HOUSTON?Categorized by their attention to theological and moral issues and expressions of personal appreciation, 10 resolutions were adopted by messengers to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention during the Nov. 11 session.

Resolutions Committee Chairman Malcolm Yarnell of Fort Worth described the SBTC’s concern for “Christ-honoring, Scripture-based, church-focused and mission-minded doctrine” as a historical strength and God-given value.

“In this important year, we believe it is necessary to call ourselves and all Christians back to these fundamental biblical and therefore Baptist doctrines?the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the centrality of Scripture, the primacy of the local church and a fully biblical definition of a new desire for a Great Commission Resurgence.”

Regarding the Lordship of Christ, the first resolution urged churches to proclaim “there is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ,” that “each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes,” recognized the significance of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and urged recognition of the first day of the week as the Lord’s Day.

Furthermore, the resolution noted the responsibility of Christians to make disciples of all nations and make the will of Christ supreme while recognizing “God alone is the Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it.”

The statement also recalls God’s ordination of the family as foundational and encourages the church, the state and the family to implement the will of the Lord Jesus Christ with full integrity, by the Holy Spirit, and for the glory of God, according to the gracious principles and loving precepts He has revealed in His Word.”

The second resolution on the centrality of Scripture encouraged members of affiliated churches to: “live, teach and preach the Word of God;” encourage daily personal Bible study and memorization, family Bible studies and regular Bible studies with their churches; and “consider establishing church schools which keep Scripture central to their curriculum as an additional means of imparting a biblical worldview to our children.”

The “Primacy of the Local Church” resolution encouraged all Christians “to participate actively as members of their local churches, acknowledging and rendering cooperative support to the local church as we move together in service for the Kingdom of God.”

Appreciation was expressed to those who worked to bring about a Conservative Resurgence in the SBC as well as those who began the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The commitment to carry out the Great Commission by making disciples, teach biblical doctrine, promote and practice “text-driven preaching and teaching of the entire Bible and how it relates to Christ and God’s redemptive plan,” and lead church members to witness at home and abroad, were noted.

“We covenant together earnestly to preach and teach ‘all things’ as Christ commanded in the Great Commission without minimizing or trivializing biblical doctrines such as: the Lordship of Christ; the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture; the exclusivity of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; believers’ baptism by immersion; regenerate church membership; congregational church polity; the priesthood of the believers; church discipline and religious liberty,” the resolution stated.

“Although our first and fundamental concern is with conservative, biblical doctrine and fervent, warm-hearted evangelism,” Yarnell said, “the gospel’s impact lies upon all of human life.”

In the next three resolutions, he summarized three critical issues that concern not only biblical Christians but all “right-thinking human beings, which have come again into prominence in the most recent election cycle.”

In these austere economic times (Wow, don’t you wish people would stop beginning sentences and lectures with that phrase?), a lot of religious organizations are making plans for curtailed ministry. That’s wisdom, I guess. People are pretty nervous about money right now and “extra” things like giving for missions, church ministries, hunger relief, and so on will be cut early in many households. I read a quote from a lady-on-the-street interview wherein she spoke of feeling guilty because her family just didn’t have any money left over for giving to her church. Hmm, most of us would have never admitted even a year ago to having extra or leftover money, but I do know what she means. She, like many of us, wants to donate to good causes but isn’t willing to cut spending in other places to make that happen. The question is one of priority.

Do churches and para-church institutions depend on our giving? The “holy” answer is “of course not, our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and so on,” and this is true. He does own it all. Some of those cattle graze in pastures I manage, though. Some of them graze over at your place. God equips the ministries he’s led us to launch through the resources we hold in trust. So in a way, worthy ministries are dependent on our giving.

But that’s not why we give. Leaders who try to guilt people into giving because of budget needs are missing the point, as are people who give only “extra” money for the support of a ministry. That sentence explains why some ministries will falter or fail in the near future?neither recipients nor givers understand the dynamics of stewardship.

Two types of people are prone to love money too much?those who have it and those who don’t. Both types will either hoard or covet wealth when times get tough. If God is not sovereign, they’re right?we’d better watch out for ourselves. If God is sovereign over even the cattle stored in my freezer, then my temptation to hoard demonstrates my lack of faith in and obedience to my Lord.

My temptation to greediness is a temptation to idolatry. Security is a deceitful but attractive god. So also comfort, luxury, the affirmation of neighbors, or a host of other things that cause us to keep what we were intended to give.

We also miss worshiping the God we claim when we keep what is his for our own wish list. We’ve all seen the families that pull out a couple of ones or maybe a 10 to put in the offering plate when it passes. Perhaps they’ll give the bills to a child to put in the plate so she can feel part of the service. Great, we’ve gave our kids money for the plate when they were little. But it was clear to all from the founding of our family that this tip was not the total of our giving. I also noticed that those same children gave with more zeal and joy when the dime or the dollar came from their own allowances. We don’t worship God with pocket change or “extra money.” Our worship costs us something, whether time or service or concentration or sleep or leisure, or money that we could have used for something else. Isn’t that what David was saying when he bought the threshing floor of Araunah to build an altar to the Lord? “I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost [me] nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24).

That’s why we give. God has commanded that we give out of gratitude and in acknowledgement of his ownership of everything. The “leftover” money or “give because we need the money” mentalities diminish that acknowledgement. They reduce it to a purely mercenary exchange rather than a spiritual discipline or divine provision. A gift made in that spirit, large or small, is a gift that pays off no joy or spiritual growth.

The fact that some of us have less money now than we did yesterday is no hindrance to the kingdom of God. Eighty percent or more of us were already holding out on God. We call ourselves Christians, say we pray and read our Bible once a week, claim to believe in a limitless person who made us, but consider it all to mean little when compared to our personal financial schemes. If all those who call themselves Christian gave back to the Lord first and by percentage, the amount would rise and fall but it would provide amazing wealth for our churches and institutions and hunger relief and orphaned children and a hundred other very good things. If only those who actually are Christians did that, the gifts would still rise to a total beyond our imaginations. Money is not tight but the faith of most of us is too scarce.

Can we trust God to add all these “other things” to our lives as he promises in Matthew 6:33? What if what he provides is merely adequate and not as nice as what I gave up to trust him? The questions of greed get pretty absurd but we do ask them in our wavering hearts. But we also have the testimony of millions, many of whom we know, who say that they’ve never missed what they traded for peace with God. We have Jesus’ own promise in Matthew 19:29. Is that enough?

It’s intimidating, the possibility that American Christians may face some kind of gut check in our personal prosperity. I don’t take lightly the reality that some of us will lose jobs, homes, health insurance?things that we now take for granted. Part of the test is whether we will trust God amidst fearsome threats. Another part is whether we have the heart to share with our brothers and sisters and thus become part of God’s provision for those who suffer the worst losses.

My point is that, for Christians, this is not about money. It’s about our relationship with God. Can we trust him enough to obey his commandments about money? Is our relationship with God based on more than the things we often consider temporal “blessings?” If it is not, we are pitiable in the midst of any wind that blows. If our view of blessings is more eternal we will have a resilient joy and generous hearts that will pass any test the economy can bring our way.

HOUSTON?”Our people are so pumped that we want to do this again in the spring.”

That thought was expressed repeatedly by pastors reporting their results from “Crossover Houston,” the annual evangelism outreach of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Ten churches as diverse as the population of the greater Houston area welcomed visitors arriving early for the annual convention in order to survey neighborhoods and work at block parties.

Jack Harris, SBTC senior evangelism associate, said he was as excited by the desire of churches to continue outreach as for the record number of responses to the gospel.

With 183 people participating in the effort, 2,545 contacts were made in the neighborhoods spread across Houston and the outlying cities of Galena Park, Katy, Conroe and Tomball. They discovered 1,017 new prospects for future ministry and shared the gospel 507 times. During one day of coordinated outreach, 225 people professed faith in Jesus Christ.

“Attendance by non-church people at our block parties amounted to 3,287,” added Harris, expressing appreciation to the large number of out-of-town participants who joined with local church members to host the events.

While churches like Needham Road Baptist on the north side of Conroe attracted families to a harvest festival promoted as Gobblefest, kids of all ages flocked to the lawn of Asian American Church of Houston for the games, food and concerts during the afternoon block party.

Other participating congregations included Antioch Community Church, Clay Road Baptist Church, Rose of Sharon, Farrington Mission Center, FBC Galena Park, FBC Katy, FBC Rose Hill in Tomball and Northridge Baptist in Conroe.

The mostly young crowd that gathered on Houston’s southwest side for the Asian American Church event provided a multi-ethnic mix with Fountain of Faith Church and College Park Baptist, which share the same building with Asian American Church, also participating.

Oswald Vinueza has been a part of the Asian-American congregation for eight years and manned a table where evangelistic materials were distributed during the block party.

“It’s been a blessing to grow up here and have fellowship with other ethnicities and get to know their culture,” Vinueza said. “There are no limits to worship with people and this place is a testament to that.”

A newly discovered people group to whom the Asian-American congregation is extending its ministry involves Nepalese refugees, many of whom attended the Nov. 8 block party. Five homes have opened their doors for Bible studies under the direction of a 24-year-old college student who has come to Asian American Church from Nepal.

Like all of the other Crossover host churches, Pastor Brad Smith said he looks forward to following up on the contacts developed through the block party. While neighborhood surveys continue to serve as an effective outreach tool for many churches, Smith said he knew the outdoor party would attract more folks in his neighborhood.

HOUSTON?Seven Southern Baptist Convention leaders joined in the celebration of the SBTC’s 10th anniversary during its annual meeting in Houston, expressing appreciation for the SBTC’s commitment to share with SBC ministries a higher portion of its Cooperative Program funds than it keeps for in-state use.

“We were your first partner in ministry,” declared GuideStone Financial Resources President O.S. Hawkins. Referring to the current economic crisis, he told ministers concerned about retirement funds that the SBC-owned entity manages, “We’re going to get you through this. One of the reasons we launched those MyDestination Funds was to help guide you through,” he said, referring to investments in a diversified mix that changes over time to meet a given investment strategy.

New products such as property and casualty as well as long-term care insurance are

now being offered by GuideStone, Hawkins noted. The Mission Dignity program assists retired ministers, employees or their widows whose regular income is insufficient to live on, he added, praising the example of Sagemont Church in Houston for giving over $1 million to assist with those benefits.

North American Mission Board President Geoff Hammond recalled his visit to Houston’s First Baptist Church eight weeks earlier to witness the feeding of thousands of meals each day to people who had suffered through Hurricane Ike.

“Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are some of the most dedicated, hardworking people in all the world. They served over 5.5 million meals in those two disasters,” Hammond said, referring also to Hurricane Gustav, which hit several weeks earlier. At least 237 people professed faith in Christ through the ministry of DR volunteers.

Hammond said 5,600 missionaries are mobilized to North America on behalf of Southern Baptists, in addition to 155,000 volunteers serving on long and short-term assignments. Next year NAMB will partner with the SBTC to pilot an evangelistic strategy that engages believers in prayer and witness.

The International Mission Board report came during an evening devoted to the commissioning of the second-largest group of missionaries in Southern Baptist history?half of them with ties to Texas. IMB representatives, including President Jerry Rankin, praised the SBTC’s commitment to missions giving.

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Phil Roberts recalled the contribution of Southern Baptists in Texas who sent volunteers and building materials in 1957 for the facilities still being used. With renovation of campus facilities underway, Roberts said the school’s vitality is due in part “to Southern Baptists of Texas stepping up to the plate when other state conventions decided to draw back in their support of Southern Baptist seminaries.”

In its third year of surpassing the 1,000-students mark, Midwestern has added fully accredited Ph.D. programs in Old and New Testament and opened Midwestern Baptist College, Roberts said. He expressed gratitude for the SBTC’s provision of furnishings in the chapel and a room in the guest housing of Midwestern, Roberts offered a leather-bound copy of Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening,” and a bobblehead likeness of Spurgeon in light of Midwestern’s acquisition of Spurgeon’s personal library.

Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson expressed gratitude for the partnership with “the most unselfish and generous of all the state conventions.” He pledged Southwestern’s faithfulness to acknowledge Jesus Christ as sovereign king, to preach and teach the Word of God, to unapologetically teach Baptist theology” and “keeping the world on our heart.”

Executive Committee President Morris Chapman reported on the third straight y

HOUSTON? Houston Baptist University President Robert Sloan told messengers to the SBTC annual meeting Nov. 11 that Christian universities in the last century chose one of two paths?either abandoning their Christian identification to pursue “secular, academic greatness” or retaining faithfulness to Christ, albeit marginalized with only “a four-year liberal arts identity.”

“Unfortunately, it’s a long list of universities that had a Christian affiliation and identity in history and subsequently gave it up,” he said, recalling the Christian foundations of Duke, Harvard, Yale, Princeton and University of Chicago.

“Universities that in their history, logos, slogans and bylaws had a clear identity and commitment to Jesus Christ?and now, in some instances still have a tangential relationship to the church,” Sloan said.

Schools that retained their Christian identity typically are located outside of major cities and remained small and regional in their appeal, said Sloan, leader of one of the few Southern Baptist colleges in an urban area.

“Thus you have a remarkable transformation in America,” he said, citing the loss of influence in the arenas of government, finance, journalism and the arts.

Sloan said men like Carl F.H. Henry, Billy Graham and Bill Bright “called for a great Christian university where you could have academic excellence, research, faculty members who care deeply about their students, culture … an affirming moral and spiritual environment where young people get to have all the joys and fun of connecting in an outstanding college experience and a university that is committed to Jesus Christ.”

He contrasted that environment with today’s universities where administrators turn their heads to immoral behavior on campus.

Speaking from his own college experience of having nearly “lost my faith?humanly speaking,” Sloan later decided he would not let that happen to other young men and women. “Through my deep interest in ideas and love of learning, I got the impression that to be a Christian you had to give up your mind,” he said, adding that he was encouraged to view faith as superstition. “As a seminary student I rediscovered the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the historical reliability and theological truthfulness of Scripture.”

Sloan said he realized Christians have nothing to fear in allowing young people to ask questions and be exposed to great fields of endeavor?that “all truth is God’s truth.” Convinced of his calling to see a great, comprehensive, national Christian university emerge somewhere in America, Sloan said, “I tried it once elsewhere and pray by God’s grace, I’ll get to see that here.”

Houston Baptist University suffered $17 million worth of damage from Hurricane Ike, but Sloan said God will use the experience to accomplish good.

“The hurricane will not stop that vision. The Lord has given us tremendous opportunity right here in one of the greatest cities of the world to build a great university.”

“Protestants and evangelicals have almost without exception no universities in big cities,” Sloan said. “We are the exception to that and our intent by God’s grace is to have all those commitments to the truth, research, teaching, undergraduates, a spiritual environment on campus and be committed to Jesus Christ.”