Baptist Messenger of Oklahoma » Douglas Baker

Editor’s Journal: Of memory and meaning

Douglas Baker — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:40:27 +0000

Walk through Arlington National Cemetery at this time of year, and it is hard not to be completely overcome with the sheer beauty of the place. The sunsets are breathtaking. The wind coming off the Potomac River rustles through the leaves which have now erupted into lovely Fall colors. Get past the highly trafficked tourist areas of the cemetery and the sound of that wind can be eerily haunting to most anyone who silently stops to read the names of men and women chiseled on the bone- white, 24-inch-tall headstones arranged row upon row. As far as the eye can see, these graves appear strikingly beautiful, and it is easy to forget that this is a place of great sorrow. Beyond the pageantry of the volleys of seven rifles shot three times heard every so often in the distance comes little reminder that this is a place for those who either died in war or the final resting place for those who served in the United States armed forces.

War is the most striking reminder of sin known to man. Just war theory and all the accompanying philosophical and theological debates surrounding armed conflict between nations matter little to the mother who sits before a flag-draped casket containing the body of her only son killed by an enemy’s bullet. Wives come here to say good-bye to husbands. Children come to view perhaps the only visible reminder to them that they had a father or brother or sister who never came home. Arlington Cemetery tells them why.

Soldiers are a different breed of citizen. They are trained to actually work for their own death (if need be) in service to their country. It is their duty to do so. Their glory is in their service to those who will never know their name or remember their valor. And, in truth, fewer and fewer are remembering these days that war is a staple of existence in this fallen world. Even more sad—fewer care that someone died so they might be free.

Jesus warned in Matthew 24 that “you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.” The shock value in that statement can still produce great fear for any nation as the wicked tendencies of tyrants still dominate the world. Peace is only temporary as someone somewhere is re-arming for a fight. Jesus went on to say that his disciples “should not be alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” Not be alarmed at war? How? “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

Twenty-first Century Americans know all too well their technology cannot protect them from catastrophe, no matter how hard they try to shield themselves from it. Yet, Jesus interpreted wars and disasters as “birth pains.”

Ask any woman who has given birth if it is a painful experience. Their obvious answer underscores the reality of the unending pain of unending conflict until a specific time in the future known only to God when the process will be over, and all will be made right. Birth pangs are not forever, and neither is this life. Death is the wages of sin, but something comes after death for those who possess eternal life—resurrection.

This is the great hope of the Christian, and it is the only hope of the world. Looking into the casket of a fallen soldier causes this world to appear as it truly is —painful and covered with the pall of death. Walking through any cemetery is a reminder that unless Jesus returns, death is the certainty of every man.

The sadness of this Veteran’s Day is made more acute because the United States is still active in the prosecution of a war that seemingly has no end. Almost daily, the Pentagon reports of more young men and women who have died in service to their country. Behind every statistic is a father, mother, spouse, son or daughter whose life will always have an empty space because a certain soldier, sailor, airman or Marine no longer walks this Earth. This is the day for remembrance of those who have departed this life and for their families who are left behind.

Perhaps the most poignant reminder of death’s message to the living is found on the epitaph of one soldier who perished in battle: Remember me as you pass me by/For as you are now, so once was I/ As I am now so you shall be/Prepare for death to follow me.

Veteran’s Day—a time of remembrance; a time for preparation for what surely will come—death. Veteran’s Day —a time to remember what surely is to come—resurrection.

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” John 11:25-26.

Douglas E. Baker is executive editor of the Baptist Messenger and Communications Team leader for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Editor’s Journal: From good to God

Douglas Baker — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:38:59 +0000

Richard Weaver’s 1948 book, Ideas Have Consequences, helped entire generations to understand human culture by working to clearly examine the underlying reasons for each human action. Recognize and identify the philosophy in play, and you would be able to predict at least some of the consequences when the idea had fully worked its way through various groups or governments. Take away all manner of careful examination and a bad idea might gain traction and become very difficult to slow down or stop before the exact opposite of what was intended became reality.

John Kotter, a Harvard scholar, summed up how a good idea can easily be stopped through his new book, Buy In: Saving Your Good Idea From Getting Shot Down. His analysis could easily find a home for most business meetings in Southern Baptist churches. He identifies four common strategies for defeating good ideas: fear-mongering, death by delay, confusion and ridicule. Lest there by any doubt, he actually provides phrases to indicate that an idea is on its way to death. “We’ve been successful, why change? You exaggerate the problem; You’re implying that we’ve been failing; and You’re abandoning our core values” are found on a list of 24 statements that sound the alarm that there is blood in the water.

Kotter goes on to explain that an idea is good only when it can withstand severe scrutiny under pressure. Leaders should expect pushback and actually work to create it in some ways. Blind loyalty is an indication that the idea, while it may be good, has not been tested and strengthened through the process of examination. Without rigorous testing the idea becomes easy prey to the slightest hint of disagreement. Human anger, Kotter reveals, is often an indicator that the idea is achieving its goal—change. “Once aroused,” Kotter writes, “anxieties do not necessarily disappear when a person is confronted with an analytically sound rebuttal. If humans were only logical creatures, this would not be a problem. But we are not. Far from it.”

There seem to be few really good ideas. Most ideas emerge in a crisis and should be discarded, as they are merely emotional responses to perceived attacks or blocking maneuvers created to deal with pesky people who dare challenge the process. This begs the question: what makes something good? Is something good because it brings pleasure? If so, heroin could be considered by some as good. Is a process good because it is efficient? If so, the process whereby Jews were led to the gas chambers at Auschwitz might be rendered good. Is something good because it creates change on multiple levels? If so, a house fire might be classified as good.

And here we slam up against Weaver’s thesis: the reality of ideas is that they are far more complex than originally thought. The consequences of a bad idea can easily become unmanageable and lead to even worse problems than originally encountered when a new (supposedly good) idea was required. “Good” implies something moral that ultimately finds its foundation in God.

Jesus brought the theological implications of “good” to light in an encounter with a rich (and outwardly “good”) man. When a man came to him and asked him, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus centered on the word, good. His response was nothing if not surprising. “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good,” Jesus said. That One was God—alone. The greatest ideas, therefore, are those in accordance with God’s revealed Word—in this instance Jesus referenced the Ten Commandments (Matt. 19:16-17). The sheer fact that the man considered himself one who had kept all the commandments is proof positive that few of his ideas were good since he was unable to recognize the only good idea that could get him on track. He, as a sinner, was far from good.

In like manner, it is natural for churches and ministries to want to embrace good ideas, systems, and practices. For the Church, however, her greatest ideas are not generated by human beings, but revealed by God alone. Problems arise when Christians begin to think that God’s good ideas—those ideas revealed in Holy Scripture—are somehow in need of revision or amendment. Among evangelicals, this does not often take place through an overt denial of the truth of a passage of Scripture. Rather, bad ideas mask themselves as “good” through a new process or a new perspective that (at the beginning anyway) is touted as good.

Human ideas occupy a difficult space between God’s revelation in Holy Scripture and modern realities. Closing that gap is the task of the Church. Tinkering with Scripture will seek to make old ideas bad. Magnifying a modern idea or system as ultimately good will seek to make all new ideas good. Essential goodness is always associated with biblical godliness. The job of the church leaders is to make sure they never separate what God has joined. Only God is good. All others and their ideas are always subject to scrutiny.

Editor’s Journal: A modern Reformation?

Douglas Baker — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:33:44 +0000

Martin Luther, 1483-1546

“I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen.” —Martin Luther, April 18, 1521, Diet of Worms

The world of the early 16th Century could accurately be described as a religious system of corruption that had as its goal the growth of a Christian “industry” built on the backs of peasants. Research has revealed that the culture during this era was anything but anti-religious. To the contrary, religion was big business.

Peter’s successor as the father (or “papa” or “pope”) of the Roman church was believed to be the vicar (representative) of Jesus Christ. The pope was, therefore, the primary channel of God’s grace to the world. Through him came the power to ordain bishops who, in turn, would ordain priests who would, in turn, manage the Christian empire. God’s grace was known through the seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Mass, penance, marriage, ordination and last rites. Participation in these actions became the path to receiving God’s grace.

The Mass was performed in Latin. Most who attended did not understand one word that was said. Worse, most of the professional priests did not understand what they uttered before the people. For many of them, it was easier to learn the sounds of the words by rote than learn a new language that was as unfamiliar to many of them as it was to the people who heard them speak. The words of the Bible remained hidden in obscurity until courageous martyrs stepped forward to speak the truth.

Many people believe the Protestant Reformation began on Oct. 31, 1517. To be sure, Martin Luther’s 95 theses quickly gained traction in the new world of the printing press and the overall unrest surrounding the unjust practices of the Church. Long before Luther’s dramatic appearance on the world stage, however, tremors of reform had been felt through the lives of people who dared to read the Bible in English to “commoners.” Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253) became bishop of Lincoln in 1235 and believed that the chief duty of the “clergy” should be to preach the Bible—not give the Mass. He preached in English—not Latin—and clashed a number of times with the pope.

Jan Hus, 1369-1415

In the early 1300s, John Wycliffe openly stated that the Bible, and not the pope, was the supreme authority for the Church. This created a huge backlash that ultimately ended in Wycliffe being banished to obscurity until his death in 1384. Jan Hus, the rector of the University of Prague, became the champion of Wycliffe’s teaching. Hus challenged the authority of the pope to issue indulgences (a gift of merit by the pope to free imprisoned souls in purgatory) and reaffirmed the primacy of the Bible as the only authority for the Church. He was put to death as a heretic in 1415.

By the time Luther stood before Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, on April 18, 1521 and uttered his famous statement (quoted above), the thunder of reformation had been heard and was gaining momentum. Slowly, the grip of the papacy was loosened as many of the nefarious teachings of the Church were shown to be erroneous. Luther’s grand message was that a person could stand confident before God on the basis of “merely” trusting God’s acceptance of Jesus’ work in their behalf by faith. And so works were replaced by words which were founded by the Word of God. By faith alone a person was justified before the judgment throne of God by believing it was so on the basis of Holy Scripture alone.

Most modern Protestants who read the history of the Reformation cannot fully grasp a world without the Bible. Today, however, the reformation which must come is not one void of the presence of the Bible. Today’s scandal is that the Bible, while widely available, is seldom read let alone understood by most who listen to preaching every week. For many of them, it is as if the Latin Mass is still in play.

In Kenda Creasy Dean’s new book, Almost Christian: What the Faith of our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, it seems that the problem is far worse than anyone imagined. The National Study of Youth and Religion discovered that “the majority of American teenagers, who disproportionately call themselves mainline Protestant or Roman Catholic, harbor an attitude toward religion that one researcher described as ‘benign positive regard.’ While teenagers (and young adults) agree that religion is good, even important, they cannot explain why this is so, and many of them believe religion makes no difference to them personally. Most religious communities’ central problem is not teen rebellion, but teenagers’ benign whateverism.”

John Wycliffe, 1324-1384

A move must be made away from “whateverism” to a biblical reality grounded in the doctrines of the Bible. In the words of historian Michael Reeves, the Protestant Reformation was not simply “a negative movement” away from Rome. Rather, it was “a positive movement” toward the Gospel. Such a movement must emerge again beginning with many supposedly “evangelical” congregations who stand in deep need of reformation—16th Century style.

Soli Deo Gloria

Douglas E. Baker is executive editor of the Baptist Messenger and Communications Team leader for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Editor’s Journal: Stay close to the Gospel

Douglas Baker — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:27:31 +0000

When the Oklahoma Outreach Foundation first announced the speaker for its annual banquet was Libby Cataldi, few Oklahomans knew of this professional educator who once served as head of the prestigious Calverton School in Maryland. Her leadership skills helped this college preparatory school located near the nation’s capitol to rise in reputation as one of the finest academic communities in the United States.

Cataldi became nationally recognized for her ability as both an academic expert and entrepreneur in education. Imagine her shock when she finally came to a place where, after years of illegal drug use, she was forced to admit that her son, Jeff, was really not the handsome and intelligent young man she had always hoped he would be. The truth: he was a drug addict. Her life seemed to grind to a halt as Jeff’s condition worsened to the point that after days and nights in jail, homelessness, and poverty, she admitted that she had trusted lies and was duped by “the double life” of her “chameleon son.”

Her newest book, Stay Close: A Mother’s Story of Her Son’s Addiction, is an unvarnished account of a journey that began when both her sons were young. As she unfolds the saga of her life (including a recent battle with breast cancer), she openly admits that she is “a much more humble woman” after walking through addiction with Jeff. In a room full of some of Oklahoma’s most prominent government and business leaders, her admission seems to resonate well.

Many nod in agreement to statements such as “you can’t deny an addict their pain” and “at some point, boundaries come into play.” There is a genuine sense of community in the room as most in attendance have a spouse or a child who is an addict. Some in the room are in recovery themselves and are eager to talk about their journey.

“Most of us here are nothing but a bunch of drunks and misfits,” one Oklahoma City attorney said. The recovery community speaks of God—a lot. The words, “a God-thing” are not confined to the Southern Baptist subculture. Many alcoholics and addicts believe in God, but some are a bit spooked by the lack of theological depth or absence of open admission of sin by some Christians who work hard to give the outward impression that life is one grand series of uninterrupted and ever-growing successes. They know better.

“Where is the Church in all of this?” one person asked. “I seem to find more reality away from the Church than in it because when I go to church I always feel like I am being worked for money or made to think life is like a Disney film,” one person now in recovery stated. “I’m not angry, but I need help applying the teachings of the Bible. Christians seem to be the least interested in getting into my life—warts and all.”

Perhaps overstated, but there is a distinct absence of evangelicals—particularly Southern Baptists in the room. For whatever reason, the world of addiction and the pain of those caught it its wake seldom command the attention of many evangelicals—until it strikes them or someone they know.

“Addiction does not discriminate,” Cataldi states.

By the look of those in the room she is right. CEOs sit with plumbers as secretaries talk with attorneys.

Theologian Christopher J.H. Wright, well known for his modern work, The Mission of God, continues to call the Church out of the seclusion of its own subculture and into the world in his new work, The Mission of God’s People. Wright’s understanding of “mission” is rooted as a people who bear a distinct gospel message.

“But those who bear the message must themselves be transformed by it,” he writes. “It is not enough to be heard only; we must be seen as well.”

The local church stands as the outpost of God’s Kingdom in the world, and each Christian congregation lives on a very public stage. In the words of Wheaton College professor Mark Talbot, the world is “a broken stage” filled with “bad actors.” Even Christians remain “bad” in a very real sense of the word. A true Christian stands in the righteous works of Jesus alone and knows (at least those not caught in the grip of self-deception) that within them dwells no good thing (Rom. 7:18). The hypocrisy of purporting to be anything other than a sinner is the brutal honesty that the world must see for the Church to recover an authentic witness among those enslaved to sin. By God’s grace, the works of the devil are being destroyed as each recovered soul stands as a testimony to the power of the Gospel to transform a life by the person and work of Christ (I John 3:8).

Douglas E. Baker is executive editor of the Baptist Messenger and Communications Team leader for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Editor’s Journal: The school of suffering

Douglas Baker — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:36:00 +0000

A routine afternoon of rafting in July of 1967 turned tragic as Joni Eareckson Tada dove into what she thought was deep water only to quickly hear her neck crack against a sandbar. She quickly found herself helplessly floating face down in the water unable to move. As she frantically held her breath, her sister Kathy was a bitten by a Chesapeake Bay blue crab on her toe causing her to look around to warn Joni that the crabs seemed to be quite numerous and were biting all would be intruders into the lake. Not seeing her, Kathy soon caught sight of Joni’s blond hair floating on the surface of the water. Within seconds of drowning, Kathy turned Joni’s body over as she gasped for air. It was then they both knew something was terribly wrong.

From that instant, Tada’s life was never the same. She was now forced to live her life as a quadriplegic. The days that followed were filled with despair. Begging her friends to assist her in suicide, she finally mustered enough strength to actually think about what had happened to her. Up to this point, the shock and pain of the accident left her desirous of immediate relief from the searing pain and dark future before her. She was angry and wanted answers. Knowing she could not flee forever from the God Who had allowed this to happen, the long road of healing began, and by her own testimony, continues more than 40 years later.

Tada has faced down the specter of unresolved questions and has helped thousands to summon the courage to admit the darkness of this fallen world —even (perhaps especially) when it gets personal. Whether it is a failed marriage, rape, a family member’s suicide or even a besetting temptation that remains a struggle for years, she has served both as comforter and advocate for those who find themselves in the school of suffering.

In her newest book, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty, Tada writes with the precision of a theologian, the insight of a counselor and the compassion of a friend. With accessible and meaningful language, she is able to unpack difficult theological issues through the use of Holy Scripture as her guide.
As she has aged, her bones have grown more fragile and her muscles more weak to the point that she confesses, “over the past year I’ve endured some of the most difficult days and weeks of my life.” The severity of her pain has caused her to privately and publicly wonder if her “life was unraveling.” Medication seldom helps—for very long anyway, and she admits that she now views her life more as “a battlefield” where “a warrior Jesus” is the only comfort. “When you’re in a dark place, when lions surround you, when you need strong help to rescue you from impossibility, you don’t want ‘sweet,’” she writes. Rather, Tada reveals that Holy Scripture actually speaks of Jesus having “a strong arm” and an “unshakeable grip” that will not let go—“no matter what.”

Tada is an expert struggler who finds joy in showing others who have been blessed by weakness to actually desire the presence of Jesus Christ through the serious application of difficult biblical texts. Not content with “easy” answers, she presses through to encourage others who dare to ask the hard question, “How can I go on like this?” Here, Tada is at her best. She carefully works to understand events in the Gospels as the framework for a biblical view of suffering by showing that although God is eternal and stands outside of time as humans understand time, the incarnation of Jesus Christ stands as a testimony that God also “moves through time” in ways which comfort believers as they suffer.

She insists that “God can use broken instruments to make incomparable music.” Tada believes that “right now” counts forever. “Every day of our short lives—even every hour—has eternal consequences for good or ill. Eternity —and the way we’ll live in it—is somehow being shaped by our moment-by-moment responses to the life we have before us to live right now,” she states.

Tada was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and she faces this new challenge with a certainty that has been tested in the furnace of affliction.

“I haven’t wrestled through four decades of quadriplegia and years of pain to throw in the towel now,” she writes.

One of her favorite quotes comes from the pen of a missionary Adoniram Judson. His difficult life still inspires her to trust God in times of suffering as the promise of Heaven awaits her: “When Christ calls me Home I shall go with the gladness of a school boy bounding away from school.”

Hymns Redeemed and Restored

Douglas Baker — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:44:36 +0000

As the son of Southern Baptist missionaries, Matthew Smith is no stranger to the basic ideas of Christianity. Since childhood, he heard Bible stories and teaching in ways that prepared him to understand and believe the basic tenants of the Christian faith. It was not until he entered college at Belmont University in Nashville, however, that the message of the Gospel with all of its forceful depth and simple truth seemingly captured his heart through the witness of a campus minister—Kevin Twit.

Nashville is the place where would be “stars” go to be discovered and where music itself becomes more than a passion or gift. It is a business. The “business” of music makes itself known in various ways—the country music scene and even “Christian” music surface as moneymakers as new hits make the rounds and some songs permanently root themselves in American history. For country music fans, the Grand Ole Opry is the standard and still evokes emotion even for young people who have never heard of Roy Acuff or Johnny Cash. The city is filled with singers who dream of a “new” song to make them famous—something that is fresh and on the cutting-edge.

So it is rare that a young man such as Smith, who is obviously musically gifted— both as a vocalist and with an ability to write tunes that people can sing and remember—would become and remain interested in Christian hymns. A quick look over the CDs he has recorded reveals that he is a student of the Bible and theology as most of the songs emerge from reading older theological works that are normally only discovered through teaching by a well-read pastor or theologian. “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” join lesser known hymns such as John Newton’s, “The Lord Will Provide” or “Jesus, I Am Resting.”

In Smith’s newest release, “The Rising Day,” he blends a strange sense of grief with the strong sentiment of hope. For a young man, he seems strangely acquainted with grief. As he writes of the motive for this last musical project, he seems bombarded by realities for which there are few easy answers. For Smith, it has been “a difficult year.” Some of his friends divorced, some died and some walked way from the Christian faith to the point that they even deny it is true at all.

“We live in a fallen world,” Smith says. “There is no way to get around that, and the church often is just not the place where people deeply hurt and affected by life’s pain can go.” One of his friends is a recovering alcoholic, and she has made a deep impression on his life. The reality of her sin addiction forced her to resign herself to the fact that unless something was drastically done in her life, she would be forever unable to break free of sin’s power.

As an alcoholic, her struggle has helped him forge a newfound appreciation for the transparency and open admission of a broken life that only finds healing as it embraces the searing pain of life.

“Sometimes the church expects people to get over things quickly—to move on past grief and get on with life,” he says. Smith’s thinking has been changed to understand that “there are some things that will certainly take time to mourn and grieve” while some tragedies and losses in life are so great that “even Christians will grieve over them the rest of their lives.” This music project is evidence of that fact.

On the night when he appears in Norman as part of Union Association’s church planting team’s collaboration with other churches in the city, he is careful to always reference the Bible as the source for all of his thinking about suffering and even death. One particular song stands in stark contrast to much of the modern ideas about death—“Goodnight.” It is originally a very old hymn for which he has written a new tune. It speaks of a “journey” that begins with rejoicing to “see the glory” of God as the final (and yet new beginning) of life. Death is portrayed as little more than leaving one world to enter another—much like saying good-night when about to enter sleep.

One of the project’s most popular songs—“Redeemed, Restored, Forgiven”—represents the best of the old hymns. It begins with a person alienated from God and relationally severed from understanding (let alone knowing) God. Through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ, the sinner “is made his own.”

For all of the talk about grief and loss, there isn’t a hint of cynicism that looks on the world as some sort of cruel joke or tasteless existence.

“In fact, I think it should be just the opposite,” Smith states. “Many in my generation have become cynical thinking that everything is really bad and corrupt, but Jesus did not live His earthly life that way. He knew what was coming and what was truly in the heart of man, but He never succumbed to a cynical view of the world He created.”

Andy McDonald, pastor of Redeemer Church in Norman agrees, “What we hoped would happen as a result of bringing Matthew here to Norman was to challenge us to look on our broken world as it is—not as we would want it to be.” McDonald went on to say that the music of his generation is finding great help by going back for the future of church music. “We are working hard to ensure that what we sing is based on the reality of the Bible—its honesty, hardships and hope in Jesus Christ.”

The State(s) of our Convention

Douglas Baker — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:02:45 +0000

Shortly before his death, Adrian Rogers was asked his opinion about the future of the Southern Baptist Convention. Without hesitation Rogers answered that he was greatly troubled about what lay ahead for the Convention. From a lifetime of investment in the SBC, he observed that Southern Baptists get along well “on the battlefield,” but sometimes can hardly tolerate each other “in the barracks.” That is to say, Southern Baptists love to fight, but fight to love. We fear Rogers was right.

It was not always this way. Beginning in the 19^th Century, Missionary Baptists organized state conventions across the United States. Under the “convention” method of cooperation, Baptists voluntarily gathered in an annual convention to raise funds and provide oversight to a number of shared ministry concerns. Most Baptists believed they could cooperate in more ministries through these conventions than any individual church could undertake in isolation. Conventions were the Baptist alternative to connectionalism or denominational hierarchies. Organize through conventions, but only for priorities clearly identified.

When the Cooperative Program was established in 1925, it became the central means of funding all of our denominational ministries. The CP greatly simplified the process, ushering in a new era of cooperation. State conventions focused on church planting, Christian higher education, mercy ministries and a variety of programs and services. The SBC took the lead in foreign missions, theological education, curricular development and publishing and redemptive cultural engagement. States collaborated with the SBC in home missions, including evangelism and disaster relief. Through this partnership arrangement, Southern Baptists grew to become the largest Protestant denomination in America.

At the 2010 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando, Southern Baptists indicated their desire to experience a Great Commission Resurgence. We are grateful for this renewed interest in fulfilling Christ’s command to take the Gospel to every people group on Earth. Unfortunately, the discussions surrounding the GCR have brought forward tensions in the Southern Baptist family. In particular, some Southern Baptists have taken an almost adversarial posture toward state conventions, resulting too often in an adversarial response from those who are invested in the work of state conventions. This has nurtured an environment of mistrust, a ticking time bomb in a network of churches committed to voluntary cooperation.

Much of the friction centers upon the Cooperative Program. How much should state conventions retain? Who should take the lead in promoting the CP? Why are so many churches cutting the percentage they invest in the CP? What is the best way to measure substantive financial support of the Convention and her related ministries? There are diverse opinions about the best way to answer each of these questions, and every proposed answer seems to irritate other Southern Baptists. These are serious issues that we must address if we are to enjoy a Great Commission Resurgence in the SBC.

For our part, while we are not uncritical toward state conventions (or our national ministries), we believe state conventions must remain important Great Commission partners if Southern Baptists are to fulfill our Lord’s gospel mandate. We further believe that if state conventions focus attention on a core set of ministry priorities, churches will invest greater money in the Cooperative Program. This will lead to two results. First, it will allow states to devote greater amounts of money to a more streamlined list of ministries. Second, it will free larger state conventions to forward more money to the Southern Baptist Convention and develop stronger financial partnerships with smaller state conventions outside the Deep South and Southwest.

As we move forward, state conventions should primarily serve local churches in the crucial ministries of church planting (and revitalization), Christian higher education and mercy ministries. This will involve a renewed commitment on the part of states to make these areas their central concerns in terms of funding and personnel. This will likely mean that some valuable ministries will need to be returned to local churches and associations so that state conventions can focus their efforts where they are most needed. It will also involve adapting each of these three essential and historic state convention ministries to contemporary needs.

From the very beginning state conventions have played a key role in mobilizing churches to evangelize their respective regions through church planting. Over the years, they have trained church planters to engage underserved areas as well as work among minority ethnic groups and immigrants. They have helped established congregations finance new church plants and assisted in assessing and training church planters. They have also helped churches and local associations collaborate with the North American Mission Board in planting churches all over the South and indeed across the nation.

States must continue to emphasize church planting and assist local churches and associations that desire help in establishing new congregations. Lord willing, they will continue to partner with NAMB in church planting efforts. But every effort must be made to ensure that collaboration does not lead to duplication. We would recommend that church planter assessment be undertaken primarily by local churches and associations, training be conducted in cooperation with NAMB and strategy be developed in collaboration with state conventions. Each would cooperate in providing sufficient funding for church planters, partnering on a case-by-case basis. A similar arrangement could work for congregational revitalization.

Since the 19^th Century, Baptists have been committed to Christian higher education, founding dozens of colleges and universities across the nation. Initially, most of these schools were established by entrepreneurial individuals or local associations and were primarily concerned with educating future ministers in theological studies and the classical liberal arts. Gradually, most became related to state conventions and embraced a wider range of course offerings. Through the leadership and monetary support of these conventions, many have grown to become some of the finest institutions of Christian higher education in the world.

Baptists only stand to gain from the renaissance occurring in Christian higher education. Distinctively Christian colleges and universities are all the more valuable as growing numbers of public (and some private) schools have embraced a militantly secular agenda. We believe state conventions should invest even greater financial resources in Baptist colleges and universities. This will include more money for annual operating budgets and increased scholarships for Baptist ministerial students. In return, state convention-related schools must renew their commitment to serve the churches through the ministry of higher education. This will include greater emphasis on faith and learning integration, emphasizing the Christian intellectual tradition, embracing Baptist and evangelical emphases and cultivating a campus atmosphere conducive to spiritual formation.

State conventions have always been the key means through which Baptists have engaged in gospel-inspired mercy ministries such as caring for needy children and senior adults. Baptist churches assigned state conventions with the responsibility to provide housing, food and education for orphans and other children in crisis. Children’s homes became safe places for at-risk young people. In their concern to care for the elderly, many state conventions established retirement homes grounded on a biblical ethic of respect, dignity and the love of Christ.

In the early years of the 21^st Century, many state Baptist children’s homes are beginning to explore and expand their ministries toward adoption and foster care, a trend that seems to align with the larger orphan care movement that has thankfully inspired so many of our churches. We hope it continues. Baptist retirement homes must adapt their strategies to minister to senior adults in a culture that idolizes youth and an economic context that will likely result in substantial changes in government services and the healthcare industry. State conventions should also consider ways to partner with the many Christian crisis pregnancy centers that are serving families across America.

The Southern Baptist Convention began in controversy, and the real possibility exists that it might soon end in controversy. The outcome, however, does not rest with state convention apologists or the defenders of national agencies, small church pastors or megachurch ministers, CP champions or independent spirits. Our future rests with Southern Baptists who, under the lordship of Jesus Christ, dictate the direction of their churches and finance the future of the denomination. God does not need the SBC or her state convention partners to advance His kingdom, but we pray that both might work together and be used of the Lord for gospel purposes until that day when all things are made new.

It is our sincere hope that our tensions will give way to a new consensus, one built upon the orthodoxy reaffirmed in the Conservative Resurgence and expressed in the orthopraxy embodied in a Great Commission Resurgence. We hope older pastors and leaders will be open to new ideas and younger pastors and leaders will not denigrate the tried and true. We hope those “on the ledge” will remain in the family and that grouchy family members will not alienate those teetering on the edge.

In another conversation with Rogers before his death, the venerable pastor was asked, “Will the SBC be around in 10 years?” His response: “Probably not–if things continue as they do today.” Perhaps the barracks are unbearable for Baptists. We pray this is not the case. Southern Baptists claim to follow a man who said that the world would know His disciples by their love for one another. Our hope is for renewed gospel cooperation, for the glory of God and the sake of the Great Commission–so that the world may know.

Douglas E. Baker is executive editor of the Baptist Messenger and Communications Team leader for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Nathan A. Finn is an Assistant Professor of Church History and Baptist Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Editor’s Journal: NAMB: A new era begins?

Douglas Baker — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 18:48:28 +0000

With the recent election of Kevin Ezell as president of the North America Mission Board (NAMB), a new era of change is certain to come for an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention that has seldom known calm waters. Since its formation at the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845, the Home Mission Board (as it was once known) has stumbled its way through history never quite knowing its place among the myriad (and ever-growing) SBC structures of ministry.

Initially, the Home Mission Board provided ministers in areas where gospel preaching was non-existent. The Board’s vision was to plant healthy congregations so that North America would rise in gospel strength on the solid foundation of healthy churches. Most domestic mission activity was centered in major metropolitan areas of the United States by other denominations, but America’s South soon became a harbinger for Baptists who found strength and momentum through cooperation among local churches. The establishment of state conventions prior to the formal establishment of the SBC immediately proved problematic for the HMB.

The division of labor among Baptist associations, state conventions and this new national agency charged with similar (if not identical) responsibilities as other Baptist cooperative elements brought tension. At times, the strain reached such a level that Southern Baptists across the nation demanded that the areas of overlap be eliminated between the HMB, state conventions and associations.

In 1882, a vigorous debate commenced regarding the issue of the HMB’s very survival. Many pastors found it confusing (and downright irritating) when representatives from associations, state conventions and now another Baptist missions agency, continuously came to them requesting the same level of participation and monetary support around what many saw as identical goals. In 1910, a proposal was actually made that the SBC’s Foreign Mission Board and Home Mission Board be merged so as to minimize confusion and limit direct fundraising appeals.

Even after the establishment of the Cooperative Program in 1925 (a funding mechanism specifically designed to limit the amount of direct solicitation in local churches), the HMB still did not fare well. Over the years, the agency became a large repository of denominational programs. Oklahoma’s William G. Tanner served as president from 1977-1986, and often expressed frustration at the lack of a “coherent” vision for the Board. Under his leadership, the HMB almost doubled the size of its staff, restructured is organization and greatly multiplied its national programs.

By the late 1970s the HMB’s responsibility included church extension, language missions, missions education, mass evangelism, Christian social ministries, minority church relations, the SBC’s Mission Service Corps, rural-urban missions, chaplaincy missions, metropolitan area research and focus cities, church loans, interfaith witness, apologetics, refugee resettlement assistance, an urban training cooperative (UTC) and Assistance for Churches in Transitional Communities (PACT).

Following the passage of the Covenant for a New Century by Convention messengers in 1997, the North American Mission Board was born, restructured yet again and streamlined to become focused on church planting, evangelism, coordinating one of the largest civilian disaster relief agencies in the world and the former radio and television ministry of the wider SBC. Two stormy presidencies has left the agency floundering once again as to its ultimate role in service to local SBC churches.

At issue currently is how this national agency will interface with state conventions given the fact that cooperative agreements (written contracts between state conventions and NAMB for ministry cooperatively executed) will be phased out over the next seven years. NAMB will soon operate as a free-standing agency without direct ministry partnership with state conventions. Of course, NAMB may seek to partner with state conventions, but only as it sees fit to do so.

This has caused no small amount of angst among many who fear such an arrangement spells the end of the Cooperative Program and smaller state conventions in pioneer areas of the United States. This is fueled in large part because of the extraordinary familiarity with the current system of ministry operations. Legitimate skepticism exists for any future model—especially any new plan that even hints of a renewed competition between SBC agencies and state conventions.

Complicating the issue is the entire economic culture in which the SBC ministry structure exists. In the words of economist Joseph Schumpeter, a certain “creative destruction” is now surfacing in every economic sector in America—religious non-profits included. Long standing American institutions such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns can literally disappear overnight. Internet based companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter can appear out of nowhere and supplant even the strongest institutions and corporations. In like manner, local churches are now able to create for themselves a network of ministry partners and raise monetary support without the once critical requirement of denominational services.

The great dilemma for the SBC following the passage of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force’s recommendations is how this will be accomplished in an era of resource reallocation by local churches. The existing model of cooperative giving need not be abandoned. Yet, NAMB must work to instill a new creative passion that will recreate the agency in ways that respond to the needs of local churches and push money and authority back to them without requiring ultimate decisions be made at the top of a corporate-like structure.

Traditional bureaus of ministry service and maintenance might give way to something like temporary project teams that come together to solve particular problems or develop a new strategy and immediately disband. NAMB could become less programmatic and more resourceful given the economic realities and giving patterns of local churches. Innovation and adaptability are the new requirements for any agency—religious or otherwise —for survival.

Words of warning come from Timothy Tennent in his new magisterial work, Invitation to Christian Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-First Century. Tennent asserts that Christendom has collapsed—even in North America. For Southern Baptists, this means that a prevailing “Southern” or “Christian” culture where the Bible and the Church was once highly esteemed no longer exists. With this collapse he believes “the structures built on its paradigms are no longer viable.” He believes that missological study and strategy must be quickly reunited with the realities on the mission field of North America where Christianity is no longer the dominant worldview. Tennet’s stinging observation and remedy: “We don’t know how to think about missions without ourselves being at the center (including sending structures, personnel, money and strategic planning).”

The great comfort and assurance for all involved during this era of unprecedented change for the SBC is that ultimately, the Church of Jesus Christ will move forward by the power of the One who said that He would build His church and the gates of Hell would not be able to prevail against her.

In the words of John Bunyan, “the holy war” which the Church fights is both initiated and finished by Jesus Christ—the victor against the power of the Evil One. The abiding challenge for Southern Baptists—can consensus be achieved for a new vision at NAMB? The answer to that question will shape the direction of the agency and set the course for either a NAMB renewal or a NAMB funeral.

Heaven’s Rain: Forgiveness finally comes

Douglas Baker — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:05:19 +0000

Oklahoma tragedy remembered in new film

A knock at the door is nothing unusual for a pastor. People in need of everything from driving directions to daily food somehow find their way to a pastor’s home. When a knock came on the evening of Oct. 15, 1979 at the home of Oklahoma City, Putnam City’s pastor, Richard Douglass, nothing out of the ordinary was apparent. Two men simply needed to use the phone. They were welcomed into the house and the Douglass family went about their business—until the sounds of a bullet being loaded into the chamber of a shotgun caused them to realize the unthinkable was about to happen.

Glenn Burton Ake (then 24) and Steven Keith Hatch (then 26) began an over four-hour reign of terror in the lives of Richard (43), his wife Marilyn (36) and their children Brooks (16) and Leslie (12). Richard, Marilyn and Brooks were forced to the floor, bound hand and foot as Leslie was led upstairs and repeatedly raped as her family listened helplessly below. Even at 12, Leslie knew what was about to happen. After the violent rampage was over, she asked almost in a whimper if she could go to the bathroom. They refused. There was little comfort for the little girl whose inner world would never be the same again.

She was finally tied up along with her family as all of them listened to a debate between the two men as to whether they would live or die. As Ake and Hatch ate the family’s dinner, the decision was made: they would die. One by one, they were shot. The couple’s wedding rings were taken and a total of $43 in cash. As they sped away, Brooks and Leslie—both severely wounded—drove to the home of a nearby doctor and collapsed.

Of Memories and Meaning

Thirty years later, the story still stings. Oklahomans still recoil with horror as it stands as one of the most heinous crimes ever committed on state soil. The aftermath, however, few really remember—until now. A new motion picture, “Heaven’s Rain,” has been made chronicling the details of that night. And yet the film is more than a mere retelling of the story. Rather, it is the unveiling of the inner world of Brooks Douglass and his sister, Leslie, as they struggle to simply survive after experiencing intense emotional trauma.

Mike Vogel, who plays the role of Brooks Douglass, currently can be seen on a new CBS series, “Miami Medical”—produced by one of the Hollywood’s most famous producers, Jerry Bruckheimer. Vogel’s portrayal of Brooks Douglass peers behind the walls of his heart and reveals a young man still suffering from the memory of that night in his youth.

Frustrated with the legal system which trivialized the rights of victims, Douglass made the decision to go to law school at night. The Oklahoma City University law graduate soon made his way to the Oklahoma State Senate. His first initiative as a newly minted senator was to champion a bill that would not simply memorialize his parents, but establish a law that would protect future crime victims who, in Douglass’ words that now ring famous on the floor of the Oklahoma senate chamber, “step over the bodies of the victims” in an effort to seek justice for their murderers.

Vogel captures the upheaval in Brooks Douglass’ life as he finds himself penniless, curled up in a sleeping bag by candlelight listening to the tape of a sermon by his father. The sound of the recorded words made the distance of death seem less. It had been years since he had seen his father, but something in that sermon still resonated with him. The message of forgiveness preached by his Dad was not a soft message of live and let live. To the contrary, his father’s sermon sounded forth a note of praise for God’s judgment.

“God’s judgment is precious,” he said from the Putnam City pulpit. He then carefully explained the forgiveness that must wash over the lives of those who encounter the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Abandoned by his wife and largely alone as the days passed toward the time when he would watch one of the killers be executed, Vogel skillfully reveals aspects of Douglass’ life and emotional state once hidden from his own sister. It was from that sermon that “heaven’s rain” is first heard as the memorable phrase inside Brooks’ head. Over and over again, it raised its voice through the corridors of time to a mourning son never quite able to move past what happened when he was 16 years old.

Brooks Douglass portrays his father Richard as he preaches the now famous sermon of "Heaven's Rain". (PHOTO COURTESY BROOKS DOUGLASS)

Quality and Clarity

For a relatively low-budget film, it is remarkable in its quality and clarity. The pace of the movie is such that while flashbacks interact with more current scenes, there is never a hint of confusion as anyone who sits to watch the film will discover. The movie opened to rave reviews last week in Los Angeles, where Brooks Douglass now lives. The cast represents some of the movie industry’s best talent for a film that was largely produced through private funding and a smattering of extras and volunteers.

Douglass, (now 46), also steps in front of the camera to play the role of his father. With ease, he assumes the character of a man he greatly loved. Richard Douglass was a missionary to Brazil with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Foreign Mission Board (as it was then named) and was, at bottom, a theologian. One of the scenes also showcases the character of a man who trusted in God’s providence and was seldom shaken by life’s difficult days.

Soon after the last ring of a bell on a small manual typewriter was heard, the missionary/pastor Richard Douglass finished his doctoral thesis. A celebration was in order as Richard and Marilyn briefly left their children for some time together. As they returned home, they found the walls covered with snowflakes which Brooks and Leslie had made. On closer examination, Richard discovered that the paper from which these snowflakes came to life was none other than the pages of a doctoral thesis. Before the days of computers, this meant that years of work was lost. As Brooks apologized, his father took him in his arms and simply asked that next time he needed some paper for a project to simply ask before he started to work.

Courage and Consequence

“Heaven’s Rain” penetrates beyond the surface scenes of a man fighting for the cause of victim’s rights to the depths of anguish between him and his sister; him and the memories of his past; and ultimately to an encounter with the essence of evil itself until, almost unexpectedly, forgiveness emerges through years of struggle as a healing balm to a troubled soul. Far more than simply a “decision” to forgive, forgiveness for Brooks Douglass is perhaps best personified as walking through the valley of the shadow of death and emerging on the other side more prepared to live as one redeemed, restored and forgiven through the power of Jesus Christ.

Immediately after some of the news media recently saw the film for the first time, Douglass himself stood to take questions. He cuts the figure of a man who has grown content in his work and calm in his demeanor.

“During the days when we were filming the scene of my father’s death, I realized I was experiencing the moments of my Dad’s final moments on this Earth,” he said.

For him, it seemed both riveting and revolting because that night has forever shaped his life. Those memories have set the direction of his work, and now he stands as a man able to share his story of “Heaven’s Rain” in a way that is both captivating and compelling.

Years have passed since Richard and Marilyn Douglass departed this life. The lives of their children have, in many ways, been a series of twists and turns leading up to this project where they courageously tell the story of their broken lives. The film’s real value is as a roadmap through suffering where trust and perseverance finally find their end in forgiveness as the key to peace in the midst of great sorrow. For Brooks Douglass and his sister, Leslie, heaven’s rain continues to fall.

For more information on the film: www.heavensrainmovie.com.

The film opens in Oklahoma City and Kingfisher on Sept. 17.

Brooks Douglass and Mike Vogul discuss a scene in the movie "Heaven's Rain". (PHOTO COURTESY BROOKS DOUGLASS)

Editor’s Journal: SMO 2010: A Mission of Hope

Douglas Baker — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:35:32 +0000

During the early years of Baptist life in Oklahoma, the entire idea of cooperative missions outreach teetered on the edge of collapse due to the convergence of three primary factors: personality conflicts which grew so fierce that various Southern Baptist leaders would not speak to each other; a doctrinal controversy that coalesced around theological ideas of “modernism” vs. “fundamentalism” with evolution at the center of the debate; and a weak national economy culminating with the stock market crash of 1929. Any one of these events could have severely crippled mission efforts in and throughout Oklahoma. All three elements combined to form a cascading effect resulting in polarization and years of fractured relationships resulting in loss of money and passion for mission endeavors.

The Baptist Messenger’s founding editor, C.P. Stealey, was at the center of the storm. Stealey was appointed by the state convention as Oklahoma’s director of the 75 million campaign (the pre-cursor to the Cooperative Program) in 1919. Edgar Young Mullins, President of The Southern Seminary, served as the “southwide” director for the campaign. Mullins’ first visit to the state was to promote the initiative among churches throughout Oklahoma. When the two men initially met, Stealey was rude to him and openly opposed him at every turn. To his face, Stealey regarded Mullins as a modernist—referring to him as a “trained” theologian intent on turning people away from the Bible toward something totally unrecognizable to the average Oklahoma Baptist.

One newspaper of the day reported that “a sharp exchange occurred between the two men, and from this time onward a growing personal resentment towards Mullins” was observed in Stealey’s news stories and editorials. Soon after Stealey was removed as editor in 1927, doctrinal divides and personality feuds (both among pastors and church leaders in Oklahoma and at Southern Seminary) began to ebb away. Yet the seeds for future competitive sparring between the state convention and entities of the Southern Baptist Convention had been sown.

A voice of cooperative reason during this era of Oklahoma Baptist life emerged from an Alabama transplant —Edna McMillan. The wife of an Oklahoma oilman, she labored to raise money from Baptist congregations for work among Native-American tribes and championed aggressive church planting where local congregations would become the center of life for an entire community. During her time as president of the Woman’s Missionary Union of Oklahoma (1927-1938), she encouraged local churches to see themselves as resources of “gospel wealth” for which they were responsible to both “share and send” through cooperative efforts.
In many ways, the Oklahoma of the early decades of the 20th Century resembles life in the state a century later. The early land runs of Oklahoma that once offered pioneers a new life with land of their own has met the modern state where (according to U.S. census data) housing is more affordable and taxes, on the whole, are lower than other regions of the United States.

Since 2005, Oklahoma has gained nearly 56,000 new residents from out of state as outward migration has drastically slowed. The state is fast becoming a state of younger people. Between 2000 and 2005, the “under 18” age cohort lost 7,968 people while the “25 to 44” age cohort lost 42,890 people. Yet, between 2005 and 2009 those same age cohorts gained people—with the “under 18” age cohort adding 34,923 people and the “25 to 44” age cohort adding 27,784 people. The state’s birth rate is rising rapidly. Between 2000 and 2005, new births averaged 50,671. Between 2006 and 2009, the average of new births jumped to 54,079—an average of 3,408 more births per year.

The population changes now being experienced in the state has created a cultural hodge-podge of cloistered communities that are separated from each other even as they reside near or embedded in traditional Anglo neighborhoods across Oklahoma. Within the state’s major metropolitan areas, the pronounced borders of ethnic communities serve as a vivid reminder that racial difference can often create radical dissonance to the point that white majorities are fast becoming a growing minority.

These trends present challenges to congregations across the state—especially Southern Baptists. Contextually, the traditional “Southern Baptist” culture dominated by corporate-like programs and citywide crusades seemingly does not penetrate communities largely skeptical of “Americanized” Christianity.

Lostness—a relatively new missiological term used to describe both the individual and cultural absence of the presence of God now dominates areas of Oklahoma once thought thoroughly evangelized. The new strategy to impact lostness? The Church.

In the words of Darrin Patrick, “the church is God’s Plan A to redeem the world. And God has no Plan B.” The early Christian movement was noted for its aggressive intention of congregationalizing new believers. Churches planted churches who, in turn, planted churches. Sadly, early missionary passion easily collapsed into structural distraction as church planting always slowed as the formal organization of the church (notably identified by large buildings with lavish furnishings) overshadowed its biblical imperatives of continuous evangelism and discipleship.

Strategic church planting always involves more than a willing heart. Vigorous vetting and careful training are required of all those called to insure that new congregations are grounded on sound Bible doctrine and gospel imperatives. Put bluntly, it comes at great cost—to the man, the church and any other mission agency that seeks to partner with local congregations to establish new churches.

The 2010 Edna McMillan State Missions Offering allocates 25 percent of all receipts to aggressive church planting in ways that seek to maximize a local congregation’s ability to extend their reach beyond their walls directly into growing communities where no church exists. It is often targeted to subcultures where many traditional congregations do not reside, and it works to lengthen the resources of local congregations who invest in the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s (BGCO) training and investment strategy for new local churches.

The greatest enemy of church planting in Southern Baptist life, however, is seldom a methodological disagreement. In other words, it is substance, not style. Void of the biblical gospel, “church” soon becomes defined as something other than a community of regenerated believers confessing Jesus is Lord organized under qualified leadership who lead the entire congregation to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Once this happens, personality conflicts and hostile competition between local congregations, state conventions and SBC national agencies once part of Oklahoma’s past can easily intrude into the present. Competition is the enemy of cooperation and the casualty is often a local church.

The voice of cooperative reason must rise once again to unite the soldiers of Christ to plant gospel-centered congregations in communities across Oklahoma. With gratitude for the leadership of Edna McMillan, the Oklahoma annual missions offering stands both as a memorial to her life and a challenge to the future to invest in that which Jesus promised the gates of Hell would never overpower (Matt. 16:18).

Douglas E. Baker is executive editor of the Baptist Messenger and Communications Team leader for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.