change in SBC total membership, we are catching up with the Methodists, and will match their decline rate consistently by 2018. The baptism graph does not take a statistician to put a trend line on the last decade -- it's been trending down. So, membership in the SBC is now on a multi-year decline. Our "growth" trend is now negative and our membership is decreasing. As researchers, we "bring forward" membership numbers for non-reporting churches in order to maintain consistent estimates of the size of the churches and the convention. Therefore, the argument that some churches are not reporting their membership numbers won't work. In fact, it may be delaying the indication that further decline has already occurred. Currently, there are other denominations and movements that are merely managing their decline. However, I for one would like for our leaders, pastors and members to stare reality in the face and fight for our future. Facts are our friends, even if these facts are not so friendly. We can join God on his mission and do it in unity. So what do we do in the face of these facts? First, we must rally around the reason we cooperate in the first place, namely the mission of God and partnership though our theological consensus. We have every advantage of the modernized world to be a multi-dimensional family of churches. Yet, we often find ourselves at odds with one another over issues that fall within our denominational confessional consensus. Another battle means more causalities and departures. Second, we must engage new leaders. Every week, you and I meet new leaders from differing generations and differing ethnicities. It is our privilege to encourage them and learn from them. There is no need for the pendulum to simply reside on one side of the spectrum or the other. We do not need to simply be paternal to those who are new to leadership in our ranks. Nor do we need to completely abandon all of our places of leadership just for the sake of "new blood" and "new voices." Rather, we have the privilege to partner with new leaders, young leaders, ethnic leaders and leaders who've been around a while who want to partner with us through the Cooperative Program and according to the Baptist Faith and Message. Thirdly, we need to reach more people and plant more churches. Southern Baptists love evangelism, as long as someone else is doing it. But "someone else" is not doing it either. Every year, it takes more Southern Baptists to reach one lost person, as the member to baptism ratio shows. We also need more churches. The numeric change in churches from 2010 to 2011 was only 37. Not even a full percentage point. We need to fill the growing void created when churches close yet the U.S. population continues to expand. Church planters are a gift to the convention, and we need to prepare, partner and commission them at every turn. Considering planters as competitors in our communities was never wise. It is time for us to move on from such attitudes and partner with them for Kingdom impact in our cities. We stand at a key moment and my sermon-in-a-sentence is this: A denomination perpetually at war with itself cannot survive, but a denomination focused on engaging new leaders, reaching out to other ethnicities, and reaching others through evangelism and church planting will thrive. In the face of these statistics, I am still encouraged. I hear more and more people talking about mission, having the important conversations to get us focused there, and a desire to be a convention of churches God has called us to be. I trust that will be reflected in New Orleans -- we can pull together, join God on mission and be the convention God has called us to be. [IMGONLY=32797@center@600] [IMGONLY=32798@center@600] [IMGONLY=32799@center@600] [IMGONLY=32800@center@600] --30-- Ed Stetzer is president of LifeWay Research, which coordinates the Southern Baptist Convention's Annual Church Profile reporting system. -- End of story -- WORLDVIEW: Be there By Erich Bridges Jun. 13 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38033 Editor's note: Visit "WorldView Conversation," the blog related to this column, at [URL=http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/]http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/[/URL]. Listen to an audio version at [URL=http://media1.imbresources.org/files/154/15420/15420-84831.mp3]http://media1.imbresources.org/files/154/15420/15420-84831.mp3[/URL] RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- Don't just do something; stand there. Better yet, kneel there. Be there. It's easy to switch the verbs in the old, accusatory challenge to do something -- anything -- rather than stand around. Lots of preachers, speakers and writers invert the familiar phrase to encourage us to slow down and be still. But it's hard for us action-oriented Americans to stop and just be. Inaction, even for a moment, seems lazy, unproductive, even weird. We should be multitasking. Stillness? It's a little scary. Yet stillness is where we meet God. To be His heart, His hands and His voice -- IMB's overarching theme for 2012 -- we must lay aside the sound and fury of our ceaseless activities, our personal priorities and our very selves to encounter Him. We need His heart to make a difference in the world, not our divided, selfish hearts. His hands do the healing, not our powerless hands. His voice cuts to the core of searching souls, not our meaningless chatter. "… If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me," Jesus says. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it" (Matthew 16:24, 25). There's plenty of positive action cited in that statement: come, take up, follow, save. Before any of that can happen, however, first there's a negative action, an "inaction," so to speak: deny self. If you're planning to attend the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting in New Orleans June 19-20, I recommend a visit to the IMB exhibit. This year it won't be a media extravaganza or a place to socialize and pick up lots of free stuff. It will be, in essence, a tent -- a place of prayer. There, you will find four stations where you will have the opportunity to deny yourself, to take up your cross, to follow Jesus and to lose your life for Him. When you emerge, you'll find visual representations of the thousands of people groups throughout the world who have yet to hear the name of Jesus, much less His loving offer of salvation. They wait for someone with God's heart, hands and voice to come to them with the joyful news. He longs to send someone. Maybe you are that someone. But you need to spend time in the tent first -- whether it be a physical place or an inner one. Psalm 46:10 is my favorite mission verse: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Stop. Listen. Know. Be. Only then can you act in obedience -- no matter the cost. Only then will you know His power. --30-- Erich Bridges is global correspondent for the International Mission Board (IMB). -- End of story -- Copyright (c) 2013 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press 901 Commerce Street Nashville, TN 37203 Tel: 615.244.2355 Fax: 615.782.8736 email: bpress@sbc.net