Showing posts with label Baptists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baptists. Show all posts
ENDA - Mitt Romney vs. Richard Land
Mitt Romney has gone on record within the last few weeks as a supporter of ENDA. This should be frightening to all Christians.
Here is what Richard Land of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention had to say about ENDA:
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Dear Friends:
An employer's freedom to make workplace decisions that follow biblically-informed beliefs that homosexuality is wrong could soon be history.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday, October 24 on legislation that would require employers to provide special workplace protections to individuals based on "actual or perceived sexual orientation."
Under the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007, better known as ENDA, employers would not be permitted to take sexual orientation into account when making hiring, firing, promotion, or workplace decisions. Ultimately, ENDA would permit inappropriate government intrusion on businesses and the religious community.
While the latest version includes a broadened exemption for religious organizations and drops protections based on gender identity, ENDA in any form could spell danger for people of faith. Many businesses, day cares, shelters, schools, colleges, and other organizations with religious missions would not be exempted and would become targets of lawsuits.
Also, hostile work environments would no doubt result as businesses are forced to comply with ENDA's special protections for homosexuals. Merely keeping a Bible on a desk or a Scripture verse on a wall in an office, for example, could be viewed as discrimination based on "actual or perceived sexual orientation."
If you are concerned that ENDA would invite government intrusion into employers' rights and force Christians to make employment decisions that violate their beliefs on homosexuality, please contact your congressman and tell him to vote "No" on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3685).
You can call your congressman by dialing the Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121. The operator will then connect you to the congressman's office of your choice. If you do not know who your congressman is, or if you would prefer to use email, just enter your zip code in the space provided below and send him the suggested letter or one entirely your own.
We must do our part to raise the red flag and counter those who are pushing for special protections for homosexuals. Please act now!
Please know that I am deeply grateful for your efforts to keep this legislation from becoming law and restricting freedoms of Christians in the workplace.
In His Service,
Dr. Richard Land
President
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Southern Baptist Convention
Who Is Duncan Hunter?
From the Baptist Press article by Michael Foust
WASHINGTON (BP)--Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter of California is the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, one of the more powerful committees in Congress. He's also a Christian and a Southern Baptist.
A member of Congress since 1980 and a Vietnam veteran, Hunter was saved at the age of 14 during a revival meeting led by professional baseball player Albie Pearson. He remembers it well.
"He was five-foot-six. He was one of the original Los Angeles Angels," Hunter told Baptist Press. "A great Christian and a Christian minister, who now has a Christian home for kids who have suffered from drug abuse in California."
Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee from 2002 until the Democrats took control earlier this year, Hunter is one of nine Republican candidates for president. Some consider him a long-shot, but Hunter hopes his experience in the military and on the committee will serve to attract votes, particularly with America at war.
Click Here to read more...
Robert Novak's Ignorance Of Baptists (and just about everything else)
by Kevin Stilley
(Another Example Of How Fox News May Do The Absolute Worst Job Of Political Reporting, Analysis, And Commenting Of Any Television Network)
In a recent segment of Hannity & Colmes, Alan Colmes and Mark Steyn (sitting in for Sean Hannity) were joined by Robert Novak to discuss Mike Huckabee and his Baptist supporters. The following is a copy of the transcript with my comments inserted in red.
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COLMES: Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign has defied the odds with his recent upswing in the polls. The former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister has become a major player for the Republican nomination. But not all his fellow Baptists have lined up behind him. With us now, syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor Robert Novak.
Not all his fellow Baptists have lined up behind him? Please name me one person in the history of all American politics of whom it could be said that everyone in his denomination lined up behind him. Before we even get into the silliness that follows in this interview, the topic itself is complete and utter nonsense. Can someone please look up straw-man argument in the dictionary and email the definition to Fox News.
COLMES: Talk about how this could be hurting Huckabee. Is he being hurt by this, Robert?
ROBERT NOVAK, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I think so when the word gets out. He's essentially an evangelical candidate. That's his support. That's the reason that people are coming out to vote for him in the Iowa caucuses. And when you find Judge Paul Pressler of Texas, one of the most esteemed conservatives in the Baptist movement, who has endorsed Fred Thompson, and is known to feel that Huckabee was on the wrong side in the Baptist wars, fighting between the liberals and the conservatives; I think that's a serious problem.
Someone please tell me that out of 16 million Southern Baptists Novak does not rely upon what one single Baptist has to say to argue that "Baptists are not supporting Mike Huckabee." I have a nine-year old son who can see the problem with this. Can someone please look up scientific polling in the dictionary and email Fox News a copy of the definition.
Novak refers several times to the Baptist movement. However, he never tells us what Baptist movement he is talking about. The reason? There is no such thing as a current Baptist movement. There are Baptists of many stripes, Baptists with a plethora of agendas, Baptists who want change, and Baptists who are completelty tuned out; but there is no current monolithic "Baptist movement." Novak knows little to nothing about Baptists.
The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention began to gather steam in the 1970's and finally took control of the denominational structure in the 1990's . However, Novak extrapolates beyond the Conservative Resurgence to imply that there is currently some kind of movement. Utter nonsense.
What about the Conservative Resurgence? Was Huckabee on the wrong side of the Baptist Wars? I was there, I was part of the Conservative Resurgence, and I can tell you that Mike Huckabee is not a liberal Baptist. However, maybe it would be good to inquire as to the identity of the candidate whom Huckabee ran against in the 1989 election for President of the Arkansas Baptist Convention. This is the person that Judge Pressler indicates was the candidate of the right, so it would be interesting to see what he has to say about Huckabee.
In 1989 Mike Huckabee ran against Dr. Ronnie Floyd for the presidency of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. What does Dr. Ronnie Floyd think of Mike Huckabee? Ronnie Floyd has endorsed Mike Huckabee and serves as an advisor to him on his Faith and Family Values Coalition.
If Mike Huckabee was a "liberal Baptist" as Bob Novak is trying to make him out to be, Ronnie Floyd would not be in his camp at this time.
Let's move to the next lame argument in Novak's smear piece. He claims that Judge Pressler's endorsement of Fred Thompson will surely swing Baptists away from Huckabee. Well, Pressler's endorsement took place months ago and is well known to any Baptist who might care. Has Fred Thompson seen a surge of Baptists flocking into his pasture? No. Why?
Soul competency is an important tenet of Baptist identity. No need to look it up in the dictionary unless you want to send the definition to Fox News -- I will explain. Baptists are not herd animals. We believe that we stand before God as individuals and we do not allow someone else to make up our minds for us. Endorse all you want, but most Baptists critically examine the facts and decide for themselves.
This was illustrated in Judge Pressler's endorsement of a candidate in the 2005 Southern Baptist Convention presidential race. His endorsement did not seem to move the needle at all for his preferred candidate. Judge Pressler was of great service and influence decades ago during the Baptist Wars, but a new day has arisen. Baptists continue to respect Pressler, but it is a mistake to overestimate his influence even in Baptist affairs, let alone in the field of secular politics.
What was it that General MacArthur said, "....old soldiers never die; they just fade away."
Huckabee takes the position that the Baptists are almost obliged to support him, that they would be abandoning him to the secularists if they didn't support him. But when somebody like Judge Pressler supports Fred Thompson, it shows there's a split in the movement.
This isn't just nonsense, it is an out and out lie. Mike Huckabee has never taken the position that Baptists are obliged to support him. This is either another example of Novak's poor journalism/research, or it is another example of him engaging in misrepresentation in an attempt to lead people astray (of which numerous examples could be cited).
COLMES: As I understand it, what Huckabee did -- I mean, he's pro- environment. He wants to reach out to people from different countries. I guess some people on the far right have a problem with that. But isn't that part of what Christians actually preach, caring for your fellow person, caring for the environment, being a -- stewardship of God's creation? Isn't he doing what many Christians would say that's what we should do?
Alan, the answer to this is yes, but I am sure that Novak will avoid the question and try to beat the dead horse that we have already shown to be either bad journalism or a calculated attempt to mislead. Let's see what he says...
NOVAK: Alan, you may not realize it, but there's been a huge fight in the Baptist -- Southern Baptist Convention, where they felt that the establishment people, people like you, were taking over.
I told you he would avoid your question.
COLMES: People like me.
NOVAK: The Christian left was taking over, and the conservatives came back and fought. Governor Huckabee was on the opposite side of that when he was president of the Arkansas Baptist Convention. And Judge Pressler, who doesn't say much about him on the record, does say on the record that he never knew a conservative that Governor Huckabee appointed when he was in the church.
If it is true that Judge Pressler does not know a conservative that Governor Huckabee appointed, then it shows a horrible lack of interest and knowledge in what actually took place. Pressler does NOT say that Huckabee did not make conservative appointments, he says that he is ignorant of those appointments. This says more about Judge Pressler than it does about Huckabee. This confessed ignorance invalidates any other supposed insights this person might share.
COLMES: How much does this mean in terms of if he even gets a nomination, general election, how powerful is the block he's tries to woo as we head toward 2008? Are they as big as they were four, eight, 12 years ago?
NOVAK: Well, I think they are. They're essential to his getting nominated. The question is, if the ordinary evangelical begins to say that, my goodness, the conservatives in our movement don't like Huckabee, he's in big trouble. He's in big trouble as early as January 3rd on the night of the Iowa caucuses.
Uh, Mr. Novak, do you have any idea who has endorsed Mike Huckabee? Are you claiming that the following people are religious liberals?
Tim LaHaye and his spouse, Beverly LaHaye, who founded Concerned Women of America.
The Georgia Right to Life PAC
Jerry Falwell, Jr., President of Liberty University
Dr. Jerry Jenkins, best-selling author, including the Left Behind series; Colorado
Zig Ziglar, Author and motivational speaker; Texas
Star Parker, Founder and president of CURE; Washington D.C.
Karen Testerman, Founder and Executive Director of the Cornerstone Policy Research; New Hampshire
Michael Farris, Chair of Home School Legal Defense Association and Chancellor of Patrick Henry College; Virginia
Rev. Keith Butler, Founding Pastor of Word of Faith International Christian Center Church; Michigan
Thomas Glessner, attorney, author, and Founder/President of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates; Virginia
William J. Murray, Chair of Religious Freedom Coalition, Chair of Government is Not God PAC, and author; Washington D.C.
Randy Alcorn, Founder and Director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, best-selling author of 28 books, fiction and nonfiction; Oregon
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Springdale and The Church at Pinnacle Hills / Former President of the Pastor’s Conference/ Former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention; Arkansas
Michael Heath, Executive Director of Christian Civic League of Maine; Maine
Don Wildmon, Founder and Chairman of American Family Association; Mississippi
Bishop John Gimenez, International Overseer of Rock Ministerial Family, in conjunction with Rock Church International and co-founder of Rock Church in Virginia Beach; Virginia
Pastor Anne Gimenez, Co-founder and pastor of Rock Church in Virginia Beach; Virginia
Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Theological Seminary; Texas
Stephen Strang, Founder and President of Strang Communications and Founder of Charisma Magazine; Florida
Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America; Texas
Dr. Joe Fuiten, Founder of Positive Christian Agenda and Pastor of Cedar Park Church; Washington
Jerry Cox, President of Arkansas Family Council; Arkansas
Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action; Florida
Jim Pfaff, President and CEO of the Colorado Family Action; Colorado
Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel/ Dean of Liberty University Law School; Virginia
Kelly Shackelford, Chief Counsel, Liberty Legal Institute and President of Free Market Foundation; Texas
Phil Burress, President of Citizens for Community Values; Ohio
Dr. Jack Graham, Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, Former President of Southern Baptist Convention; Texas
Dr. James T. Draper Jr., Former President of Southern Baptist Convention/ Former President of Lifeway Christian Resources; Texas
Dr. Jerry Vines, Former President of Southern Baptist Convention/ Former Pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, FL / Founder of Jerry Vines Ministries; Georgia
Dr. Daniel L. Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; North Carolina
Dr. Jay Strack, President/ Founder of Student Leadership University, World- renowned Southern Baptist communicator and minister; Florida
Dr. Billy McCormack, Pastor of University Baptist Church/ Founding National Board Member of Christian Coalition; Louisiana
Luana Stoltenberg, a Davenport pro-life activist.
Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center
Justin Taylor (Between Two Worlds)
Joe Carter (Evangelical Outpost)
Matthew Anderson (Mere Orthodoxy)
And, there are the members of the Huckabee Iowa Pastors Coalition: Terry Amann, Walnut Creek Community Church, Windsor Heights; B. Mark Anderson, Muscatine; Steve Benton, Faith Bible Church, Cedar Rapids; Bruce Branson, Central Avenue Baptist Church, Hartley; Bruce Brooks, Ninth Street Baptist Church, Spencer; Brett Callaway, Faith Bible Church, Baxter; Kevin Collins, Vinton; Kelvin Cooke, Grace Brethren Church, Waterloo; Dustin Cox, Celebration First Assembly of God, Waterloo; Roger Crawford, Calvary Baptist Church, Union; Van Davis, First Baptist Church, Swea City; Rex Deckard, Calvary Apostolic Church, Des Moines; Brien Deverick, Jordan creek Baptist Church, St. Charles; Larry Doughan, Colfax Center PCA, Grundy Center; Sam Dronebarger, Cedar Rapids; Lloyd Eaken, Anamosa; Ben Eilers, Shiloh Bible Church; Mairi Golnick, Faith and Christ Fellowship, Cherokee; LaVerne Harris, Upper Room Tabernacle, Waterloo; Wayne Herman, Berean Bible Fellowship, Glidden; Todd Hessel, Algona Evangelical Free Church; Kevin Hollinger, First Baptist Church, Algona; Mark Holton, Trinity Bible Church, Waterloo; Larry C. Hoop, Colfax Center PCA, Holland; Kerry Jech, New Hope Christian Church, Marshalltown; Joel Jorgensen, Grandview Baptist Church, Estherville; William King, First Apostolic Church, Indianola; Ken Klingman, Trinity Bible Church, Cedar Falls; John Lynn, Dysart; Ken Matteson, Grace Brethren Church, Waterloo; Robert McMurdock, Church of Promise (Buckingham) Waterloo; Dan Merchant, Cedars Street Baptist Church, Tipton; Marcus Moffit, Calvary Baptist Church, Archer; Daniel J. Moore, Cromwell Congregational UCC, St. John’s UCC, Creston; Claude Perhelth, Wapello Church of the Nazarene, Wapello; Pinky Person, Faith and Christ Fellowship, Cherokee, Royce Phillips, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Tiffin; Dan Reid, Ottumwa Baptist Temple, Ottumwa; Tim Rude, Walnut Creek Community Church, Johnston; Steve Russell, Jordan Grove Church, Cedar Rapids; Andy Schmidt, Calvary Baptist Church, Waterloo; Phillip Schrauben, First Christian Church, New Sharon; Eric Schumacher, Marion; John Shaull, Iowa Baptist Convention, Winterset; Emad R. Shenouda, St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, Urbandale; Brad Sherman, Solid Rock Christian Church, Coralville; Mark Smeltzer, Glenwood Community Church, Glenwood; John Tank, Grace West, Des Moines; Terry Vance, First Church of the Nazarene, Burlington; Mark Waits, The Apostolic Pentecostal Church, Centerville; Kenneth Walker, Jesus Loves You/The River Jordan, Atalissa; Paul Warder, Evangelical Covenant Church, Stanton; Earl Warstler, Waterloo; Bob Waters, Des Moines; David Welch, Plano Christian Church, Plano; Darran Whiting, Marion; and Scott Wilson, Clear Lake Christian Church, Mason City.
And, if you need a few more I should be able to come up with a list of a few thousand more influential Baptists and Evangelicals without too much trouble. The question is, why could you not find more than just one person to include in your list? Was it laziness, or deceit?
COLMES: Let's talk about that. Is the Huck-a-surge -- or Hucka-boom, as some have called it -- could he generally get -- genuinely get the nomination?
NOVAK: Nobody I know thinks he could, but Alan, I have to tell you, nobody thought he'd get this far. Nobody thought he'd be this far ahead in the polls. I can tell you now that the McCain people and the Giuliani people want him to win in Iowa, figuring he doesn't have the organization or the money or the evangelical support is not so important in New Hampshire. They don't figure he could be a problem, and they have to stop Romney in Iowa.
So he is -- nobody cares for Huckabee very much, but the Giuliani and particularly the McCain people see him as their only hope to stop the danger of Romney sweeping the board.
Novak, you actually made me chuckle. "... nobody cares for Huckabee very much..."
Might I direct you to the Rasmussen daily tracking poll which shows him running first nationally...
You really should try to become more in touch with reality before someone puts you into a home for the elderly who no longer have the use of their mental faculties.
STEYN: Robert, this is a fascinating column of yours, because the wrap against Huckabee to date has been that he's not politically a conservative. But essentially what these Baptist fellows are saying is that in Baptist terms he's not a conservative either. That's got to hurt him, hasn't it.
Uh, excuse me Mr. Steyn... Your statement should have been in the singular, - "what this Baptist fellow is saying." Novak relies upon only one person for his article, Judge Pressler. I know that you are from Canada, but surely what one old timer conveys to another old timer about the good ol' days in Baptist Zion isn't really that fascinating.
NOVAK: That's right. He was definitely on the other side in this really aggressive, vicious, may I say, war in the Southern Baptist Convention. It was in the 1970's and through 1980's. He was definitely on the liberal side. These people have long memories and remember that. But, Mark, let me tell you that, nevertheless, there are certain kinds of Baptists and Evangelicals that say this is one of our own. He may not be perfect. That's what one of the Baptists that I interviewed said. He may not be perfect, but he's one of ours.
So it will be interesting to see how that plays out. I believe he has to have solid evangelical support even to win in Iowa.
Novak, you finally get around to saying something that is true; we have long memories. That is why we know that you have lied about Huckabee, caricatured Baptists, and revised history to serve your own political agenda.
We also remember what you said about us evangelicals just a few weeks ago. Let me remind you, " The rise of evangelical Christians as the motive force that blasted the GOP out of minority status during the past generation always contained an inherent danger if these new Republican acolytes supported not merely a conventional conservative but one of their own." You and the other Republican elite always wanted our evangelical votes, but you wanted us to follow along behind you like bewildered sheep to be fleeced. You did not want us to actually participate in the process and it angers and frightens you that we are no longer obeying your commands. Yes, Novak, we remember well and we will remember for a long time the vitriolic and misleading tactics being employed by you and other members of the Republican elite against evangelicals. This is just the first inning...
STEYN: You get the sense that he could hold enough of that support in Iowa, but at some point this does have to kick in. Do you think by South Carolina, for example -- I assume he has no chance in New Hampshire. A good third place showing is probably his most likely result there. But by South Carolina, a lot of this stuff has got to kick in, hasn't it?
NOVAK: I think it will. You look at him; there's so many things about him that make him an inauthentic conservative. For example, he's against school choice. He got the School Teacher's Union endorsement in New Hampshire. What kind of Republican gets the school teachers' endorsement? So on top of this, you find that he has been on the liberal or the moderate side in the Baptist wars, which may not be known in the ordinary non-Baptists. But I think most Baptists know about it. I think that's a problem.
When you run out of things to say, just throw the kitchen sink. By the way, Huckabee is NOT against school choice. Would it really pain you to spend two minutes at MikeHuckabee.com to find out what he really believes?
STEYN: Yes, it sounds like he might make a good Christian left leader, like they've apparently been looking for for some time.
Steyn, even a naturalized Canadian ought to have a grasp of the American socioreligious milieu so as not to make such an absurd statement. You need to know that people all over the internet are making fun of you for playing the stooge in Novak's vaudeville act. Evidently, they do not know that you serve the same role for Hugh Hewitt on a routine basis.
NOVAK: I think that is the case. And he has -- he has kind of a mean side. I wrote in the column that he kind of jumped on Judge Pressler when he encountered him in California several weeks ago. But in Texas on Tuesday he -- I'm sorry, yes, on Tuesday for a fund-raiser, he invited Judge Pressler. He embraced him. So, Governor Huckabee is -- you can't always be a mean guy in politics. You have to pretend you're nice.
Novak, with this accusation I am sure that you probably completely derailed Huckabee's campaign. When people find out that you, who has such an impeccable reputation for being a gentleman, are claiming that Huckabee isn't nice, I am sure that his whole campaign will disintegrate. You really are desperate, aren't you?
STEYN: He's done a good job of it so far. It will be interesting to see how long that holds up. Robert Novak, thanks very much.
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HUCKABEE GUILTY OF CANNIBALISM, according to Fox News. I fully expect that to be next week's headline. After all, he has participated in the Lord's Supper in which Christians partake in the Lord's body and blood.
What the Democrats did to Judge Bork is nothing compared to the vicious and deceiving rhetoric being poured out by the media elite upon Mike Huckabee.
Ann Coulter calls Huckabee "Stupid." To Rush Limbaugh he is "The Huckster." Huckabee, according to Rich Lowry, is "Huckacide" for Republicans. Huckabee is the demon spawn of William Jennings Bryan according to George F. Will. And to Bob Novak, Huckabee is that dreaded evangelical whom all of the Republican elite has been worried about for decades.
Bob Novak went on Fox News to proclaim that Baptists are not supporting Huckabee. Oops, better tell all those other anti-Huckabee columnists who are claiming that ONLY the Baptists are supporting him.
Novak has reached back and found a single Baptist leader who does not support Huckabee to make the claim that Huckabee cannot even get his own people on board. Wow, that is scientific polling, isn't it. The fact of the matter is that the one leader whom Novak cites is one who was influential about a decade ago, but could not even move the needle for the candidate he endorsed in the election for the Southern Baptist Convention president two years ago.
The truth of the matter is that Huckabee has been endorsed by many of the most influential Southern Baptist leaders such as:
Zig Ziglar, Author and motivational speaker; Texas
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Springdale and The Church at Pinnacle Hills / Former President of the Pastor’s Conference/ Former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention; Arkansas
Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America; Texas
Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel/ Dean of Liberty University Law School; Virginia
Dr. Jack Graham, Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, Former President of Southern Baptist Convention; Texas
Dr. James T. Draper Jr., Former President of Southern Baptist Convention/ Former President of Lifeway Christian Resources; Texas
Dr. Jerry Vines, Former President of Southern Baptist Convention/ Former Pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, FL / Founder of Jerry Vines Ministries; Georgia
Dr. Daniel L. Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; North Carolina
Dr. Jay Strack, President/ Founder of Student Leadership University, World- renowned Southern Baptist communicator and minister; Florida
Dr. Billy McCormack, Pastor of University Baptist Church/ Founding National Board Member of Christian Coalition; Louisiana
With less than five minutes of research Bob Novak would have been able to put together an extensive list of Conservative Southern Baptists who are supporting Huckabee.
Bob Novak was once a journalist and I have every belief that he could be one again if he set his mind to it. However, as it stands today he joins the cadre of the elite who are simply employing every rhetorical tool to try to Scary Mary Huckabee.
What do I mean by them trying to Scary Mary him? They are reframing every word, position, photo, and action to distort it and turn it into something it isn't. Just like in the movie trailer SCARY MARY below:
Note to Fox News: If you ever want to try to live up to the "Fair and Balanced" trademark and want a Baptist Professor to talk about what Baptists are doing or believe, rather than just a columnist who happens to know a Baptist, I could probably fit it into my schedule
Ricard Land: National Reformation Begins With Revival
Click Here to view Richard Land's speech at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Richard Land is President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Below, you will find the SWBTS press release related to Land's appearance.
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Land: National reformation begins with revival
by Benjamin Hawkins
FORT WORTH, Texas (SWBTS)- There must be revival in the United States if the nation will again reflect Judeo-Christian values, Richard Land said during chapel at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Nov. 27.
Land is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC both represents Southern Baptists before the U.S. government and advises Southern Baptists regarding moral, social and public policy issues. According to Land, however, public policy cannot cause the reform needed to revive Judeo-Christian values in the nation.
“Washington is a lagging indicator, not a leading indicator,” Land said. “Washington is a caboose, not a locomotive. When a change happens in the country, it gets reflected in Washington. Washington does not change the country … If we want to have the kind of America that God will continue to bless, we are going to have to have a revival.”
Land reminded his audience that the reformation of values in the United States begins with each Christian and expands outward to their families, churches, communities and, finally, to the nation. Ultimately, the problems in the United States “are problems of the heart,” Land said. “They won’t be solved by us. They are God-sized problems.”
Land’s sermon was based on the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy. The Israelites, in this passage, were looking forward to the time when they would enter the Promised Land, taking possession of blessings they had not worked for, such as crops they did not plant and wells they did not dig. The Lord warned the Israelites not to forget the source of their blessings once they took possession of them.
“We are always in danger when we reach a place where we live in houses that we did not build, and we drink from wells that we did not dig, and we profit from vineyards and olive trees that we did not plant,” Land said. “We can forget the Lord our God, or at least we can forget from whence the blessings come. And that’s when the temptation to go after other gods and the temptation to depend upon ourselves is great.”
Land urged each seminary student and minister in his audience to remember the source of his or her calling and gifts. “Any gifts, any abilities, any talents that you have, they are in trust from Him,” he said. “You are stewards of His goods that He has entrusted to you. You are going to give an account of your stewardship of the talents that have been given to you, and they are yours to serve Him and to serve His church.”
Land also noted that many people in the United States take for granted the source of their blessings, as if these were theirs by right. The average American citizen has received greater blessings than any other group of people in history. And like the Israelites, current citizens of the United States are heirs to blessings for which they did not work.
Land reported that, according to a Gallup poll, the years leading up to 1957 were the happiest years in the nation. The following years, however, saw a decline in this happiness. In 1957, the nation had persevered through the Great Depression and World War II, and U.S. citizens came out of these trials more prosperous than they had ever been. “By 1957,” Land said, “the joyous consumerism with which they had abandoned themselves, they discovered, was a world of diminishing returns.”
“What happened? When they began to raise a generation – my generation – that lived in houses that we did not build, and ate from vineyards and drank from wells and ate from olive trees that we didn’t dig or plant, too often we forgot from whence comes our blessings,” Land said. In order to change this situation, believers must teach their children and their churches, continually reminding them of the source of their blessings.
Land has served as the president of the ERLC since 1988 and has been a representative for Southern Baptist and Evangelicals’ concerns before Congress, U.S. presidents and the media. Throughout his career, he has served on various government agencies, including three terms on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). He was appointed to the USCIRF for a fourth term this fall. He hosts three nationally syndicated radio programs, including “For Faith & Family,” For Faith & Family Insight” and “Richard Land Live!” He was recognized as one of “The Twenty-five Most Influential Evangelicals in America” in 2005 by Time magazine.
Land earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude. He received a Master of Theology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and his doctorate from Oxford University in England. He has authored several books, and his most recent book, “The Divided States of America? What Liberals and Conservatives are Missing in the God-and-Country Shouting Match!” received endorsements from Madeline Albright, Peter Gomes, Michael Novak and Peter Berger. He has also contributed to various publications and is the executive editor of the national magazine FFV, which addresses traditional religious values, Christian ethics and cultural trends.
Recordings of Land’s chapel message may be viewed, listened to or downloaded through Southwestern Seminary’s Web site, www.swbts.edu.
About Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Seminary celebrates its centennial in 2008. Since its founding, the seminary has trained and sent out over 40,000 graduates to serve in local churches and mission fields around the world. In 1908, B.H. Carroll established the seminary on the campus of Baylor University. It was moved to its current location on Seminary Hill in Fort Worth in 1910 and was placed under the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925. Paige Patterson was elected as the eighth president of the seminary in 2003.
Mike Huckabee, "A Born Leader"
The following is an excerpt from a biographical piece on Mike Huckabee which ran in the Concord Monitor:
Mike Huckabee was never about fire and brimstone. As a preacher, he was buoyant. The first time he took to the pulpit, as a 16-year-old preaching on a Sunday night, he turned water into wine. Sort of.
"He had a clear bottle of water, a gallon jug of water, and he turned it red," said Don Still, who grew up with Huckabee in the small city of Hope, Ark. "He talked about how God cleanses our soul. He was probably in the 11th or 12th grade, and he was probably taking chemistry and learned it in chemistry."
Science or miracle, Still was impressed. Looking back now, Still said he knew then that Huckabee - or Mike, as he seems to be known to everyone in Arkansas - was destined for politics, "a born leader."
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3 Former SBC Presidents Back Huckabee
Baptist Press
ELECTION 08: 3 Former SBC Presidents Back Huckabee
by Michael Foust
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Three former Southern Baptist Convention presidents announced their support for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee Nov. 9, capping a week that saw several contenders receive endorsements from various social conservatives.
James (Jimmy) T. Draper Jr., Jack Graham and Jerry Vines all said they were supporting Huckabee, a fellow Southern Baptist and former president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Draper and Vines served as president of the SBC during the 1980s and played key roles in returning the denomination to its orthodox roots. Graham served as president of the SBC from 2003-05.
Each man's endorsement came as a private citizen.
"Mike Huckabee is clearly the most articulate spokesman for conservative values in today's political arena," Graham was quoted as saying in a release from the Huckabee campaign. "He is a wise and proven leader. He is a man who lives and governs by principal and is, in my view, uniquely prepared to lead our nation."
Said Draper, "I support Mike Huckabee for President because I have known him for over 30 years and know him to be a man of absolute integrity and sterling character. He has the strength of convictions that will enable him to be a great leader."
Said Vines, "Having known Governor Mike Huckabee for 30 years and observed his character, convictions and courage in public life, I wholeheartedly endorse him in his bid to become President of the United States."
Graham serves as pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Draper is the immediate past president of LifeWay Christian Resources. Vines is pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla.
Jay Strack of Student Leadership University and Billy McCormack, one of the early leaders for the Christian Coalition when it was founded, also announced their support for Huckabee. McCormack currently is pastor of University Baptist Church in Shreveport, La.
But they weren't the only endorsements for Huckabee. One of the bigger catches of the week for the campaign was American Family Association founder Don Wildmon, who said that while he does not agree with the former Arkansas governor on "100 percent" of the issues, Huckabee nevertheless "shares our values" and "has the skills to bring us together."
Additionally, Liberty Counsel founder Mathew Staver and Charisma magazine founder Stephen Strang announced they were endorsing Huckabee.
As previously reported in Baptist Press, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary President Daniel Akin also is backing Huckabee.
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Danny Akin Endorses Huckabee
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee picked up an endorsement from fellow Baptist and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary President Daniel Akin Nov. 5.
Akin made the endorsement as a private citizen, telling The News & Observer newspaper that the former Arkansas governor's positions on issues, such his opposition to abortion rights and his support of the traditional family, closely align with his own positions.
"At this time I'll put my support behind the person who would do the best job regardless of where they are in the polls," Akin told the newspaper.
(Source: Baptist Press)
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