WASHINGTON—The Obama administration announced changes on Friday to its controversial “contraception mandate” with a policy that shifts the responsibility to offer free birth control—including abortion-causing drugs—away from religious organizations to their insurance companies.

But pro-life advocates were taking no comfort in the changes, charging that the increased costs to insurers would be passed on to religious organizations in paying for the broader insurance group plans.

House Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told LifeNews.com: “This ObamaCare rule still tramples on Americans’ First Amendment right to freedom of religion. It’s a fig leaf, not a compromise. Whether they are affiliated with a church or not, employers will still be forced to pay an insurance company for coverage that includes abortion-inducing drugs,” he said.

The new policy, the White House said, would allow religious institutions to avoid offering contraception in their insurance plans. Instead, the new plan “ensures … (the) insurance company will be required to offer contraceptive care free of charge.

“The new policy ensures women can get contraception without paying a co-pay and addresses important concerns raised by religious groups by ensuring that objecting religious employers will not have to provide contraceptive coverage or refer women to organizations that provide contraception,” according to a White House “fact sheet” on the changes.

GuideStone Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, which provides health insurance coverage and other services to more than 200,000 people, expressed strong opposition Monday (Feb. 6) to the mandate in its earlier form, especially its failure to provide adequate conscience protections.

The mandate required all methods approved as birth control by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be included in a range of services offered to patients free of charge. Those FDA-endorsed contraceptives include ones that have abortion-causing properties — “ella;” emergency contraception, such as Plan B, and the intrauterine device (IUD).

Under the revisions, insurance companies would be required to offer these contraceptives directly to women free of charge if they work for a religious institution that refuses to cover them directly in their insurance plan.

—Compiled by staff and Baptist Press reports

JACKSON, Tenn.—Nelda normally came to church, sat in the back and made her exit quickly with the final “Amen.”

Having come to faith as a teen, this single grandma had seldom been nurtured and had yet to make a public profession of her faith in Christ. And although Nelda had been attending our church for a dozen years, we had never been able to pull her into our small-group community.

Then she heard about “Read the Bible for Life,” a nine-week small group study that would be followed by a year of walking and worshipping through the pages of the world’s greatest book. Nelda thought, “I’ve never read through the Bible before; I probably should do that.”

She got hooked.

The nine-week study, which focuses on how to read the Bible better, drew Nelda into the small group experience and gave her a compelling vision for reading the Bible in a fresh life-altering way. Then, through the following year, our small groups read through the Bible chronologically. Each week small group leaders helped the participants explore discussion questions, and the week culminated in a whole-church worship service with a sermon focused on a key passage from that week’s reading.

The combination of individual reading, small-group discussion and worship was powerful and brought great changes to Nelda’s life. She made a public profession of her faith and was baptized. Last summer she and her teenage grandson went on a mission trip to Romania. As a result of that trip, her grandson has come to faith in Christ and was baptized a few weeks ago. And Nelda is ministering to Kathy, who has yet to make a profession of faith but has gotten involved in Nelda’s small group.

As Nelda has engaged God’s Word in the past year, two dynamics have been vitally important.

First, she has learned how to read the parts of Scripture well. Too often we hand people a Bible, this ancient, sometimes complex book, and say, “Here. You should read this.” Learning how to hear God speak variously through a psalm, or a parable, or a letter from Paul, and learning how to apply the Bible’s truths to life responsibly can make all the difference. It has made a big difference for Nelda as she has met the Living God in the pages of His living Word (Hebrews 4:12).

Second, Nelda has gotten drawn into the Bible’s grand story. When I asked her about the main impact reading through the Bible has had on her life she replied, “I never knew how all the stories fit together to make sense.” She woke up one morning and realized that the stories of the Bible are one story, and that big, beautiful story is her story. As she understood how the Bible’s story fits together, she saw more clearly the purpose of her own life.

So how about you? Do you and your community have a plan for reading, walking and worshiping through the Word in 2012?

Check out the tools at www.readthebibleforlife.com. Among other things you will find downloadable reading plans, a chronological Bible called Reading God’s Story, and a Reader’s Guide to the Bible that will coach you day-by-day through the year. 

In the final week of 2011, we will release a free audio podcast of the chronological reading plan, which you can access through apps, Facebook or Twitter.

Frank Cooke, a British Baptist leader in the 20th century, once said, “The foundation of every reformation of the Holy Spirit is the Word of God made plain to the people.” We need reformation; we need to read the Word in the coming year. This could change everything in our lives, our families and our churches.

Nelda still sits in the back during worship each Sunday, but now she has a big smile on her face and her HCSB Study Bible tucked under her arm. She lingers after the service, enjoying the people and presence of God. Her life and the lives of those around her will never be the same.

George H. Guthrie is the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and author of “Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God’s Word,” published by the B&H Publishing Group of LifeWay Christian Resources. For more information, visit www.readthebibleforlife.com.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — Only 51 percent of Americans age 18 and older are married, compared to 57 percent a decade ago, according to a new study, and while young adults aspire to marry, it's not a priority.

The median age when women first marry is at a new high of older than 26, and the corresponding age for men is almost 29, the Pew Research Center said.

By comparison, in 1960, 72 percent of all adults were married in the United States, and the median age for brides was barely 20 and grooms were just a couple of years older, The Washington Post noted Dec. 14.

In 2010, 7.5 million couples were living together without being married, representing a 13 percent increase in just one year. The Post said the economy is largely to blame, with dating couples struggling to support two households but not being willing to commit to marriage.

A sociologist at Johns Hopkins University told The Post that in the 1950s marriage was mandatory but now it's “culturally optional.” Just last year Pew found that more than four in 10 Americans under 30 consider marriage old-fashioned.

Yet most young adults today express a desire to marry eventually, once they've had time to establish careers, travel the world and indulge in hobbies.

Matt Statler, a 29-year-old resident of the nation's capital, told The Post he'd like to marry someday, but he's “definitely in no hurry.” He wants the freedom to do what he wants for a time without feeling that he should be spending time in a committed relationship.

“It's just easier to date around and not be as emotionally invested in someone when I have other goals in life right now,” Statler told The Post.

Another major factor in the declining marriage rate is a generation of youth who have experienced their parents' divorces and fear repeating the mistakes. 

The newspaper quoted a 30-year-old woman whose divorced father advised her to wait at least until age 35 to marry. Such young adults, Pew found, believe that living together is a safer first step.

BARNA REFLECTS ON 2011 TRENDS — Americans are struggling to determine how faith, Christianity and church fit into modern life, The Barna Group said in its reflection on six top trends of 2011.

“Only Billy Graham, the Pope, Barack Obama and Joel Osteen were mentioned by more than 1 out of 50 adults as the most significant Christian leaders,” Barna said. “What's more, 41 percent of Americans are unable to identify who they consider to be an influential Christian.”

Also among the year's trends: 

— People are living with a redefined American dream that includes less spending, more saving and less charitable giving. A growing number believe the economy will not recover from its current slump.

— Nearly 85 percent of Christian 18- to 29-year-olds admit they have no idea how the Bible applies to their field or professional interests, Barna found. Young adults who are interested in creative or science-oriented careers often disconnect from their faith or from the church.

— Technology has become a modern addiction and, while bringing notable good to everyday life, has increased conflict within families. Barna said churches can help families navigate the digital world by helping them reimagine the role of sabbatical living, such as taking meaningful breaks from technology. 

— While most Americans claim to be Christians or at least spiritual people, the spiritual transformation of lives is hard to find. Most Christians “simply do not understand the obstacles they face on the spiritual journey,” Barna said, identifying four common barriers: lack of commitment, unwillingness to fully repent, confusing activity for growth and failure to engage in genuine, accountable community. 

— More than ever, young women are preparing to live independently by getting educated and finding a job, Barna said, adding that research shows teenage girls aspire to most of the same careers as teenage boys, including the military, law enforcement, firefighting and government. 

“Another surprising fact about the changing views of young women is that only 1 percent of teen girls explicitly identifies 'domestic work' or 'homemaking' as their future occupational choice,” Barna said. 

BALE'S VISIT TO FORCED ABORTION FOE REBUFFED — Christian Bale, star of the latest “Batman” movie franchise, was repulsed by authorities Dec. 15 as he sought to visit a leading opponent of China's coercive abortion program.

Bale and a CNN television crew were blocked by the guards at a checkpoint as they sought to walk from their car to the home of Chen Guangcheng in Dongshigu Village in eastern China. The guards — dressed in olive green military-style overcoats — pushed Bale and the others back, CNN reported. When Bale pulled out a small camera, the guards hit him as they aimed punches at his camera and tried to drag him away from the others.

“Why can I not visit this free man?” Bale asked repeatedly, according to the report.

The actor and the CNN crew had driven eight hours from Beijing in an effort to see Chen, who has been under house arrest for more than a year. He and his wife reportedly have been tortured and denied medical care during that time. Prior to his home detention, Chen served more than four years in prison on what his supporters describe as trumped-up charges by the government.

Chen, a 40-year-old lawyer who is blind, filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Linyi on behalf of women who had been forced to have abortions or sterilizations. In the county in which he lives, there were 130,000 coerced abortions and involuntary sterilizations in 2005 alone, according to the ChinaAid human rights organization.

China's population control program — known as the one-child policy and instituted officially in 1980 — generally limits couples in urban areas to one child and those in rural areas to two, if the first is a girl. Parents in cities may have second babies if the husband and wife are both only children. 

The program has been marked by forced abortion — even in the final trimester — and sterilization. Infanticide, especially of females, also has been reported.

After Bale was turned back from visiting Chen, he told CNN, “What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is.”

He said on the drive to Chen's village, “This doesn't come naturally to me, this is not what I actually enjoy — it isn't about me. But this was just a situation that said I can't look the other way.

“I'm not brave doing this. The local people who are standing up to the authorities, who are visiting Chen and his family and getting beat or detained, I want to support them.”

According to CNN, Bale learned about Chen while he was in China for the filming of “The Flowers of War,” which portrays the brutal 1930s invasion of Nanjing by Japanese troops. He returned to Beijing for the movie's premier and invited the CNN crew to accompany him as he sought to visit Chen. The movie is China's official entry in the Academy Award competition.

Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, described Bale as “a hero. He is starring in the most expensive film ever made in China, which China hopes will win an Academy Award. Nevertheless, he has the courage to stand against official injustice and has greatly raised the visibility of Chen's case.”

Women's Rights Without Frontiers works to combat coerced abortion and sexual slavery.

Bale is best known for his role in the “Batman” movie series, which will resume next summer with “The Dark Knight Rises.” He won an Academy Award as best supporting actor earlier this year for his role in “The Fighter.”

EX-PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINIC DIRECTOR JOINS AUL — Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director, joined Americans United for Life Dec. 8 as senior policy adviser.

She also announced Nov. 21 the launch of a ministry to reach out to abortion clinic workers. Its name will be And Then There Were None.

Johnson has become a leading pro-life advocate since resigning in 2009 as director of the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas. She left the clinic she had worked at for eight years after viewing an abortion by means of a sonogram. At the time, Johnson said she had already become disillusioned with her job, recounting that a Planned Parenthood supervisor had been urging her to find ways to increase profits by performing more abortions.

Johnson's knowledge of Planned Parenthood will help Americans United for Life in its effort to eliminate government funding of the abortion giant, the organization's president said.

“No one understands better than Abby how intertwined abortion policy and government funding have become…. She will be an integral part of our work to expose and defund the abortion industry,” Charmaine Yoest said in a written statement. 

Planned Parenthood clinics performed more than 332,000 abortions in 2009, making the organization the country's leading abortion provider. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates received more than $363 million in government grants and contracts from federal, state and local sources in 2008-09.

Johnson and six other former Planned Parenthood employees volunteered Dec. 7 to testify in a congressional investigation into alleged illegal and unethical behavior by the abortion giant.

PA. LAWMAKERS TIGHTEN STANDARDS FOR ABORTION CLINICS — Both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature have approved a bill that will require abortion clinics in the state to meet the same health and safety standards as other outpatient surgery centers.

Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, is expected to sign the legislation into law.

The Senate voted 32-18 for the proposal Dec. 14, a day after the House of Representatives passed it in a 151-44 roll call, according to the Pennsylvania Independent.

The measure requires abortion clinics to expand the size of operating rooms, install elevators and have driveways and parking lots large enough for ambulances, the Independent reported.

Planned Parenthood and other organizations that support abortion rights oppose the bill, saying it will reduce access to the procedure.

Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute and a backer of the measure, welcomed the standardization between abortion clinics and other outpatient facilities. He told the Independent, “If that is what the state is requiring for arthroscopic knee surgeries, what is special about abortion that it should be granted allowances for lower standards?”

Lawmakers proposed the legislation after a grand jury report in January revealed a West Philadelphia clinic owned by abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was marked by deplorable conditions that resulted in its closing and Gosnell's medical license being suspended. 

Gosnell and eight others, including his wife, were charged with counts that include first-degree murder, third-degree murder, conspiracy and corruption. Six former employees have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Gosnell.

On Dec. 14, Gosnell's wife Pearl pleaded guilty to charges that included taking part in an illegal, late-term abortion, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Gosnell, 70, has been charged with eight counts of murder — one in the death of a woman and seven in the deaths of viable, fully delivered children who were killed. Those babies were only some of hundreds at least six months into gestation who were killed outside the womb after induced delivery at the clinic, the grand jury reported. Gosnell destroyed most of the files, limiting prosecution to only seven cases.

Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Erin Roach and Washington bureau chief Tom Strode.

Editor’s note: The Jan. 23 TEXAN will include a special report on the Anabaptists and their continuing influence. Martin Luther’s reforms were foundational to what later became the Baptist movement. The following first-person article is part of that special report.

WITTENBERG, Germany—On a cold, crisp, late October day in 1517, a concerned professor in a small German university town posted a list of ideas he wanted to discuss on the town bulletin board, which also happened to be the wooden door of the Castle Church. Little did 33-year-old Martin Luther realize, as he nailed what has now been famously called the “95 Theses” to that door, that he would soon become a lightning rod throughout Germany and that the town of Wittenberg would become the epicenter of the Protestant Reformation.

Luther’s accusations against the pope, the Catholic Church’s views on purgatory, and the heretical idea of purchasing the forgiveness of sins rang a resounding alarm. Aided by the rise of the printing press, the young monk’s questions flooded the German countryside. Alongside this was his call for a scriptural view of salvation, not by works but by grace alone through faith alone.

Yet Luther’s quest to return the church to its foundation did not spring from self-seeking motives or power-hungry ambition. In fact, the Protestant Reformation started with a personal reformation in Luther’s own heart as he studied Scripture and sought the Lord fervently in prayer.

It was Luther’s love for the Bible that fueled his resolve against the pope’s threats of excommunication, which would brand him a criminal in the eyes of the empire. When he received the label of “heretic,” his friends kidnapped him and hid him in Wartburg Castle to protect him from those who sought his life.

During those 10 months of hiding, Luther translated the New Testament into the German vernacular, a feat that would burst open the doors of the Reformation as it now made the Scriptures available and understandable to the common man. No longer would the Scripture be shackled in the Latin tongue and sequestered from the people. They could now read the Bible for themselves and experience the same life-transforming power it gave Luther.

This high view of Scripture and trust in its absolute authority paved the way for a spiritual revolution across Western Europe whose ripples are still felt today in modern evangelical churches. However, the sad truth of the story is that this fidelity to the Bible did not stand the test of time, as Germany became the breeding ground in the 19th and 20th centuries for liberal theology, which jettisoned the conviction of biblical inerrancy and has left only a few embers of evangelical Christianity in the country as well as in the rest of Europe. Although Oct. 31 is recognized as Reformation Day in Germany, I wondered how many Germans realize its significance.

So as my wife and I waited to board the train headed for the small, out-of-the way town of Wittenberg on Reformation Day last October, I did not know what to expect. We were headed to the tiny university town because I am a church history buff, and since we were in the country, I could not pass up the opportunity to visit on such an historic day. Would we be the only people on the train headed to our destination?

To my surprise, I found myself standing among a small crowd waiting to board the same train. As we made the hour-long journey, more people hopped on at the various stops, and we all exited the train together in Wittenberg. My excitement escalated further as we entered the town and saw the main street packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people. Maybe I had short-changed the German people and their knowledge of church history after all.

Then, I saw it.

A banner over the street read, “Wittenberg Renaissance Music Festival October 23-31.” As we pressed into the crowd, there were booths with food vendors and merchants in medieval period garb selling their wares. Street performers entertained the crowds as minstrels plucked away. Although there were groups in the Luther Museum and visitors to the Castle Church that day, it became apparent that the masses were there to celebrate the Renaissance, not the Reformation.

Ironically, a statue of Luther holding a Bible towered above the crowd in the town square. Had it been the real Luther, I imagined a tear or two running down his cheek. Surely he would weep over the dearth of Christianity in his homeland.

A German friend of mine recently said, “Martin Luther brought the Bible back to the people. Today, we have to bring the people back to the Bible.”

As I heard these words, I could not help but consider Christianity in America and, more specifically, among Southern Baptists. History shows that trends in Europe reach the shores of America within a decade or two. Many see the writing on the wall that the United States is quickly becoming a post-Christian nation, if it has not already become so. Even the buckle of the Bible belt shows signs of rust.

Among Southern Baptists, the Conservative Resurgence of the last few decades defied odds and signaled the only Christian denomination to turn from its slide toward liberalism back to a faithful commitment to the inerrancy, sufficiency and authority of Scripture. Verbally, we claim to be “people of the Book,” but practically, signs of dusty, unopened Bibles often loom over our churches.

Yet we are not without hope. Revival is not impossible.

So how do we fan back into flames those fires that once burned so brightly? The answer is simple: it starts the same way as the Reformation. True revival starts with a personal reformation in our hearts as we study Scripture and seek the Lord fervently in prayer.

You may never be a Martin Luther, and you may never lead wide-scale national reform, but you can be an agent of change in your family and in your church. Remarkable things happen among those who love the Lord and are fully committed to living out his Word.

As 2012 approaches, will you join me in a renewed focus on daily prayer and Scripture reading? Sure, many Christians commit to this every New Year, but what if this year it was less about checking the boxes and more about loving the Bible and, more importantly, its Author.

But one word of wisdom as you read and pray: You may want to post discussion questions on your church’s Facebook page rather than nailing it to the church’s front door.

—Keith Collier is director of news and information at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in preaching and church history.

— 30 —

ATHENS—The estimated 5,000 people who attended a rally in support of an embattled nativity scene in Henderson County heard more than just sentiment bemoaning the efforts of secularists to remove religious symbols from public spaces.

They also heard the gospel.

The Saturday (Dec. 17) rally in Athens took place more than two weeks after the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), at the behest of an anonymous Henderson County resident, sent a letter to county officials stating that the religious display on the courthouse lawn was in violation of a United States Supreme Court decision and should be removed from county property.

County Judge Richard Sanders and a majority of Henderson County commissioners have opposed moving the nativity scene, which is owned by a civic group called Light Up Athens.

“We stand here today because we believe in the One whom the nativity scene represents,” proclaimed Robert Welch, pastor of Rock Hill Baptist Church in nearby Brownsboro, who went on to explain the Christian meaning of the incarnation.

The babe in the manger, Welch said, was “fully God, fully man.” He was also “the Lamb of God” who took on the world’s sins, Welch proclaimed as the crowd erupted in applause. “And 2,000 years later he is still the Lamb of God.”

“This baby was called not just to be the Jewish messiah but was called to be the Savior of anyone who would call upon him to be saved—whether black or white, male or female, young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated…. The nativity is the greatest gift ever given.”

The nativity is joined on the courthouse grounds by other Christmas-related displays, mostly non-religious. Sanders said the county’s attorney had reviewed pertinent cases and found Henderson County to be in compliance with federal law.

After asking area pastors in the crowd to raise their hands, Welch invited the crowd to “grab one of these men by the hand” to learn how they might begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.

On Dec. 16, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote a letter to Sanders expressing his support for the county and offering to write a brief on behalf of the county should FFRF follow through on its threat to sue for the nativity scene’s removal.

Erick Graham, pastor of Sands Springs Baptist Church in Athens and a fifth-generation Henderson County resident, told the crowd that he hoped the rally marked a new beginning for cooperation among area pastors.

Graham lamented the county’s social ills, with high rates of methamphetamine use, teen pregnancy, child abuse and domestic violence.

Despite those, he said he had never been so proud to be from Henderson County.

“We stand in the gap today between those who have gone before and those who have yet to come, between our ancestors and our offspring,” Graham told the crowd. “Many have been asking, ‘What can we do?’ Until now our response has been ‘Pray and show up for the assembly.’ But today is just the beginning. Everything changes today.”

As the applause quieted, Graham called on churches to unite across denominational barriers to push back the spiritual darkness in the county. To date, “we have been wiping the runny nose of someone in cardiac arrest,” said Graham, alluding to the county’s spiritual and social ills.

“Though we don’t all agree on every doctrinal issue, we do agree that Jesus is the answer” to the problems the area has, he said.

Nathan Lorick, pastor of First Baptist Church of Malakoff, closed the rally with an appeal for Christians to no longer be “the silent majority” but rather to “take America back to a place of spiritual health and vitality” where “the truth of the Bible was not a mere afterthought but instead a foundational basis on which we live.”

“This is our heart today,” Lorick said.

Such a task is not accomplished by militant activism, Lorick emphasized, but through caring for the needy, protecting children, “and giving every child the right to live,” Lorick added to loud applause.

“It’s done,” Lorick said, “by daily being proactive in service and humility. Standing up to the things that are robbing our children of a future. This is how the message is heard—by putting action to our faith.”

One of the few references to FFRF during the rally came from Welch, the Brownsboro pastor. The atheist group sent a banner of its own to Henderson County that read, “At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but a myth & superstition that hardens hearts & enslaves minds.”

Welch responded, “My friends, this is what the nativity states: At this season of Christian celebration, let faith prevail. There is one true God. And there is a devil, and there are angels. And there is a heaven and a hell. There is a supernatural world. Religion is not myth. It is not a superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds. But the gospel of Jesus Christ breaks the hard heart … and frees the mind that surrenders to him.”

“This is what the nativity stands for and this is why we stand,” Welch said.

The East Texas display is one of a dozen nativity scenes that the non-profit Wisconsin-based FFRF is working to eliminate.

-30-

ATHENS—The debate over religious expression in the public square will be center stage as church groups gather in Athens at noon on Dec. 17 to protest an atheist organization’s demand that the annual nativity scene be removed from the Henderson County courthouse lawn.

A Facebook page for the event stated: “There is a rally being planned … to respond to the threat to the nativity scene on the courthouse square. Organizers said they are hoping that Christians can use this rally to come together in love, to unite and show the world the true spirit of Christ and Christmas.”

Organizers were sponsoring a food drive benefiting area food banks in conjunction with the rally. Rally participants were asked to bring non-perishable food items for collection. “We’re expecting a large turnout,” said one of the rally organizers, Nathan Lorick, pastor of First Baptist Church Malakoff.

Since Lorick’s appearance on the Fox and Friends television show on Dec. 8, he said he has been inundated with calls and e-mails from across the country and around the world—including Iraq and Honduras—in support of efforts to keep the nativity in place. Supporters from as far away as Oklahoma said they planned to attend.

The nativity is only part of an annual display set up by the community organization Light Up Athens. Also on the lawn of the county courthouse are Santa and elves. Most of the displays are more festive than religious.

But the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) charges the nativity scene constitutes an endorsement of religion by the government. Henderson County Judge Richard Sanders said the county's attorney had reviewed pertinent cases and found Henderson County to be in compliance with federal law.

The atheist organization’s request rattled enough people to make national headlines. When news of the demand broke, Lorick and fellow pastors Erick Graham, Robert Welch, and Derrick Rogers put out a YouTube invitation for all pastors in the area to meet and determine a plan of action to address what Lorick called another attack on the freedom of speech by Christians.

More than 70 area pastors from various denominations gathered on Dec. 9. That so many pastors from different denominations came together with a common cause was a sign to Lorick that God’s hand is at work in Henderson County.

“I believe this rally is an answer to prayer,” Graham added in an e-mail. He pastors Sand Springs Baptist Church in Athens.

“We have been asking God to push back the powers of darkness in our county and for God’s people to move forward with the power of the gospel,” he said.

Welch, pastor of Rock Hill Baptist Church in Brownsboro, also wrote about his reasons for supporting the rally.

“The majority of Americans still believe that Christ is the meaning of Christmas and the reason for their celebration,” Welch said. “Over the past decade I’ve watched the politically correct movement aggressively seek to limit the expression of this belief. We who believe Christ is the meaning of Christmas can sit silently or stand and speak out.”

Graham agreed that Christian expression has become stifled and believers, to a degree, are to blame for letting it happen.

“Our Christian liberties have been taken little by little and we have been backing up bit by bit. How far do you have to back up before you are backed against a wall?” Graham asked.

All of the pastors said the rally would be a positive show of faith and unity among believers and a demonstration of love to the community.

Graham admitted there is the potential for heated rhetoric and disruptive actions. One disagreeing post on the Facebook page stated, “I'm the one coming to kick the baby jeebus out of the public square back into your homes and churches where he belongs. Why force your nonsense on everyone else?”

 The pastors are encouraging believers not to react angrily to such disagreeable words or actions but, instead, be guided by Christian principles.

Citing Galatians 5:22, Graham said, “We are going to act with love … and self-control instead of anger and bitterness. In a time where Christians are known for what we are against, we want to show that we are for some things too.”

Since his Fox and Friends appearance, Lorick as been interviewed on local and national TV and radio shows such as Glenn Beck and by Focus on the Family and Family Research Council. Because of the media attention leading up to Saturday’s rally, Lorick saids the event could have a national platform.

The other pastors agree and want to ensure that what is seen and heard is for the glory of God.

Welch said: “It’s an opportunity for us to visually show our support of our county officials who have refused to remove the nativity and to pray for them. It’s an opportunity for the church to communicate the love of Christ to our community. It’s an opportunity for Henderson County Christians to set a precedent that might encourage believers all over our country to stand up to the threat of the politically correct movement and keep Christ in Christmas.”

Lorick said the gathering “is not a pep rally for believers. It is a call for people to contend for the faith.”

Ultimately, it’s not about the nativity seen, he said. The demand to have the symbol of Christmas removed is only a symptom of the disease that plagues the nation. The pastors said America was founded on biblical principles and yet to assert those principles in word or deed incites angry protests.

“There are very real and daily examples in America where Christianity is being repressed,” Lorick said.

He noted the visceral commentary targeting outspoken Christian Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He also cited New York City’s recent court victory that lets stand a ban on churches renting New York City public schools for worship services.   

Lorick continued, “It’s not just defending the symbol of our faith but the fact that this nation was built on Christian and biblical foundations.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent a banner to a Henderson County resident who has agreed to post it on the courthouse law. The organization argued the nativity display is a de facto public forum and they are adding their comments. The banner states: “At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth & superstition that hardens hearts & enslaves minds.”

Lorick said the FFRF has the same right as religious organizations to freedom of speech. But he argued the banner’s message is degrading to all religions and is not an example of civil discourse.

-30-

FORT WORTH—Jim Richards said the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s decision to support the seminary by helping to build the new chapel came easily.

The SBTC gave $200,000 in surplus funds in 2007 to Southwestern Seminary to provide the baptismal pool in the rotunda of the school’s new J.W. MacGorman Chapel, dedicated Dec. 1.

“Our ministries are joined at the heart,” said Richards, SBTC executive director. “We desire the same results out of the efforts that we put forth together to reach people for Christ. We support the vision and the dream of training those who serve the Lord through the building of this facility.”

During a special service following the dedication ceremony in the new chapel, Birchman Baptist Church Pastor Bob Pearle baptized five believers in the baptismal. Both Birchman members and Southwestern guests attended the service.

While baptizing one of the candidates, Pearle reiterated that baptism is to symbolize faith that has already been placed in the death and resurrection of Christ.

“One of the distinctives we have as Baptists,” Pearle said, “is that we have ‘believer’s baptism’ and ‘believer’ is always first.”

Richards said by funding the baptismal, an octagonal pool built in the rotunda of the new chapel, the convention essentially makes three statements.

“We’re making a statement about evangelism. Baptism is the outward sign of the inward experience,” Richards said. “We’re making a statement about missions because I think that there will be churches that will be started in the Fort Worth area—perhaps even in the entire metroplex—that as they are beginning, they don’t have a building, they surely don’t have a baptistery. This would be a prime place for some of those new church starts to come and do their baptismal services.”

The third statement, Richards said, concerns the ordinance itself.

“While salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, the ordinance of baptism is still a very important aspect of our belief as Baptists,” Richards said. “So, therefore, we wanted to underscore that baptism is by immersion. We also believe that it is by the proper authority, which is the local church.”

The seminary, since it is not a church, does not have the authority to baptize, Richards said. But the baptismal gives students a place to practice the ordinance before entering pastoral ministry.

In his booklet “What is Baptism?” Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson said the scriptures concerning baptism are some of the most misinterpreted and misunderstood. Patterson’s booklet offers clarity on the meaning of the passages. The booklet also described ancient churches’ immersionist baptisms and why Baptists believe the method is most aligned with the Bible. Patterson also discussed the symbolism in immersing a believer in water.

“Here in MacGorman Chapel, this octagonal baptistry, featuring eight of the best-known New Testament baptismal texts, is designed to tell that story,” Patterson wrote. “As the candidate for baptism steps into the baptismal waters, he reenacts the death of Jesus, his burial, and his resurrection. In so doing, the disciple of Christ openly confesses his confidence and faith in that historic reality as the sole basis for his salvation.”

In the close of his booklet, Patterson reaffirmed a message characteristic of all gatherings at Southwestern, reminding readers and hearers that Christ alone has provided the sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world and that only a relationship with him can reconcile sinful man to God.

“There are not many acceptable ways. Just as there is but one Lord, so there is only one faith,” Patterson wrote. “And there is but one true baptism. After conversion to Christ, a disciple makes just one public declaration or profession of his faith in Jesus. Therefore, two questions are imperative. Have you experienced godly sorrow for sin, which led you to repent and place your faith in Jesus alone for forgiveness and salvation? Second, have you publicly confessed Jesus as your Savior and Lord in baptism by immersion?”

Those questions will no doubt be the crux of all activity to come through the new chapel as Southwestern’s leaders work to keep spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth their focus.

Richards, along with Patterson and GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins, who spoke and prayed, respectively, during the baptism ceremony, said the convention hopes to be further involved with the seminary and its new chapel by holding events such as the annual convention and evangelism conferences in the new chapel in the coming years, though no events have been scheduled yet. Richards said the convention is excited to support the furthering of the gospel and the salvation of souls through its support of the seminary.

“The baptismal fount will be a testimony of evangelism, missions, [and] the doctrinal fidelity to the ordinance of baptism to all those who come by,” Richards said.