Pastor of my dreams - Baptist Bible Tribune

from the editorOn the TableBy Keith BasshamAnd on a soap boxYou’ve heard the story, I amcertain, about the man whowas told by his pastor that theanswer to all his financial difficultiescould be found in the Bible.The man was excited the next Sundaywhen he told his pastor that theproblem was solved, and the answer,surely enough, was just where he wastold. When asked just where he hadfound his solution, the man replied,“I didn’t know where to turn, so I justopened my Bible, closed my eyes, andplaced my finger on the page. And rightthere where I put my finger, I read thewords, Chapter 11.”It turns out that churches are notimmune to modern financial struggles.A Wall Street Journal story comingout just before Christmas gave severalexamples, including lenders who specializein church financing now beingforced to foreclose on churches at analarming rate. One pastor of an olderand well-established Baptist churchreported that only about a third of thepledged amount for a new building hadcome in, leaving the church on the hookfor a much larger amount of debt thanplanned for. That led to people leavingthe church in discouragement, and theproblem grew so that the church had tofile for bankruptcy protection.There are lessons for us in the currentcrisis. Someone asked me afterHurricane Katrina if perhaps God hadsomething to say to us. I replied, “Yes.He’s telling us not to live near largebodies of water.” More seriously, Ithink God emphasizes in times of crisesthings He has already told us. There isa law of sowing and reaping. It is truethat a borrower is a servant of a lender.One should not presume upon tomorrow.Do not confuse faith with a foolishjump into the unknown. Keep backenough of what you earn so that youcan help others with needs.And then you have the commonsense arguments. Live within yourmeans. Shop wisely and don’t pay fullprice unless you simply must. Becomean environmentalist and reduce, reuse,and recycle. Don’t fall for the hype thatyou must have the latest whatzit to becool. Avoid consumer debt if at all possible.Find ways to earn income withinyour hobbies and interests. RememberGod and remember others.Now, I’m off the soapbox. Hey, Ithink I can use this box if …Abraham Lincoln was born 200years ago this month. In many wayshe is both the best-known and leastknownof our presidents. I say bestknownfor obvious reasons. I sayleast-known because so many legendsand myths, things we think we knowabout Lincoln, are not true. I pointedout, in a recent article, one of the falsequotes attributed to our 16th presidentregarding common people. Others haveexpressed opinions about his religion(or lack thereof), and all cannot be truesince they are so contradictory. However,one documented speech of his, theSecond Inaugural, has so much theologicalcontent we can at least knowsome of what Lincoln believed near theend of his life. Randy Eggert, a BaptistBible College graduate (1987) nowserving as an assistant US attorney inSpringfield, Missouri, has written ananalysis of that speech for this issueof the magazine. Randy is an activemember of Park Crest Baptist Churchin Springfield, and his career is a goodexample of the value of an education inBible and theology no matter what pathyou are on. Randy told me once thathis BBC training came into play in lawschool because he was taught the principlesof grammatical and historicalinterpretation of the Scriptures. Thosesame principles are applied (or at leastthey should be) to the law.In addition to Randy’s study of theLincoln speech, I have asked ChristopherBeck to give us a little more informationon religious references in otherinaugural addresses. Chris is the chairof the BBC Communication Department.His dissertation (he holds a PhDin communication from Regent University)analyzed presidential inaugurals.We are fortunate to have people in ourFellowship with the qualifications ofEggert and Beck.And just before I let you get intothe magazine, you might recall thatabout this time in 2001, there wassome news coming out of Indianapolis,Indiana, regarding the IndianapolisBaptist Temple and the IRS. In Februarythat year, US marshals seized thechurch property after courts found thechurch guilty of failing to withhold andpay social security and income taxesfor employees of the church. We willnot revisit the merits of the case for oragainst the church, but people haveasked about the church since then.Many thought once the property wasgone, the church would follow suit. Onthe contrary, the church is very muchin existence, and they are making a bigimpact in their city. Read the wholecomeback story in this issue.Finally, this is a big month for theTribune. We are raising our annualFebruary Tribune Offering, and theresults of our efforts will be reportedin the national Fellowship meeting inHouston, Texas, this month. Do whatyou can to be there for a great meetingin the Texas sunshine.4 Baptist Bible Tribune [ February 2009 ]