OAK CLIFF—Southern Baptists of Texas Convention disaster relief volunteers deployed January 14 to clear rubble and debris left after a fire destroyed Deliverance Missionary Baptist Church in east Oak Cliff. The DR team came in after city crews had torn down what remained of the charred building after the blaze was extinguished.

The cause of the Jan. 9 early morning fire remains unknown, said Kenneth Andrews, senior pastor of the SBTC congregation.

A team of four led by Doug Scott, with volunteers from Atlanta, Leonard and Dallas, worked throughout the day, moving debris to the curb by skid steer. Scott’s crew was joined at noon by a new SBTC DR unit from Mansfield on its first deployment.

“The church doesn’t have the funds to have a dumpster there or trailers to haul it off,” Scott said, noting that Andrews, who came out to the site to greet the DR volunteers, remained “upbeat, wondering what the Lord was going to do with the situation.”

“A large pile 10 or 12 feet tall is left, but it’s all in one place,” Scott added.

The area surrounding the church at 2600 East Ann Arbor Avenue is low income.

“Twice a week, we fed 65-70 homeless and hungry at our church during the lunch hour,” Andrews told the TEXAN.

“This is the type of area Jesus ministered to when He was on earth,” Scott said. “It’s a big challenge. That’s why we go. We end up interacting with people, and they either tell us something that blesses us, or we tell them something that blesses them. It is a mutual thing.”

With the debris cleared, the church’s future remains uncertain.

“We don’t know our plans,” Andrews told the TEXAN. “We’ve been on the news across the nation. Our insurance was canceled. We have no money to rebuild. We are hoping to rent a building, buy a building or find funds to rebuild where we were.”

Andrews, the church’s senior pastor since 2003—and only the second in its 51-year history—has been involved with Deliverance MBC since 1992.

Donations to help the church have started coming in, Andrews said. African-American churches and employees of DeSoto Independent School District, where Andrews has worked part time for the past nine years as a crossing guard, have made inquiries.

Meanwhile, the Deliverance MBC congregation of 80 is worshiping with another Baptist church in Oak Cliff, Greater St. John Primitive Baptist Church. Andrews was scheduled to preach and the Deliverance choir to sing Sunday, Jan. 18, at Greater St. John PBC.

A special service to support Deliverance will be held Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, an SBTC church located at 2654 Kilburn Avenue, Dallas.

NEW ORLEANS—The U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit heard challenges to marriage laws in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, Jan. 9. The similarity between the contested laws—defining marriage as a union only between a man and a woman and the prohibition against recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states—led the appellate court to hear the cases together. Each case was heard separately, but a common thread of questioning wove its way through the hearings.

“The laws that are at issue are naturally the same, and the 14th Amendment challenges to these laws are identical,” Justin Matheny, attorney for the State of Mississippi told the court in his opening arguments. “The question is, ‘Does the 14th Amendment prohibit the state from defining marriage as between a man and a woman?’”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs—same-sex couples seeking to be married or have their out-of-state marriages recognized in the three states—argued the same amendment protects homosexuals as a “suspect class” of citizen countermanding the state’s ability to discriminate against them in matters of marriage law.

Gay and lesbian couples contend there is no distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex marriage relationships. But Jonathan Mitchell, Texas solicitor general, called that a “value judgment” not rising to the level of equal protection.

“Equal protection of the laws does not require a state to confer equal treatment on things that are different,” he said, noting the differences in the contested marriage relationships are rooted in biological reality.

“The 14th Amendment does not say that states must convey equal treatment on whatever federal judges think should be treated equally,” he said.

Spectators lined up outside the New Orleans court house before proceedings began, vying for a seat in the chamber. Overflow seating with a remote audio feed from the courtroom was established to accommodate the anticipated large media and public interest in the case. Judges Patrick Higginbotham and Jerry Smith—both President Ronald Reagan nominees—and James Graves—a President Barack Obama appointee—were seated to hear Campaign for Southern Equality v. Phil Brya (Miss.), Robecheaux v. Caldwell (La.), and De Leon v. Perry (Tex.).

Attorneys for the states argued legal precedent gives states the authority to define marriage, repeatedly citing Baker v. Nelson, the 1971 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling denying homosexual couples had a right to marry. A year later the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that case and the ruling still stands.

But plaintiffs’ attorneys argued state sodomy laws prejudiced jurists against homosexuals seeking marriage licenses 42 years ago and that time, public opinion and the trajectory of court decisions affirming a fundamental right of marriage annuls Baker v. Nelson.

“It was a different world, and it’s changed now,” Daniel Lane, attorney for the Texas plaintiffs in De Leon v. Perry, told the judges.

But Judge Higginbotham disagreed.

“No. There has been no other Supreme Court case even nearly on point on that specific question, which was whether it’s constitutional for a state to limit marriages to heterosexual couples. The court will let us know when it’s changed its mind,” he told Lane.

Higginbotham often queried attorneys about the state’s authority to define marriage.

Attorneys on both sides frequently cited the 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor to advance their case. The New York lawsuit challenged Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which stated the federal government would only recognize marriages between a man and a woman. The provision was struck down, and that ruling was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

States’ attorneys argued the Supreme Court decision did not define marriage and left that prerogative to the states.

And although plaintiffs’ attorneys did not dispute that fact, Roberta Kaplan, attorney for the Mississippi plaintiffs, said, “The logic of Windsor says that gay people have a dignity that’s equal to everyone else. Once you accept that gay people are equal to everyone else, then all these reasons make no sense.”

Promoting procreation and the raising of children within marriage was the salient argument presented by states’ attorneys. Laws and benefits proffered by the state are often inherently discriminatory, Mitchell said. Legal precedent allows for the imperfection of laws as a means to an end that advances state interests; in this circumstance the raising of children by their biological mother and father which research indicates is the best environment for producing healthy productive children.

But plaintiffs argued gay and lesbian couples can effectively raise children and charged the marriage laws were grounded in animus.

“If the rationale is not logical, it only leaves animus,” Kaplan said. “It is not necessary to show overt hatred in order to show constitutionally admissible animus.”

The marriage laws represent moral disapproval of homosexuality, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued.

But Mitchell argued a distinction between groups of people does not equate to animus-rooted discrimination. If it were so plaintiff’s attorneys would have to argue that “the common law background, which predates these enactments and has existed since time and memorial, was also rooted in animus,” he said.

Attorneys for the states recognized the societal shift in its consideration of same-sex marriage but noted it has only been legally recognized anywhere in the world for just over 10 years. Because of that, they asked for judges to take a “wait and see” approach before dismantling the traditional institution of marriage.

Mitchell, who argued the Texas case last, closed by reminding the judges that Texas’s marriage law does not conflict with any holding of the Supreme Court nor does it contradict constitutional language.

“The court must uphold the law regardless of how much a judge disagrees with them as a matter of policy,” Mitchell concluded.

As state laws defining marriage as a union between a man and woman are struck down at an overwhelming rate by federal and appellate courts, advocates on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate anxiously await as the 5th Circuit Court considers the arguments. A ruling is not expected before April.

CEDAR HILL—Church splits are all too common; reconciliations too rare. Yet reconciliation has come to Hillcrest Baptist Church and Colonial Hills Baptist Church after 30 years of separation. A special reunion service held Sunday, Sept. 28, marked the event.

“God has done something that I have never heard done before. He has brought two churches back together after 30 years,” Hillcrest pastor Mike Simmons said from the pulpit, calling the reunion “absolutely phenomenal.”

Some 1,100 were in attendance as Simmons welcomed 50 “brothers and sisters from Colonial Hills,” inviting them to stand for recognition.

Simmons then introduced Jerry Keen, president of the trustees of Colonial Hills, and Bobby Fletcher, chairman of the trustees of Hillcrest. King, a University of Texas Longhorn, and Fletcher, a Texas A&M Aggie, bantered pleasantly about their respective university loyalties.

“That will never be reconciled,” Pastor Simmons joked of the men’s college rivalry.

Keen, representing the membership of Colonial Hills, presented Simmons and Fletcher with a check for $500,000 and the keys to the Colonial Hills property, terms agreed upon by the two churches.
Quoting 1 Samuel 9:25—“And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house”—Keen affirmed the reborn unity of Colonial Hills and Hillcrest.

“We are now us,” Fletcher said.

“It is God’s will for us to be back together as a community. I look forward to seeing what God has wrought. Great things will happen.”

Following prayer, hymns and greetings, Simmons preached the reconciliation sermon from Ephesians 3:20-21, verses inscribed on the cornerstone of Hillcrest. Interweaving the account of the reconciliation with an exposition of Scripture, Simmons began with an affirmation of God’s greatness and power with illustrations of creation, redemption and reconciliation.

“God has brought back together two churches, a remnant of his people. Just as he has done something of that magnitude, so does he want to work in individual lives and families,” Simmons proclaimed.

“God is able. He is able because he is great,” Simmons continued, noting that his own research had not revealed any other pair of churches reunited after 30 years. “We have witnessed today a mighty work of God.”

Praising the ministry of Colonial Hills in many areas, including benevolence, Simmons stated, “All of a sudden, in God’s economy and sovereignty, he chooses to bring us back together.”

The September official reconciliation services occurred after months of negotiations and years of prayer. Healing began two decades earlier with a 1995 celebration of Hillcrest’s 75th anniversary to which Colonial Hills staff and members were invited.

“Bill Strawn, a Hillcrest deacon, suggested we invite Colonial Hills, and 250 came,” Simmons recalled.

 Truett Huffstutler, then Colonial Hills’ minister of music and education and former education and worship pastor of Hillcrest, was invited by Simmons to lead the worship at that 75th anniversary celebration, leading to a growing friendship between the two men.

 “At the anniversary service, I shared from Acts 15,” Simmons recalled. “Paul and Barnabas separated and went their different ways, yet Scripture indicates that they were reconciled. God wanted us to forgive, and he wanted to bless each congregation.”

Years later, Simmons and Hillcrest leaders began praying in earnest for Colonial Hills, which had begun to decline in membership and attendance.

A more recent event God used to move the churches to reconcile was the death in fall 2013 of Hillcrest deacon Thurston Bridges after a long battle with cancer. Simmons met Bridges’ cousin, Jerry Keen, during one of many hospital visits with Bridges.

Keen had been part of the 500 who originally separated from Hillcrest in 1984. Simmons asked Keen to give the eulogy at Bridges’s funeral.  Keen did so from the pulpit of Hillcrest, the church from which he had separated years before.

“Only God could orchestrate something like that,” Simmons said.

In subsequent months, “God began to lead us together,” Simmons remarked. Colonial Hills had continued to decline and leaders were praying about the direction the Lord would have them to move.  During that time, Huffstutler, who had moved to East Texas, recommended the church contact Simmons while exploring options.

In March 2014, Keen and Cecil Smith, chair of the Colonial Hills deacons, asked if Simmons would bring Hillcrest representatives to meet with Colonial Hills deacons. Simmons agreed, unaware that part of the purpose of the meeting was to gauge the level of interest in reuniting.

Exploratory meetings followed with news of the potential merger kept quiet until a formal invitation arrived for Hillcrest to send representatives to Colonial Hills for what Simmons called “serious talks.” At a special Wednesday night business meeting on May 7, Hillcrest members voted to send a fact-finding team to Colonial Hills. By then, Simmons noted, “God had begun to meld our hearts together.”

On June 22, Simmons preached at Colonial Hills on divine guidance from Acts 15:36-16:10, Paul and Barnabas, the same subject to which he had referred at the 75th anniversary service and to which he would allude in the Sept. 28 reconciliation service.

A week later, knowing that Colonial Hills intended to vote on the merger the following day, Simmons hosted some 70 members of both churches who had been at Hillcrest in 1984, at the time of the division, to come together for a special meal.

“Merger is one thing, but the foundation to all this is reconciliation,” Simmons told the remnant from the original split. “Paul and Barnabas were both right and both wrong. Tonight around these tables we must seek forgiveness and offer forgiveness.  When we leave here tonight we will forget about the split.”

The dinner was a testimony to God’s faithfulness.

“People picked up like they had never left off 30 years ago. They prayed around tables, wept and shared. Most did not want to leave that evening,” Simmons recalled.

On June 29, Colonial Hills members voted to merge churches; on July 20, Hillcrest confirmed that move with a unanimous vote at its quarterly business meeting.

The last official vote regarding the reconciliation came at the Sept. 14 business meeting at Colonial Hills, where members voted for the dissolution of the church and the turning over of the property to Hillcrest. The amount of a half-million dollars was also agreed upon to enable Hillcrest to operate the Colonial Hills facilities while integrating the new campus into its budget.

Simmons praised the facilities. Plans include moving the church’s K-4th grade Hillcrest Christian Academy, in its second year, to the 15-acre former Colonial Hills property this fall. The campus is ideal for a school, with its 54 Sunday school rooms, large gymnasium and commercial kitchen. With the growth of Hillcrest Espanol, that ministry may move to the new campus next spring or fall.

Reconciliation is an answer to prayer few expected. Simmons closed the Sept. 28 reconciliation sermon, saying, “Who would have thought? Who would have asked God? Who would have imagined?  Only God could do something like this, and it will be a testimony to a lost world, to my children, their children, their grandchildren. God has done a work that only he can do.”

I love the thought of a new year. For me it represents the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start anew. Maybe I like the thought of New Year so much because I am in much need of a fresh start every year!

There have been some years that I have been overly delighted to bid goodbye. Others I would have liked to have extended. Either way, Oswald Chambers catches a great stance as we begin this year in My Utmost For His Highest:

Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ. Leave the irreparable past in His hands, and step out into the irresistible future with Him.

I pray that we will view this New Year as our opportunity to step into an irresistible future with our Lord Jesus Christ. An important part of this year will be regional prayer meetings for spiritual awakening. Spiritual awakening must not be acknowledged merely as the theme of our recent annual meeting but as the heart cry of our soul. The days are desperate, and the desperation of our days must be matched by the intensity of our prayers. Some of these gatherings will occur in January with others to follow. When we come to your area, clear the calendar and invite everyone in your sphere of influence to attend.

Brothers and sisters, if we as leaders in our state do not come together in these trying days to pray, then who will? And if this is not the time, then when will the time come? We are the people, and this is the time. Let’s step out into God’s irresistible future praying together for spiritual awakening.