Month: March 2009

3,000 students, adults hit Gulf Coast for ongoing Ike relief

BOLIVAR PENINSULA?As many as 3,000 students and adults, about one third from Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches, gave up their spring break vacations?camping, visiting theme parks, relaxing from school work, or sunning on the beach?to work at the beach, or, at least, what’s left of it on Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County.

Homes in the communities along this barrier island are still in desperate need of repair from the ravages of Hurricane Ike last fall, with many homeowners feeling forgotten.

The remainder of volunteers traveled with churches and organizations from across the country, with one couple traveling from Alaska to help with the rebuild efforts coordinated by the SBTC and Nehemiah’s Vision.

Volunteers from the SBTC Disaster Relief (DR) teams and Nehemiah’s Vision were among the first crews to arrive in southeast Texas in the wake of the category 2 hurricane that brought wind and flood damage to a large swath of the region last Sept. 13. Hardest hit was the 27-mile stretch of land on Bolivar Peninsula with the tidal surge reaching its apex at 27 feet, wiping away entire communities.

Of the homes that remained, some were built according to new storm codes and withstood the wind and water. Others, not completely submerged, were damaged beyond repair while still others were salvageable but their owners needed more help than an insurance check or government relief funds could provide.

That, said Gordon Knight, is where the SBTC and Nehemiah’s Vision partnership can help. Knight, SBTC rebuild director and convention liaison for the Nehemiah’s Vision ministry based in Vidor, said the convention’s DR crews worked into November of last year. By partnering with Nehemiah’s Vision?a ministry that repaired about 630 homes and 38 churches and built 10 new homes in the months after Hurricane Rita in 2005?Knight said the convention is able to prolong its ministry to the community long after the DR teams move on.

Today the ministry works to rebuild homes and churches, stepping into action when the clean-up crews have completed their jobs.

STUDENTS UNLEASHED

First Baptist Church of Crystal Beach was the command site for the spring break work crews. Built up on a 25-foot manmade knoll, the church still took on about two feet of water during the storm. Repairs are being made to the building but enough has been completed for the church to play host to the students.

SBTC feeding units were set up at the Crystal Beach site and First Baptist Church of Galveston and churches as far away as Texas City housed the students each night. Shower and laundry units were also made available at the varying locations.

Knight said the volunteers come to the project with varying degrees of abilities, expectations, and spiritual maturity. One student, Jordan Vaught, a high school senior from Glenview Baptist Church in Haltom City, had spent last year’s spring break doing relief work in New Orleans.

“I just loved that so much,” he said, noting that being able to meet the people whose homes he had been working on and see the expressions of gratitude on their faces made all of his work worth the sacrifice. For Vaught ministry work won’t end after spring break. He said he wants to major in nursing so he can continue to help people in need.

Also considering work in the mission field is Chris Morrill, another high school senior. He took a break from hanging drywall at a home to tell about how his experiences with disaster relief and the rebuild efforts are leading him to a lifetime of service.

“I feel like God’s calling me into the mission field,” he said.

Working in dis

In near reversal, state school board approves ‘examining all sides’ of science theories

AUSTIN?One day after failing to uphold a 20-year-old requirement that Texas public high school students evaluate the “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories, including evolution, the State Board of Education on March 27 ratified new standards requiring biology students to “analyze, evaluate and critique” scientific theories.

Additionally, the language, approved by a 13-2 vote, requires “examining all sides of scientific evidence” and encourages “critical thinking.”

Jonathan Saenz, legislative affairs director for the Plano, Texas-based Free Market Foundation, said the board action was “a huge victory for school students and validation that the people of Texas and the State Board of Education reject censorship in the classroom and embrace open and critical discussion in the science classroom.”

Saenz wrote on his blog that he believed the mounting pressure from the public on the elected board was evident in the vote.

Meanwhile, Texas Citizens for Science’s Steven Schafersman stated that while the new language is preferred to the “strengths and weaknesses” requirement, he wrote on a blog for the Houston Chronicle: “Of course, the new language can be read (“all sides of scientific evidence”) that will permit anti-evolution Creationists to attack Biology textbooks, and they most certainly will ?”

Following several amendments and counter amendments to wording the board initially approved in January, the board adopted the following language: “In all fields of Science; analyze, evaluate and critique scientific explanations of science by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations so as to encourage critical thinking by the student.”

Democrats Rene Nunez and Mary Helen Berlanga were the lone dissent.

Texas science standards are revised every 10 years, which makes the Texas decision important for textbook publishers, who are reluctant to publish multiple editions for different states, and for smaller states that must buy available textbooks.

The education board was bombarded with e-mails, letters, phone calls and editorials from evolution-only proponents and critics in the weeks leading up to the meeting March 25-27 in Austin.

On Friday afternoon, the board was debating final approval of amendments dealing with the analysis and evaluation of the key evolution tenets of common descent and natural selection, which were also initially approved in January and the source of angst for evolution-only proponents.

The effort to retain the “strengths and weaknesses” requirement failed March 26 in a 7-7 vote with Berlanga absent.

Supporters of evolution had assailed the 20-year-old “strengths and weaknesses” clause as a back door to teaching biblical creationism, while evolution-only critics spoke of weaknesses in Darwinian theory.

Those who testified March 25 before the board included Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education and a vocal critic of the intelligent design movement, and Pierre Velasquez of San Antonio, a 31-year veteran science teacher who said preventing teachers from discussing strengths and weaknesses in scientific theories would stifle classroom discussion.

The Texas Republican Party entered the fray on March 7, adopting a resolution titled “Supporting Rigorous Educational Standards for Science in Texas” that opposed abandoning the strengths and weaknesses requirement.

Campaigning for evolution-only instruction was the Texas Freedom Network, founde

Stem-cell hypocrites?

A recent online discussion of President Obama’s rescinding of his predecessor’s ban on government funding of embryonic stem cell research prompted an arresting question. If pro-lifers are so het up about embryo-destructive research, will we reject treatments that grow as fruit on that poisonous tree?

My head says a quick “yes,” my heart cautions some humility in the answer. If I live long enough (if any of us do) to actually see beneficial treatments derived from the destruction of human life, I’ll be old enough so that the need for treatment will be dire and emotionally compelling. That will be a difficult choice for those loved ones who will help make decisions regarding treatment?maybe not a difficult choice but certainly one fraught with controversy and self doubt.

Still, I say that I will refuse such treatment, and will refuse the results of such tainted research on behalf of any whose power of attorney I possess. If I do not do so, I say now, when less burdened by the emotion and grief of a specific choice, that I should refuse treatment of this kind. What’s the choice?

I came across a verse in Isaiah last week that got under my skin regarding this subject. In chapter 33:15, God describes a righteous person as one who “despises the gains of oppressions.” That could be a pretty broad variety of things. It could speak to spoils of an unjust war, or profit made dishonestly or at the expense of the weak.

There are many who profit from the terrible oppression of children, born and unborn. Some are elected to office by promising to support the continuation of such oppression through abortion. They, like clinic investors, are exalting the gains of oppressions.

Embryonic stem cell research will provide gains to many people and institutions decades before any effective treatment is even possible. Research hospitals, universities, private researchers, bio tech companies, communities, and community leaders all stand to gain from the distribution of billions of state and federal dollars allocated for research based on the destruction of human life. God calls this unrighteous.

Some of this allocation is the responsibility of citizens?we empower it and support it by the people we elect. A heavier guilt rests on the shoulders of presidents and governors and research directors and deans who lobby for and order and enable the gains of oppression. On the individual level, we absolutely have a responsibility to manage our health according to what we know to be right and wrong.

In Texas, our Senate Finance Committee has placed language in the proposed budget forbidding state funding of any research that destroys human embryos. Senate Democrats have vowed to fight the language, even if they must defeat the budget to do so. Interesting that the headline I saw about the debate referred to the pro-life language potentially “derailing” the budget process. It sounds to me like the Democrats are threatening to do so.

Without a doubt, we will have multiplied opportunities to consider questions of moral stewardship in the future. The difference between a bribe and the proceeds of oppression is not significant morally?both silence our convictions because of our participation in evil. We must be attentive to the sources of our income, profit, winnings, entertainment, and so on. The more we have, the more attention stewardship requires.

As with most things, this can be taken to an absurd level. The intertwining of corporations makes difficult an effort to have no indirect contact with immoral causes. I eat at restaurants and shop at stores that also sell alcohol and lottery tickets, for example. One could make a case that I benefit from the presence of a business that depends on the sale of destructive products. This would be a strained case but some will doubtless make it. I guess if a young brother says, “Let’s eat at Chili’s, they serve beer,” I might suggest something else for his sake. I Corinthians 10:23-31 speaks a word of sanity for all ages.

I think this is quibbling, an effort to weaken the point by making an absurd application. We live in the world and know the difference between consumer approval of evil and consumer innocence. I’m asking that we set an example of righteousness in a culture that worships anything that works, especially when we have an opportunity to gain from injustice. I agree with our critics that pro-lifers that benefit, or are willing to benefit, from anti-life research undermine important points of a crucial argument in our nation.

A short-cut to nowhere

Watch the news. The proposal in Delaware to start a state-run sports lottery is just another barrage from the “whatever works” philosophers of government revenue enhancement. A state might raise some money in this way but historically, a small percentage makes it to the good works touted to justify the initiative. In return, the institution that is tasked with protecting the innocent (and the foolish?) becomes their adversary in monetary responsibility.

The state can’t live within its means the way the rest of us should so they raise taxes and disguise some of them as entertainment. Legalized and state-run sports gambling will be especially appealing to younger men. Maybe it will be a “gateway drug” for future casino losers and off track betting derelicts. Isn’t government leadership inspiring!

While I disagree with legalized gambling, especially as a revenue stream, I am infuriated by state-sponsored gambling?lotteries, sports gambling, or whatever. It is malfeasance on a grand scale. For most states, the idea being considered in Delaware is just more of the same, since they already have a lottery. It is contrary to the good purposes of government at any level.

We Texans need to watch the news because our legislature has passed through half their 2009 session without passing any bills. This compresses the important work of the lawmakers into a fairly short time. The budget will come first and some legislators will cast desperately around for a bright, shiny revenue stream. “Tada! Here’s a selection of gambling solutions designed and guar-an-teed to raise boodles of money. There’s no downside and it’s worked perfectly up to now!”

Maybe a lot of unfortunate, even stupid ideas will look better as our leaders get tired, and frantic. Watch the news.

By the way, one of our former shiny solutions has failed and the local community may have to do without some of the promised benefits of its neighbor. The company that runs Lone Star Park of Grand Prairie filed bankruptcy in Delaware the first week of March. A week later, the company announced that its lease to operate the track will be auctioned in July. Press releases that say that the community will bear no negative impact are spinning so fast as to lack any credibility. I doubt Lone Star Park will close in the near future. Too many people have investments in its success, including its home town. That doesn’t mean that any of its promises from a decade ago will come to pass.

A lesson is that when our state opens a new door to questionable activity in hopes of finding free money, it just doesn’t turn out as well as we hoped. It’s as though we bought a car based on the salesman’s word without a warranty, test drive, or independent review.

You may recall that past efforts to introduce electronic gambling machines to Texas were promoted as an effort to keep the horse track from going bankrupt. Hear this: we need more, even more destructive, gambling formats to prop up the declining revenue stream from the past. If that doesn’t make you laugh, it should at least make you mad at the absurdity of what’s done in our names. By the way, I live in Grand Prairie and paid sales taxes to pay off the

LSP bonds so we could have such a “lucrative” revenue stream for all Texas. You’re welcome.

This is what you get, promises, failures, problems, and a foolish effort to throw good money after bad so the original promises might be fulfilled. Wow, we are so gullible. The last half of the 2009 session will be a big temptation for the gullible. The SBTC will be on hand and we will continue to resist efforts to expand gambling in Texas.

Europe tour reminder that remnant remains

Last month June and I did something she claims we have not done in 35 years; take a real vacation. On the trip she was waiting for me to preach somewhere, make a meeting or go to a convention session. It seems that as far back as we can remember our family outings and get-a-ways were always tied to some ministry activity. This time we traveled out of the country with no agenda other than sightseeing and personal enjoyment.

We traveled to England and France. There were the usual obligatory tourist stops to make. We saw Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Winston Churchill’s World War II bunker, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and scores of other interesting historic spots. While in Scotland we visited Edinburgh Castle, the William Wallace Monument and Sterling Bridge. We had two full days in France. There were many experiences we had in the 12-day vacation but those with spiritual significance strongly touched me.

Our first Sunday was at Metropolitan Tabernacle Baptist Church (Spurgeon’s church) in London. Only the faæade remains of the 19th-century building because the rest was destroyed during the Nazi bombings of WWII. However, the columned front was enough to bring to mind my reading of Spurgeon’s sermons and my Bible college textbook, “Lectures to My Students.”

Once inside I was not disappointed with the spiritual atmosphere. The greeters were gracious and friendly. Actually, some workers were on the street compelling people to come into the worship service. We were ushered to the third row from the front. The singing was out of a Psalter-Hymnal. No musical score was in the book. The congregation stood and sat without instruction between songs, prayers and the offering. There was no “special” music. The associate pastor preached this particular Sunday. He prayed for about 15 minutes and then preached for another 40. He was engaging. He used some illustrations but basically brought a strong exposition out of Isaiah 54. Although there was no public invitation, there was enough gospel dispensed to save everyone present. A time was allotted for private reflection before leaving the building. Both in the printed program and by announcement it was made known that the evangelistic service was held in the evening. The building was packed with almost a thousand in attendance. We were told that 700 children attend Sunday school in the afternoon. When the preaching concluded we were given the option to dismiss or remain for observance of the Lord’s Supper. Since I practice closed communion we excused ourselves.

The next worship experience was entirely different but surprisingly good. Westminster Abbey holds an Evensong service at 3 p.m. on the weekend. June and I wanted to participate. We had to convince the “gatekeepers” standing at the door that we were not just tourists wanting to see inside but genuine worshippers who wanted to participate. Finally we convinced them to let us in and we proceeded through the ancient building. About 150 were assembled for the afternoon worship. Another 100 were in the choir. Lengthy passages of Scripture were read from the Old and New Testaments. The “preacher” sort of sang his message and prayer; both were quite short. Prayers were recited as well as the Apostles’ Creed. The music was amazing.

Again there was no invitation but from the Scripture selection there was enough gospel that someone could have gotten saved. Actually there was a closing written prayer in the worship guide urging the worshipper to call upon God for mercy and forgiveness of sin, trusting in Jesus Christ. Now I am under no illusion that the Anglican Church is evangelical. I do believe that the power of God is in the Word of God and the Spirit of God. He can use anything to draw people unto himself.

Our brief time in France allowed us to go to Notre Dame Cathedral and Sacre Coeur Church at Montmartre. They were nothing more than another building to be seen on the tour schedule. Non-Catholic churches were small and out of the way. Their influence had been minimal in France’s history. They were not revered as Westminster Abbey or vibrant like Metropolitan Tabernacle. When the French Revolution took place the emphasis was on equality, justice, and fraternity. These three themes were based upon the supremacy of humankind. Almost anything of religion was wiped away during the Reign of Terror and the immediate years following. Today it is a tragedy to see the spiritual vacuum of France’s secular humanism being filled with Islam.

Expository preaching preferred in over half of churches reaching young adults

More than half the churches effectively reaching young adults use a more expository teaching style, according to a study by LifeWay Research that formed the basis of the newly released book “Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them.”

Written by missiologist Ed Stetzer with co-authors Jason Hayes and Richie Stanley, the book addresses why most young adults?those in the 20- to 29-year-old age range?are avoiding church and what churches are doing (or could do) to reach them. Surveys of 149 churches provide a platform for many of the recommendations of the authors.

San Antonio’s Community Bible Church?while not Southern Baptist?is among the churches examined for their success in reaching young adults and defines itself as a conservative, evangelical congregation that holds to the inerrancy of Scripture. Pastor Scott Austin described for the authors a gradual shift in focus by churches back to expository preaching.

“Even the younger groups of Christians are falling back to a more exegetical preaching and wanting more [of a] straight up, just open up the Bible and go through John or go through Ephesians,” approach. Another pastor in Colorado said the craving for deeper teaching isn’t limited to the 50-plus crowd, and more recently is echoed by those in their 20s and 30s.

The authors are quick to point out that churches known for an expositional style are not necessarily those that “systematically walk through the Scriptures cover to cover, but they do identify more with an expository approach than anything else.” They point to Mat Fry, pastor of C3Church in a suburb of Raleigh, N.C., who graduated from Liberty University and took graduate level studies there and at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Fry develops a series through a certain book, taking a passage of Scripture and developing his outline from it. He calls that “letting the Scripture kind of drive the outline.”

That approach doesn’t have to be lifeless and distanced from real life, Fry said. If done right, an expository message can indeed connect with the world of the unbelieving or unchurched, he told researchers.

The authors draw the conclusion “that survey results indicate people are not so much interested in the method of delivery as they are in the delivery of truth that is relevant to their lives.” They explain, “Authentic preaching that presents God’s Word as the answer will draw many people.”

Other examples are offered of pastors who vary their style, moving between expository and topical sermons while some blend the two, preaching through a book of the Bible, chapter by chapter, preaching on major themes within the text.

Some defenders of topical preaching questioned an often-cited argument that maturing or mature Christians need expository teaching. A Missouri pastor called that “a perceived need and not a real need,” finding no evidence that Jesus preached expositionally. Instead, he said, Jesus preferred a topical pattern exclusively while also using illustrations and stories.

The authors follow-up on that comment by stating, “This chapter isn’t designed to argue for or against any one type of preaching. We are simply giving you input into what churches are doing when they are effective at reaching young adults.”

They did, however, take note of the self-assessment by leaders of Willow Creek in Illinois that they had not seen the returns they had expected at a church known for topical, seeker-sensitive preaching.

“All in all, the new understanding from Willow Creek’s own self-assessment is that the leaders of the church need to regularly communicate to the people the personal responsibility each person has to get in God’s Word for deeper study,” the authors of Lost and Found shared.

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Texas church revamps for family integration

PORT ARTHUR “Gone are the days when Christians understood that the home–and not the Christian church or school–is principally and primarily responsible for the education, evangelism, and discipleship of children and that our ecclesiology should reflect that reality.”

These words, taken from the foreword of a new book, “Turning the Ship,” pinpoint the problem that troubled Dustin Guidry, pastor of Ridgewood Baptist Church in Port Arthur.

Written by Guidry, the book chronicles how he and staff came to grips with, and solved their unwillingness to place their children in age-segregated, church discipleship programs–be they Sunday school, children’s church, youth department and camps, even the nursery, all of which were the traditional methodology at Ridgewood.

Following a long season of soul-searching and scriptural study, Guidry and staff have returned to what they say is a biblical model of discipleship and to those long- gone days lauded in the foreword of Guidry’s book by Voddie Baucham, pastor of Houston-area Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring.

Baucham wrote that Guidry has “done what many thought was impossible. He has taken a neo-traditional church and moved it toward family integration. In ‘Turning the Ship,’ he offers an honest, hard-hitting, no-holds-barred look at the origins, the path, obstacles, and the tremendous rewards of his church’s journey. This is not a panacea. Nor is it a program-oriented marketing scheme designed to get every church on the same path in forty days. This is one man’s story of triumph, tragedy, heartache, and joy as he pursued biblical ecclesiology with tenacity that at times resembled Jacob wrestling with the angel.”

Taking the cue from Titus 2, Guidry and staff fashioned a mid-week discipleship approach for the entire church where the older men teach the younger men, and the older women teach the younger women.

“The whole premise of the book is basically rejecting the secularization of the church, and relying on the sufficiency of Scripture for all matters of faith and practice,” Guidry told the TEXAN.

This includes promoting biblical manhood and womanhood, he said.

“This is a genuine move of God that’s happening,” Guidry said. “And it’s defying the norms of the culture of rebellious teens and the disconnect between children and parents.”

Guidry cited Malachi 4.6 to make his point, which states: “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Guidry paraphrased the essence of what church leaders told him about what’s happened at Ridgewood: “This is the purest our church has ever been. I actually feel like I’m at a real biblical church.”

Among other things, Guidry attributes such perceptions to male church members assuming their biblical role of spiritual headship in the home. Ridgewood’s families also memorize Scripture, study the great hymns of the faith, and systematically learn biblical doctrine.

“Psalm 11.3 asks that when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? We can have good intentions all day long, but the heart of the matter is if the foundation is wrong, then it doesn’t matter what we do,” Guidry noted. “So, we’ve gone back to reclaim our foundation.”

Guidry notes that the change holds an evangelistic appeal: “The people who are lost and hurting see the realness, the genuiness here. There’s something in them that says, ‘That’s right.’

“We don’t claim perfection, but we try to follow the one who is,” he explained. “It’s such unity that gives us a platform for the gospel. We have untold witnessing opportunities with neighbors and co-workers. People see a difference, and they want what they see.”

Baucham–whose church practices family-integrated discipleship–notes in the foreword that Turning the Ship isn’t “for the faint of heart.”

Ridgewood deacon James Roberts, who is also a senior petro-chemist, agrees with Baucham. Roberts read the book and sent the following e-mail to Guidry:
“It was not easy reading some parts because it was true. It was not easy staying in the boat while it was turning. It was not easy having my mask removed. It’s always going to hurt when you must face correction. Praise the Father, Sone, and the Holy Spirit for the heart and the strength to get through it. ‘You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’ I have a lot of regret for wasted years, but now I have seen the truth.

“I’m learning and growing more than ever. I’m excited about finally being on the right path and going in the right direction. I can only pray that others will face the correction and allow God to complete His work. ‘For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.’ I thank God for how He is using you. continue to stand for Him!”

Guidry is as humbled by that e-mail as he is about the progress and future of Ridgewood: “We haven’t arrived yet, and we have a long way to go.”
The current issue of Texas Baptist Crossroads, a publication of the SBTC, addresses various initiatives that integrate student ministry with the overall local church ministry. You’ll find the magazine online at sbtexas.com/news.

To get a copy of “Turning the Ship,” visit turningtheship.net.

Ridgewood, Port Arthur, revamps to retain teens and disciple parents

What is Age-Integrated Discipleship?

Come see it in action!

Four times a year (Jan. April, July and Oct.) Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, holds an open house for visitors to get a first-hand look at family-oriented discipleship and how it impacts church life. Visitors will:

1. Stay a Saturday night in the home of a GFBC family (based on availability)

2. Attend a GFBC Sunday service

3. Enjoy a fellowship meal after the service

4. Participate in a Q&A session with GFBC elders If this interests you, send an email to info@gracefamilybaptist.net

“Gone are the days when Christians understood that the home — and not the Christian church or school — is principally and primarily responsible for the education, evangelism, and discipleship of children and that our ecclesiology should reflect that reality.”

These words, taken from the foreword of a new book, Turning the Ship, pinpoint the problem that troubled Dustin Guidry, pastor of Ridgewood Baptist Church in Port Arthur.

Written by Guidry, the book chronicles how he and staff members came to grips with, and solved their unwillingness to place their children in age-segregated, church discipleship programs, be they Sunday school, children’s church, youth department and camps, even the nursery, all of which were the traditional methodology at Ridgewood.

Following a long season of soul-searching and scriptural study, Guidry and staff have returned to a biblical model of discipleship and to those days long gone cited in the opening sentence above, cited from the foreword of Guidry’s book, and written by Voddie Baucham, pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas.

According to Baucham, Guidry has “done what many thought was impossible. He has taken a

neo-traditional church and moved it toward family integration. In Turning the Ship, he offers an honest, hard-hitting, no-holds-barred look at the origins, the path, obstacles, and the tremendous rewards of his church’s journey. This is not a panacea. Nor is it a program-oriented marketing scheme designed to get every church on the same path in forty days. This is one man’s story of triumph, tragedy, heartache, and joy as he pursued biblical ecclesiology with tenacity that at

times resembled Jacob wrestling with the angel.”

Taking the cue from Titus 2, Guidry and staff fashioned a mid-week discipleship approach for the entire church where the older men teach the younger men, and the older women teach the younger women.

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Legislators seek to reduce suffering by reducing divorce

AUSTIN–Conservative lawmakers are pushing legislation to reform Texas’ family law code, one bill at a time. While previous legislative sessions have passed bills pertaining to healthy marriages and promoting premarital counseling, the 81st session of the Texas legislature is considering a bill that would encourage couples headed toward divorce to reconsider.

While many Christians held out hope of passage of former State Rep. Bill Zedler’s bill to offer an option between a standard marriage license and a covenant marriage, the current climate of the Texas Legislature appears unlikely to entertain such a proposal.

However, Rep. Warren Chisum of Pampa introduced House Bill 480 earlier this year to require a 10-hour marriage education course for couples with minor children who are filing for divorce on the grounds of insupportability. It was scheduled for public hearing on March 16.

In pushing family law reform, these lawmakers say they hope to lower the state’s divorce costs, pull potentially broken homes out of poverty, and promote a more stable society.

Statistics vary regarding divorce rates. A March 2008 Barna Research study discovered one-third of married adults have experienced divorce, either in their own marriages or as a child of a failed marriage.

“This means that among all Americans 18 years of age or older, whether they have been married or not, 25 percent have gone through a marital split,” a release on the Barna website noted.

In comparing the divorce rate of born-again Christians to the divorce rate of non-believing adults, the study revealed a nearly identical figure–32 percent versus 33 percent, respectively. Speaking to the findings of his study, George Barna called divorce an “unavoidable rite of passage.”

“Interviews with young adults suggest that they want their initial marriage to last, but are not particularly optimistic about that possibility,” he said. “There is also evidence that many young people are moving toward embracing the idea of serial marriage, in which a person gets married two or three times, seeking a different partner for each phase of their adult life.”

Barna’s research confirms that positive and traditional views regarding marriage have taken a hit in the last two decades. The National Healthy Marriage Resource Center reported that less than one-half of all high school seniors believe that choosing marriage over remaining single or cohabiting leads to a fuller, happier life.

These data support overall trends indicating Americans are adopting increasingly positive attitudes toward nontraditional marital and family values including divorce, cohabitation, remaining single, egalitarian gender roles, and premarital sex.

In 2005, Texas reported 3.3 divorces per 1,000 people, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. While falling behind the overall average found by Barna, the percentage of divorced adults in Texas is as follows: Caucasian (16 percent); African American (21.9 percent); Hispanics (11.4 percent). In 2006, Texas reported a little over 3 million children living in families below the federal poverty level–just over half of these children were living with married parents.

Statistics regarding the consequences of divorce are well documented. The website of The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank, posts recent studies regarding the state of the family and marriage. From national research, the foundation posted its top 10 findings regarding influencers of the quality and stability of marriage. Of special significance are its findings regarding the economic decline of divorced and cohabitating couples, especially for women and children; after divorce, household standards of living are 20 percent lower, home ownership drops by 12 percent, and household incomes are $13,000 lower.

However, the impact of divorce has reached far beyond the domestic sphere. The Family Research council estimates an average divorce costs a family $30,000. About $3.3 billion of divorce costs are picked up by the U.S. government each year. This price tag includes funds required of both federal and state governments for child support enforcement, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, food stamps, and public housing.

HR 2683: PROMOTING HEALTHY MARRIAGES
The declining view of matrimony and the rising costs of divorce absorbed by the state served as the cause for Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) to push House Bill 2683 through the Texas House of Representatives last year.

Among its provisions, the bill established the Healthy Marriage Development Program to provide instruction on premarital counseling (including anger resolution, family violence prevention, communication, honoring your spouse, and managing a budget); physical fitness and active lifestyles, (including sexual abstinence for un married and previously married people and nutrition on a budget); and parenting skills for character development, academic success, and stepchildren.

The bill allocates financial assistance for the courses through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)—a federal grant for low-income families. Especially noteworthy is the bill’s promotion of marriage education services through the Health and Human Services Commission, allocating up to $50,000 for such programs.

HB 2685: PREMARITAL COUNSELING
Last September, Chisum’s House Bill 2685 was signed by Gov. Rick Perry. The bill increases the cost of marriage licenses from $30 to $60 and encourages eight hours of premarital course work prior to marriage. Of significance is the bill’s waiver of the marriage license fee and 72-hour waiting period after issuance of a marriage license for those who undergo premarital counseling.

“Divorce is what keeps many of our people in poverty,” Chisum told the New York Times shortly after introducing HB 2685. “I am trying to do something to raise people out of poverty.”

The bill stipulates that a premarital education course must include instruction in conflict management and communication skills and be completed within one year of the license application date. Premarital instructors recognized by the state include: marriage educators, clergy, licensed mental health professionals, and faith-based and community-based organizations.

HB 480: RESTORING THROUGH EDUCATION
While covenant marriage proposals go much further to ensure premarital counseling, legislation proposed by Chisum seeks to restore troubled marriages through marriage education.

HB 480 requires a respondent of a suit seeking dissolution of a marriage to submit a completion certificate for a crisis marriage education course. Exception is given to cases with evidence of family violence—whether mental, emotional, verbal or psychological abuse—based on a protective order, police record, a sworn statement by a physician, counselor, advocate in a family violence program or other medical evidence indicating that the party was a victim of family violence.

Parties are encouraged to complete the course within a 30-day period of the time when the suit is filed. Minimal instruction must address conflict management, communication and forgiveness skills taught by trained and certified instructors. Among those eligible to offer instruction are marriage educators, clergy, licensed mental health professionals, faith-based and community-based organizations. Participants are required to pay any fee charged for the course. Access will be provided to an Internet website listing individuals and organizations offering such courses.

The bill also amends the Family Code so that the court considers a wide range of the needs of children related to their age, education, financial support and care, “consistent with best interests of the child” while “taking into consideration the circumstances of the parents.”

While a covenant marriage changes both the entry and exit requirements for marriage, the enactment last year of the Healthy Marriage Development Program offers some hope of increased pre-marital education while the bill currently scheduled for public hearing addresses attempts to end a marriage.

Divorces for the tougher covenant marriage are typically granted only for the following: adultery; conviction of a felony; imprisonment for one year; abandonment for at least two years; or separation without cohabitation for at least three years—while including a caveat to protect victims of domestic violence. With no-fault divorce still in place, those standards do not apply, although Chisum hopes more thought will go into the consideration by judges and parties seeking to divorce.

He told KVUE-TV in Austin that he desires to have children raised with a mother and a father.

“We can save emotional heartache by keeping them together.” He encouraged passage of the bill, statin, “Let’s just make a little effort, put a few hours in, saying, what can we do to restore this marriage?”

The Free market Foundation says the bill has a simple and extremely important goal: keep marriages together when kids are involved.

“We know that not only is family breakdown filled with emotional costs to the adults and kids, we also know it has a staggering effect of costing Texas taxpayers $3 billion a year,” said Jonathan Saenz, director of legislative affairs for Free Market Foundation.

On the other end of the spectrum, Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo introduced Senate Bill 24 to remove the 60-day waiting period for divorce decrees in cases involving assault and family violence. That bill and one similar to it (HB 72) are before committees.

To track any Texas bill visit legis.state.tx.us.

Acts 1:8 SENT Conference equipping Christians to live ‘missional’ lives

The annual Acts 1:8 SENT Conference, sponsored by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, will mark its fourth year when the event is held April 17-18 at Houston’s First Baptist Church.

SENT is more hands-on than a typical missions conference, the music is oriented toward the youngers in the crowd, and the approach to missions begins at one’s front door and ends halfway around the globe?glocal, they call it.

That’s by design, said SBTC Missions Mobilization Associate Tiffany Smith.

“The SENT Conference is developed and geared to train and equip church staff and lay leaders, and especially youth and collegiate students and young adults, to mobilize in missions, to learn to live their lives missionally, whether locally in Texas, somewhere in North America or overseas.”

Smith said training the next generation of Baptist leaders to be missionaries no matter their geographic residence is crucial, and SENT draws a more youthful contingent than a typical denominational event.

This year the SBTC’s collegiate ministries will scholarship any college student with lodging, meals and conference registration fees.

A flyer for SENT beckons readers to “investigate your role in God’s plan to reach the people and the nations around you?at home and overseas. Learn how to walk the Christian journey with life skills that equip you to live out the greatest adventure God has designed for you as you share Christ with the people in the world.”

And increasingly, the world has come to Texas, Smith noted, creating the possibility for global impact at home as well as abroad.

Smith said there would be 38 speakers in plenary and breakout seminars and several dozen missionaries from the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, Baptist Global Response and other Great Commission organizations.

“So there’s practical training for everyone, and there is ample opportunity to connect with missionaries, pray for them, plan short-term projects with them?to network with them face to face and start engaging the mission field even if the first step is praying for them,” Smith said.

Keynote speakers will include IMB President Jerry Rankin and LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer.

Recording artist Joel Engle, pastor of The Exchange in Keller, a church plant begun in September, will lead in musical worship.

Workshops will include Bible-storying for oral cultures; “Becoming a Missional Church,” “Reaching Out to Muslims,” “Medical Missions,” “Using ESL in Missions,” “Reaching Your City” and other topics.

Also this year, special pre-sessions are available during the day on April 17 including Disaster Relief Phase 1 training and other topics such as spiritual warfare and building a short-term missions team.

About five spots for a Houston Vision Tour on April 16 remained open as of March 13, Smith said. The tour will offer a glimpse at the possible mission opportunities in Houston and will include prayerwalking, dinner at a homeless shelter, and visits to the Vietnamese Buddhist Center, Hong Kong Market and the Da’wah Islamic Center.

To inquire about the vision tour, e-mail Gayla Harris at gharris@sbtexas.com.