Church Member, Dr. Ben Mitchell, Testifies Before Congressional Committee
Church Member, Dr. Ben Mitchell, Testifies Before Congressional Committee
On Thursday, February 16, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience? This hearing was in response to a recent government mandate requiring religious organizations to provide contraceptive and abortifacent coverage for employees.
One of the eleven panel witnesses who gave testimony that day was one of our church members, Dr. Ben Mitchell, who serves as the Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University. He called this decree “an unconscionable intrusion by the state into the consciences of American citizens.”
In his opening statement, Mitchell explicitly stated the contributions Baptists have made throughout our nation’s history to the issue of religious liberty, saying: “I stand in the rich legacy of individuals like Roger Williams, a one-time Baptist and the founder of Providence Plantation which later became the state of Rhode Island, who declared in no uncertain terms that the violation of a person’s religious conscience was nothing less than ‘the rape of the soul.’ Williams understood that forcing a person through the power of the state to violate his or her own conscience is a monstrous harm.”
Mitchell quoted from Massachusetts Baptist minister John Leland, a friend of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and other American founders, who in 1791 said that “every man ought to be at liberty to serve God in that way that he can best reconcile it to his conscience.” He also cited a famous sermon on religious liberty by Texas Baptist pastor George W. Truett delivered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in 1920.
He mentioned two reasons for citing these historical examples:
“On the one hand, it is to remind us that what American University law professor Daniel Dreisbach and his co-editor Mark David Hall have called ‘the sacred rights of conscience,’ which we Americans enjoy, were secured at an extraordinary cost,” Mitchell said. “On the other hand, it is to remind us that as Truett said later in his sermon, religious liberty was, at least largely, ‘a Baptist achievement,’ for the common good. Every American is a beneficiary of this legacy; we are all freeloading on their sacrifice.”
Mitchell was quick to add, though:
“Contrary to portrayals in some of the popular media, this is not just a Catholic issue. All people of faith—and even those who claim no faith—have a stake in whether or not the government can violate the consciences of its citizenry. Religious liberty and the freedom to obey one’s conscience is also not just a Baptist issue. It is an American issue enshrined in our founding documents.”
In his closing comments, Mitchell addressed what the Obama administration has considered to be an accommodation to the HHS mandate by requiring that insurance companies pay for contraceptives and abortifacient drugs if religious organizations object to doing so.
“The Obama Administration’s most recent so-called ‘accommodation’ for religious organizations is no accommodation at all,” Mitchell said. “It is a bait and switch scheme, in my view, of the most egregious sort.”
We are so thankful to have Ben and Nancy Mitchell in our church, and we are grateful for Ben’s courageous, humble, and articulate testimony before Congress.
A New Resource for Christ-Centered Bible Reading
Michael Williams’ new book, How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens: A Guide to Christ-Focused Reading of Scripture, looks to be a helpful and valuable resource for Christians wanting a Christ-centered guide to help them in their Bible reading. The book contains a brief chapter on every book of the Bible, a concise theme of each book, an explanation of how that theme is fulfilled in Christ, and suggestions for contemporary implications.
Here is an excerpt from the introduction that provides some insight into what this book is all about:
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“The simple truth that all the Scriptures – Old Testament and New Testament – testify about Jesus seems to be often overlooked. For modern readers, the picture of Christ in the Old Testament can be obscured by veritable whiteout conditions of chronological, sacrificial, architectural, geographical, and genealogical details, so that all that can be made out after spending some time in the snowstorm is a mound of white where the car used to be. To an admittedly lesser degree, the problem exists for the New Testament as well. Names of apostles and disciples, travelogues, letters to forgotten churches in obscure locales regarding confusing theological issues – all of this can seem like so many differently shaped jigsaw pieces without a picture on the box to help us to put it all together. This book is intended to help believers make out the picture on the box. And it is a picture of Jesus.”
If you are looking for a resource to help you see the picture of Jesus portrayed in all the Bible, this book will be of great benefit to you. And if you teach the Bible, this book will be a great help in your understanding of the Christ-centered focal point of redemptive history.
To read the chapter on Genesis, click here.
Pastor Ricky Jenkins: “The Noble Experiment”
Pastor Ricky Jenkins of Fellowship Memphis (Downtown) shares with both First Baptist Churches of Jackson, TN the power of the gospel and its centrality in racial reconciliation. Ricky preached in a special joint service (between our congregation and the First Baptist on Martin Luther King Drive) about the “Reconciling Power of the Gospel”. View the bulletin here or listen/download the sermon audio below.
Homepage Photo courtesy of JACOB MOORE/The Jackson Sun. Read their coverage on this event here.
Sunday, February 29, 2012
The Noble Experiment
Matthew 15:21-28 | Pastor Ricky Jenkins
Celebrating Life from Womb to Tomb
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday
January 22, 2012
First Baptist Church, Jackson, Tennessee
C. Ben Mitchell, Ph.D.
In 1983, theologian Francis Schaeffer and former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop asked President Ronald Reagan to create a special day to focus on “the intrinsic value of human life.” That same year, President Reagan issued a proclamation establishing a National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. So, today, we join Christians around the world as we celebrate the gift of life.
One of the tragedies of the abortion debate in America is that we often define Sanctity of Human Life Sunday by what we are against rather than what we are for. There is plenty to be against, of course. Since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973, there have been more than 53 million abortions in the U. S. alone. At the other end of life, three U.S. states, Oregon, Washington, and Montana, now permit physicians to assist in the killing of their patients. Between conception and death, assaults on human life continue to grow. For instance, it is estimated that through prenatal testing, 90% of Down Syndrome babies are either “selected out” at the embryonic stage or aborted. Again, at the other end of life, in our youth-oriented, ageist culture, increasing numbers of senior adults are neglected, abused, and “tossed out.”
Christians have always been at the forefront of protecting human life. For instance, during the first century, an early church manual called the Didache (c. 85-110 AD) said: “thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born.” Tertullian, one of the church fathers who died around 220 AD, devoted an entire chapter of one of his books to repudiating the Roman gladiatorial games, calling on Christians not to attend. Under the reign of a Christian emperor, Theodosius I, the games were ended in the 4th century in the East and in the early 5th century, under his son, Honorius, in the West.
Having said that, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is an important opportunity to celebrate God’s marvelous handiwork in creating us. We should meditate on Psalm 139, where David speaks powerfully about the nature of human life. In this lofty psalm, he exults both in God’s omniscience and omnipresence (vv. 1-12). And in verses 13-16, he celebrates God’s intricate involvement in his own development in the womb: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Interestingly, the words “woven together” in the womb might be translated “colorfully embroidered.” The tapestry that is a human being—body, soul, and spirit—is the work of the Master Artist.
In the person of Jesus of Nazareth we see both perfect God and real humanity. The affirmation of the Apostles Creed that Jesus was “born of the Virgin Mary” reminds us that, like every other member of humanity, Jesus was once a human embryo. The affirmation that we believe in “The resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting” suggests that the body is a necessary aspect of our humanity from the beginning of life throughout eternity. Thus, every human life—from conception to natural death—is to be received as a gift from the sovereign Creator, to be treated with reverence and respect, and is not to be harmed without biblical justification.
And so, today, along with those who have gone before us, let us celebrate, honor, and protect human life from the womb to the tomb. Here are some practical steps:
FBC University
The Truth Project Part 2
By Focus on the Family
Leader: Gary Williams
Room: B 202 | Cost: $0
The truth project is a DVD-based small group curriculum taught by Dr. Del Tackett, instructor of Christian Worldview at the Focus Leadership institute. This study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. Each lesson discusses in great detail the relevance and importance of living the Christian worldview in daily life. “We believe this curriculum can be a catalyst for exponential change within the body of Christ as people are “transformed by the renewing of their mind” (Romans 12:2). God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world.
Expecting to See Jesus
By Ann Graham Lotz
Leader: Cheryl Shellabarger
Room: D 208-10 | Cost: $5.00
In this eight-session expanded edition of I Saw The LORD, Anne Graham Lotz calls Christians to wake up to the fact Jesus may come in their lifetime. She guides small groups in seeing the Lord in a fresh way, so that each participant can have a genuine experience of life-changing, fire-blazing personal revival. Accompanied by Dr. Crawford Loritts and Dr. Henry Blackaby, and using key biblical characters as examples, they share the revival lessons learned through examination of their lives as recorded in Scripture.
Living The Word
Leader: Ben Mitchell
Room:D 214 | Cost $14.00
We are blessed at First Baptist Church to hear the Word of God faithfully preached and taught. The difficulty I have sometimes is applying that Word to every aspect of my life. So, in our class we’ll work through two books that will help us do that. First, we’ll read Jonathan Leeman’s recent book, Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to His People. This book is on Pastor Justin’s list of recommended books and is a gold mine of ways the preached Word is to reverberate through our lives both individually and as a church. Next, we’ll read Norman Wirzba’s, Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight. We’ll think about the ways “sabbath living” can change the way we live, work, and rest.
Chewing the Cud: Meditation for Application
Leader: Justin Wainscott
Room D 200
Cud is that portion of food returning from the cow’s stomach to its mouth to be chewed for the second time. While it’s not the most pleasant of thoughts or images, it is a fitting analogy for the aim of this class, where the sermon text from that morning will be “chewed on” for the second time.
During each session, the sermon text and the truths brought out in the sermon from that Sunday morning will be discussed further amongst the group. The participants will have had much of the day to think and meditate on those truths and should, therefore, be easily prepared to discuss the implications and applications together.
We want the Word of God to move beyond just the pulpit and the pews; we want it to take root deep in our hearts and lives. We believe this class is a great way for that to begin happening.
Our Weekly Telecast is Moving
Beginning January 1, 2012, First Baptist Church will air its services on the following channels and during the following days/times:
JEA E+TV6 (Channel 6)
Charter (Channel 22)
You will also be able to view our services by watching online at www.eplustv6.com.
Thanks be to God
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, let us all reflect on the many reasons we have to be thankful to God. And may these poetic lines from Fred Pratt Green be of help to us as we do.
FOR THE FRUIT OF ALL CREATION
by Fred Pratt Green
For the fruit of all creation,
Thanks be to God.
For His gifts to every nation,
Thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping,
Future needs in earth’s safe-keeping,
Thanks be to God.
For the harvests of the Spirit,
Thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit,
Thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
For the truths that still confound us,
Most of all, that love has found us,
Thanks be to God.
Fellowship Meal
February 15th
Lovely Baked Chicken
Rice
Baby Peas
Apple of my Eye Salad
Honey Brand Rolls
Chocolate Dessert
February 22nd
Soup & Baked Potato Bar
BBQ and other trimmings
Garden Salad
Dessert
February 29th
Hamburgers
all the trimmings
Fried Onion Rings
Baked Beans
Dessert
Changing the World: Shoeboxes, Holidays, and Kids around the World
Believers worldwide recently observed Orphan Sunday—a day sponsored by the Christian Alliance for Orphans highlighting the plight of an estimated 163 million orphans. While statistics vary concerning types of orphans in different countries, the reality of this global crisis is staggering.
Our hearts were freshly gripped by the orphan dilemma not long ago. As a result, our family began travelling down an extravagantly grace-driven journey which forever changed—and continues to change—our lives. Several years ago, our eyes were opened to the reality of orphans in the world and to our responsibility to care. As our eyes began to open, we found our hearts opening, our minds opening, and ultimately our home opening.
At our wedding, we never would have dreamed about adoption. Now, Jack, William and Isaac have a brother who was born in Ethiopia. And we are in the process of getting another brother!
We travelled with grandparents to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2010 and returned home with Benjamin on May 2. Life hasn’t been the same since. We’re often asked about what it’s like with an adopted child from Ethiopia. Sure, we get lots of double-takes when the whole family is out, but things seem so normal to us. As a result of our adoption, we feel like we have a much deeper insight into the reality of the gospel.
As I’m sure you’re well aware, the holidays are coming quickly. Soon we’ll be carving turkey, decorating the Christmas tree, decking the halls and singing Christmas carols. This is also that time of year when many folks are packing shoeboxes to be delivered to children around the world as a part of Operation Christmas Child—a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Having been overseas and witnessed children opening shoeboxes from believers in the United States, I am more diligent and prayerful about my own packing. How wonderful it is to work together with my boys to fill shoeboxes for other little boys around the world.
They say Christmas is for children. With four children under the age of seven, we sure do look forward to Christmas at our house. Having adopted, being in the process of adopting again, and packing our shoeboxes for other children cause our minds especially to be on children and Christmas these days.
Someone once said,
“One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove. What kind of house I lived in. How much money I had in the bank. Nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.”
At this point in our lives, those words pretty much sum up our thoughts.
As we consider the millions of orphaned children around the world and think about the many who will be receiving shoeboxes, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the incalculable needs among children on our planet.
Amy and I realize that we ourselves will never change the whole world. But we can change the life of one child.
So can you.
-Todd Brady
Todd, his wife Amy, and their 4 children are members here at First Baptist Church. Todd serves as the special assistant to the president for university relations at Union University.
Orphan Sunday
FAQ’s about Orphan Sunday
What is Orphan Sunday?
On Orphan Sunday, Christians across America and beyond celebrate the love of the God who “places the lonely in families” and calls us to do the same. Ultimately, Orphan Sunday seeks to makes the gospel visible as God’s people explore and respond to His heart for the orphan in adoption, foster care, and global orphan ministry.
Why Orphan Sunday?
God is vested, deeply and personally, in the plight of the orphan (i.e. Deut 10:18; Ps 68:5-6). He calls His people to share this passion and bring to each child the love of Jesus Christ in both word and deed (Is 1:17; James 1:27; Mt. 25:40). On Orphan Sunday, the Church is reminded of this truth and invited to act upon it.
Whom does Orphan Sunday impact?
As Christians respond to God’s call to care for orphans, lives are transformed. Certainly, orphans and foster youth are changed forever. But it doesn’t stop there. Individual Christians are drawn beyond a self-focused religion to vibrant, sacrificial discipleship. Their churches grow, too, as the community sees God’s heart and mirrors it. Finally, a watching world is changed as it sees the gospel made visible in Christian adoption, foster care and global orphan care.
Where can I learn more about caring for orphans and defending the fatherless?
The best one-stop place to find out more information about orphan care, foster care, adoption, agencies, and related ministries is the website of The Christian Alliance for Orphans (http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org), who sponsors Orphan Sunday.
