Baptist TrumpetVolume 77 January 25, 2017 Little Rock, Arkansas Number 17

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF BAPTIST MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION OF ARKANSASwww.baptisttrumpet.com

In This IssueCBC Announces Lists (pg. 2)Letter to Trump Critics (pg. 2)Passion and Purpose (pg. 3)

Legal Cases About Religion (pg. 3)BibleSticks (pg. 5)

See GOALS, Page 4

See LIFEWORD, Page 6

See ABORTION, Page 6

See PERSPECTIVE, Page 6

Movingwith ministers

and staff

By Tom Strode • Baptist Press The abortion rate in the United States declined to an all-time low, while the number of lethal proce-dures dropped below a million for the first time since 1975, according to a new report. The Guttmacher Institute report-ed Jan. 17 that the rate fell to 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women 15 to 44 years old in 2014, which is a decline of 14% since its most recent survey in 2011. In its census of all known abortion providers in the country, Guttmacher found abortions totaled 958,700 in 2013 and 926,190 in 2014. The abortion rate reached its ze-nith at 29.3 in 1980 and ‘81, and the total number of abortions peaked at more than 1.6 million in 1990, ac-cording to Guttmacher. Pro-life advocates welcomed the report and pointed to the work of pro-life citizens and legislators as a reason for the dramatic decline in abortions and their rate. “The falling abortion number is due to the ceaseless advocacy and ministry of the pro-life community in neighborhoods all around this country,” said Russell Moore, presi-dent of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). “The pro-life movement advances by calling out to conscienc-es with the truth of what unborn human life is and matching that call with real ministry to women in crisis. “While a lower rate is undoubtedly good news, the violent taking of the life of even one unborn child ought to cause us to weep and redouble our ef-forts to protect every human life and

In this final article, our two mis-sions directors — Dr. John David Smith and Paul White — will share their “goals and prayers” for their departments for the coming year. Please join me in praying for each of these ministries this year. The prayers and goals for the Baptist Trumpet will be shared in next week’s issue and will complete this series.

BMA Global MissionsDr. John David Smith, Exec. Dir.

The opportunity to work alongside BMA missionaries and church planters throughout the world is a great privilege. It

is also very humbling to see the levels of commitment and investment from these brothers and sisters in making God’s name famous in their field of service. The overall goals for BMA Global missions in 2017 continue to reflect our mission of facilitating disciple-ship based multiplication move-ments. We seek to help multiply dis-ciple makers, leaders and churches. From an associational standpoint,

Zack Pullman has accepted the position of interim pastor at Mead-owview Baptist Church in Pine Bluff. Fairview Baptist Church in Bly-theville is seeking a part-time youth director. For more information, all the church office at (870) 763-5824. Shiloh Lamartine Baptist Church in Waldo is seeking a bi-vo-cational pastor. Contact John Henry at (870) 904-4303.

It’s been three years in the mak-ing for Perspective, Antioch Baptist Church at Conway’s college ministry. On Jan. 16, over 150 college students,

— Photo by Bill Mcentire

Antioch, Conway Unveils New College Building

By Assistant Editor Madelaine Priestand those that were a part of the col-lege ministry, both past and present, gathered in the brand new building that will house the Perspective college ministry. The college ministry has been around for almost 22 years, and met in the Association of Baptist Students building on the University of Central Arkansas campus. The Greenbrier District Association owned the build-ing at that time. UCA made the de-cision to purchase back the land the ABS building was on in the spring of 2014 to increase the space for the Lewis Science Center. “It was a good time for the minis-try,” Shawn Hammontree, Perspective college minister, said. “We had really outgrown the old ABS building, so it worked in our favor.” Antioch decided to move forward with building a spacious new building to host the ministry. The construction crew broke ground in June of last year, and the building was completed this month. While the building was be-ing completed, the ministry met in a conference room in the 110 Building, located across the street from Antioch. “During the time we met at the 110 building, we lost a lot of our international

Abortion Rate Hits All-Time Low

Part 3

Missions Directors Share TheirPrayers And Goals for 2017

we need our churches to constantly renew their commitment to God’s global mission. We need to continue to educate and encourage BMA churches to have missions (local to international) as the priority of their existence, and not view it as an option or a mere line item in the budget. We will continue to seek to send missionaries and church planters because that is the reason we exist. There are international missionary candidates and church planting can-didates for U.S. locations who are ready to go now. In light of the loss of revenue from the oil and gas sector of our econo-my, we are seeking God for increased funding for the World Missions Fund, 84% of which pays mission-ary salaries. Part of that goes to the remaining fully-funded missionaries who are still under the previous mis-sionary support system, another part provides roughly $21,000 per year to each of the 65-35 missionaries and the other major part goes to partner with national missionaries in many countries. Please pray with us about

Lifeword’s Spanish Facebook page (Lifeword en Español) is only a month old, and it will soon include the Hispanic version of Day by Day with a slightly different twist: With the blessing of their pastors, young people will be used as social media missionaries to create vlogs (video blogs) to package the work of the BMA in a culturally relevant way for Hispanics in the United States and the Americas. Lifeword Programming Director Luis Ortega is leading this initiative, and the first broadcast will be some-time in the first quarter of 2017. “I’m here to serve our churches, and I want to serve them better by provid-ing more information about BMA work using the translated version of Lifeword’s newsletter, a synopsis of the Lifeword portion of mission:world and monthly visits to Hispanic churches around the BMA,” explained Luis. He went on to say that teenagers in Guatemala and Mexico have already created the first vlogs for broadcast.

New Spanish Day by Day“I have challenged these young people to figure out how to tell their friends about Jesus and make catchy, ap-pealing videos of less than five min-utes. They are at an age where they need to be positively engaged in social media conversations about Jesus.” Eventually, they will also be used to translate Lifeword’s newsletter and mission:world, so all American and Central and South American Hispanics can know what’s going on in the BMA and how to pray for their churches and the departments. They will travel within their coun-tries to interview church members and others, young and old, gathering stories to share with their American

-2- BAPTIST TRUMPET, January 25, 2017

Central Baptist College1501 College Ave. • Conway, Arkansas 72034

(501) 329-6872 • (800) 205-6872 • www.cbc.edu Twitter: @CentBaptCollege and @tkimbrow

Terry KimbrowPresident

PROFILE

See CBC, Page 4 See TRUMP, Page 3

I want to remind you about Homecoming 2017 — “Feels Like Home to Me” — scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3-4. You won’t want to miss one single event, but if you have to come late or leave early, you are more than welcome to choose the events that interest you most and fit your time schedule. I have high-lighted a couple of the events below. You can find a complete list of activi-ties at cbc.edu/homecoming.

Half Century Club InductionFor 1966 and 1967 Classes The CBC Alumni Office will host a Half Century Club induction and brunch at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 during Homecoming festivities to recognize classmates who graduated 50 years ago or prior. The Alumni Office is in the process of contacting classmates who graduated in 1966 and 1967 to come take part in the event. These graduates will receive a spe-cial memento from the institution. Please call the Alumni Office if you were a graduate during this time so we can be sure and include you in our mailings, or contact Jessica Faulkner at jfaulkner@cbc.edu or (501) 205-8800. Half Century Club Inductees from 1952–1965 are also invited to attend. Wear your medallion and re-connect with your classmates while celebrating the classes of 1966 and 1967.

Mustang Memories: TheHistory of CBC Told by You Come by and record your Mus-tang Memories in the Story Library during Homecoming 2017. Mus-tang Memories will be a collec-tion of interviews with people who have helped to make or witnessed the history of Central Baptist Col-lege. Think about your favorite CBC memory, a favorite teacher or any-thing related to the history of CBC. The Story Library will be open on Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4 during Homecoming activities to re-cord your memory.

Students Named toPresident’s & Dean’s ListIt is my pleasure to release the Presi-dent’s and Dean’s Lists in recogni-tion of student academic achieve-ment. The following lists are for the fall of 2016.

Homecoming Just Two Weeks AwayPresident’s List To qualify for the President’s List, a student must be enrolled for a minimum of 12 semester hours and have earned a grade point average of 4.000 out of a possible 4.000.

Traditional Students Candra Barnett, El Dorado; Ad-die Bender, Conway; Jacob Bentley, Conway; Dylan Bradley, Jackson-ville; Andrew Brewer, Greenbrier; Alexander Burgess, Little Rock; Kristin Capps, Conway; Mackenzie Crocker, Greenbrier; Summer Cun-ningham, Norcross, Ga.; Stephen Dixon, Greenbrier; Laura Embry, Ashdown; Zachary Ferrell, Sulphur Springs, Texas; Katherine Fitts, Searcy; Emily Gardner, Melbourne; Lenee Gibson, Webb City, Mo.; Amanda Glover, Damascus; Reagan Goode, Vilonia; Scott Gracey, For-rest City; Jessica Hager, Millington, Ill.; Amanda Hall, Greenbrier; Hat-tie Horton, Marshall; Kassidy Irwin, Henderson, Ariz.; Zachary Irwin, Conway; Andrew Johnson, Carthage; Rachael Jones, Conway; Preston Jones, Arkadelphia; Zachary Kearney, Walnut Shade, Mo.; Constance Key, Eustace, Texas; Austin Kocher, Fox; Michael Landis, Springdale; Nathaniel Lawrence, Conway; Rachel Lawson, Kokomo, In.; Austin Lewis, Damascus; Jona-than Long, Higden; Destinee Mar-vel, Mabelvale; Paige McCain, Fort Smith; Makayla McCrackin, Jones-boro; Bailey McElyea, Quitman; Seth McLemore, Pulaski, Tenn.; Sarah Montgomery, Conway; Cal-lum Morris, Market Harborough, Great Britain, United Kingdom; Whitney Noel, Vilonia; Rachel Pascoe, Vilonia; Catelyn Payne, Bee Branch; Lauren Pharr, Conway; Cecilia Putter, Colt, ZA South Af-rica; Jackie Rankin, Conway; Averi Ratliff, Conway; Mary Rice, Con-way; Landon Riddle, Damascus; Blake Riddle, Damascus; Cameron Roberts, Greenbrier; Miriam Rog-ers, Magnolia; Levi Rutherford, Van Buren; DaKota Saeler, Bearden; Lindsey Sansom, Conway; Sarah Shelton, Conway; Macaela Shieldnight, Rog-ers; Zachary Siebenmann, Vilonia; Melody Siebenmann, Vilonia; Lee Smothers, North Little Rock; Haley Spencer, Washburn, Mo.; Wyatt Spigener, Arlington, Texas; Ellen Staton, Little Rock; Hunny Ste-

phens, Clarksville; Maxwell Sullivan, Bryant; Marinna Thomas, Mount Vernon; Hannah Tilley, Greenbrier; James Tyson III, Conway; Raquel Westerman, Galveston, Texas; Lau-ren Whenrey, North Little Rock; Jade Woodrome, Greenbrier.

PACE and Online Students Thomas Ashcraft, Conway; Jere-miah Bastien, Cabot; Marlana Brady, Conway; Terri Brown, Pine Bluff; Carrie Collins, Clinton; Brandon Cook, Fayetteville; James Cox, Con-way; Carrie Crawford, Mayflower; Rodger Crawford, Conway; An-gela Dobbins, Conway; Joseph Ep-person, Greenbrier; Jerry Erickson, Conway; Susanna Ford, Little Rock; Jerry Gibbons, Conway; Timothy Gray, Conway; Christie Hammons, Conway; Carrie Hanson, Conway; Yolonda Harris, Conway; Kimberly Head, Vilonia; Heath Helton, Ben-ton; Cami Henderson, Conway; Melissa Hobson, Sherwood; Johnna Hoffman, Conway; James Howard, Cabot; Naomi Howard, Cabot; Preston Jones, Conway; Kamryn Kaufman, Conway; Nicole King, Vi-lonia; John Leland, Conway; Zach-ary Lowry, Greenbrier; Amanda Luedke, Conway; Lori Miller, Con-way; Morgan Mitchell, Conway; Celquetta Pride, Sherwood; Marga-ret Richardson, Sherwood; Savan-nah Ryan, Conway; James Steele, Benton; Ashley Stewart, Conway; Thomas Stricklin, Benton; Hayley Tacker, Austin; Crystal Taller, Cabot; Devin Tate, Conway; Jessica Tennis, Greenbrier; Keri Tumbleson, Clinton; Elston Van-winkle, McRae; Danielle Waits, Conway; Jason Weatherly, Cabot; Todd Welter, Searcy; Jennie Welter, Searcy; Sandra Wulf, Quitman.

Dean’s List To qualify for the Dean’s List, a student must be enrolled for a mini-mum of 12 semester hours and have earned a grade point average of 3.500 or higher out of a possible 4.000.

Traditional Students Ashlyn Allen, Lonoke; Percy Ar-nold, Conway; Sadie Backus, Em-met; Jacob Baker-Worsley, Fort Smith; Erin Baker-Worsley, Fort Smith; Stephanie Battles, Greenbri-er; John Baugh, Center Ridge; Jian Bender, Vilonia; Allison Bisher, East Prairie, Mo.; Pranay Borde, Pune FC, India; Jessica Borden, Vilonia; Hannah Bowen, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Austin Bowman, Greenbrier; Kannon Bradley, Shirley; Michaela Brandon, Jonesboro; Jacob Brimer, Bradford; Joel Brown, Berryville; Sydney Bullard, Concord; Kinley Burrows, Jacksonville; Austen Bur-ton, Little Rock; Hsin-Ya Cheng, FC Taiwan China; Dylan Clarke, Cabot; Payton Cope, Greenbrier; Blair Courtney, Little Rock; Shelby Cuthbertson, Pine Bluff;

By Dr. Michael L. Brown As one who issued numerous warnings about candidate Donald Trump during the Republican pri-maries, on radio, in writing and on video, I’m sympathetic to your con-cerns. You see him as an incredibly dan-gerous loose cannon, as someone who could start a world war with his tweets, as a mean-spirited man unfit for the presidency, as a divider not a uniter. You might even see him as a potential dictator, rising up like a new Hitler in an increasingly xeno-phobic, angry and fearful America. How on earth, you wonder, did Donald Trump become the president of the United States? How did this narcissistic, playboy businessman be-come the most powerful leader in the world? To repeat: I’m sympathetic to your concerns, and I understand why you feel like this, and even as someone who voted for Trump, I never dissed the Never Trumpers.But now that Donald Trump will be our 45th president — yes, get used to hearing “President Trump” — may I have a word with you? The first issue is one of attitude. During the 2008 Democratic pri-maries, I warned my radio listeners that Barack Obama would be the most radical pro-abortion, pro-gay-agenda president in our nation’s his-tory. Over the subsequent months, I also questioned where he stood with Israel. More than eight years later, I’m sad to say — not happy to say — that I was right. (Honestly, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what kind of president he would be.) During his presidency, I often told my listeners, “I’m praying that he will be the greatest president we’ve ever had; but right now, I don’t see that at all. I have grave concerns.” So, I’m encouraging you to have a godly attitude toward our new presi-dent. I’m encouraging you to pray for him with the heartfelt desire that God will make him into a great pres-ident, rather than for you to stand on the sidelines, rooting for his fall. Ac-cording to the Scriptures, the former attitude is godly; the latter is not. Let your attitude, then, as a past critic be: “I have grave concerns about President Trump, but I’m hop-ing that I’m wrong about my con-cerns.” If you really care about Amer-ica and are a person of prayer, that should be your mind set. The second issue is one of expec-tation. Could it be that Trump is not quite the man you think he is? Could it be that he has more going for him than you realize? Could it be that

— Photo by Gage Skidmore

Guest EditorialAn Open Letter to CriticsOf President Trump

many Americans had solid reasons to vote for him and that he could get a lot done for the good of our nation? Could it be that, despite his very rough edges and non-presidential tweets, God is already working in his heart? From all that we can see, he is very serious about: • Appointing strong conservatives to the Supreme Court • Standing for life, beginning in the womb • Moving our embassy to Jerusa-lem and standing up to radical Islam • Fighting for our religious liber-ties • Rebuilding our inner cities • Taking on the political establish-ment • Strengthening our security and our economy • Exposing the biased media I also believe he really wants to be the president of all Americans, despite his divisive word; and I truly believe he wants to recapture many of the things that have made our na-tion great over the decades. And, as a biblically-based conser-vative, I believe he has already made a number of excellent personnel choices, in particular in his cabinet picks; and he continues to keep his door open to evangelical Christian leaders. In my book, these are en-couraging signs. And so, while it is true that we have no guarantee of what will hap-pen once he begins to govern, I be-lieve we have ample reason to expect the best rather than the worst. Per-haps you can find it in your heart to be at least a little positive? Perhaps you can ask yourself, “What if I was a pro-Trumper rather than an anti-Trumper? What good would I see in him? What potential would I see in him?” Perhaps you can tweak your attitude just a little? We tend to defend the weaknesses of those we like and attack the weak-nesses of those we don’t like, mean-ing that we use different standards for different people. This is unrigh-teous and unethical, also obscuring the clarity of our vision. Why not ask God how He wants

-3- BAPTIST TRUMPET, January 25, 2017

CHURCH HEALTHP.O. Box 878 • Conway, Ark. 72033-0878

(501) 455-4977 • larry@bmaam.comLARRY BARKER

Director of Operations North AmericaBMA of America Missions Department

See MORAL, Page 6

If you have ever flown, you may remember this as a part of the safety speech after the cabin door has been closed: “In the event of a decompression, an oxygen mask will automatically appear in front of you. To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask toward you. Place it firmly over your nose and mouth, secure the elastic band behind your head, and breathe nor-mally. Although the bag does not in-flate, oxygen is flowing to the mask. If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, then assist the other person.” We are reminded to first take care of our own air mask before helping others with theirs. The reality is that if you have passed out from a lack of oxygen, you will not be of any good to anyone else around you. There is a part of this that goes against what we believe the Bible teaches about Jesus being first, other people being our second concern and only then are we to think about ourselves. Being selfless instead of selfish is a big part of our Christian walk, and we are commanded in Philippians to, “consider others as more important than yourself.” There are some areas where you must take care of yourself first if you want to be of any help to others around you: You must protect your passion for the Lord and His purpose for your life. You must make sure you do not quench the Holy Spirit (I Thess. 5:19) by resisting what He wants to accomplish in your life. You must passionately pursue His presence and His purpose for you. No one else can do this for you and it requires a determination and de-sire to abide in Him. You cannot stay strong and faithful off of someone else’s faith and passion for long. Here are some necessary things to protect your passion and determine your purpose. •  Guard your heart. Is there any unconfessed sin in your life? In order to maintain your passion, you must not allow any sin to get comfortable and build a stronghold in your heart because it hardens our hearts and

hurts our relationship with Him. You must take personal responsi-bility for your own heart. You can-not blame it on the times, the devil, church members or difficult circum-stances. If you do not guard your own heart, you will find it very difficult to help others with their hearts. • Keep your faith. Eph. 3:10 says, “Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think ac-cording to the power that works in us.” The focus of this verse is sometimes incorrectly placed upon what we can ask or think. The real focus is not on us at all but on “Him who is able.” Our faith is not in what we can accomplish, but in what our God is able to do through us. It is up to you not to listen to the doubts and fears that continually attack your mind. It is up to you to keep your faith strong by believing His Word over your present situation. • Remember who God is. Think and meditate upon His attributes, and you will remember from Chris-tian Doctrine 101 about the immu-tability of God. Remember — your circumstances change, but God doesn’t. To imply that God changes would also imply that He needs to improve. There is no need and no room for improvement in God be-cause He is already perfect. The reality is not only that God does not change, but also that He cannot change! Why is that impor-tant? You must remind yourself con-tinually that He cannot lie, He can-not break a promise, and He never makes a mistake. • Discover what His plans are for you. The place to discover His plans for you is in His presence. It has been said, “Never question in the dark what God showed you in the light.” It is easy —  in the midst of trials, difficulties and challenges — to be-gin questioning if we are where the Lord wants us to be. God’s plans for us should not be decided because of problems, but because of the Lord’s direction in our lives. If you are not careful, you will drift away from His calling and His direc-tion because of the critics and the naysayers. • Abide in Him. You must sched-ule and protect your time alone with

the Lord. No one else can do this for you, and reading about other peo-ple’s intimacy with the Lord is not enough. You must experience it for yourself. One of the meanings of the word abide is to “stay overnight.” In Draw the Circle, Mark Batterson says this about abiding: “Sometimes we need to press into the presence of God a little longer. And if we linger in His presence, God’s presence will linger on us.” Be careful that you are not so busy doing things for God that you have neglected time with God. • Don’t get discouraged. Yes, that is far easier said than done, but it is possible if we take proper care of our spiritual health. Paul told the church in Eph. 3:13, “So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my af-flictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.” Paul was expressing to them that when he weighed his afflictions against the glory of God and the fur-therance of the Gospel, it was a no-brainer. When we contemplate God’s glory, it makes counting the cost an easy calculation. It can be difficult at times, but it is well worth it for the cause of Christ. • Take personal responsibility for your attitude. We are to have the mind of Christ. Quit making excuses if your attitude is bad, and encourage yourself in the Lord. You must make sure that your spiritual oxygen mask is on first be-fore you help others with theirs!

TRUMP(Continued From Page 2)

you to view President Trump, then, with full awareness of his potential failings and still-glaring faults, why not pray for him with hope and root for his success rather than this failure? Once Donald Trump became the Republican candidate, I said, “I hope I get to eat my negative words about Trump,” rather than, “I can’t wait to say, ‘I told you so!’” I’m urging you to do the same. Af-ter all, four or eight years from now, wouldn’t it far better to say, “I’m so glad I was wrong about President Trump,” than to say, “I told you he was not fit to be president”? Please join me in praying for and hoping for the success of our 45th president and new Commander in Chief. —(reprinted with permission) Dr. Michael Brown, a Jewish believer in Jesus, is a biblical scholar, apologist, worldwide speaker and activist. He is the host of the nationally syndicated, talk radio program “Line of Fire,” and he serves as president of FIRE School of Ministry in Concord, NC, as well as adjunct professor at a number of semi-naries. He is the author of 25 books, most recently “Breaking the Stronghold of Food” (due for release this month). (www.askdrbrown.org)

MORAL ACTIONP.O. Box 305 • Mantachie, Miss. 38855

(662) 231-3863 • www.macbma.netDR. JOHN M. ADAMS

Executive Directorfbcdjmaj@yahoo.com

Following are just a small sounding of legal cases that have been and will be before America’s courts against moral lifestyle and religious freedoms. (If you desire, you can Google such subjects as “legal cases against religious freedom” or visit Family Research Council’s web page at frc.org.)

2017 — Columbia, Mo. Religious Freedom: Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Pauley/U.S. Supreme Court At Issue: Whether the exclusion of churches from a publicly funded aid program violates the Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses, if the state cannot establish a sufficiently valid Establishment Clause concern. The Case: A local Christian church, supported by the Alliance Depending Freedom, sued after being denied Missouri state funds to improve the surface of a playground used by its preschool. The program gives grants to nonprofits seeking a safer recreational environment for children. Missouri law prohibits direct government aid to educational institutions that have a religious affilia-tion.

2005 — Vermont Conflict over religious license plate: A man requested a custom license plate for his 1966 Ford pickup which read “JN36TN” and referred to John 3:16, one of the most popular exclusivist passages in the Christian Bible verses. In the King James Version, it reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The Department of Motor Vehicles denied his request on the basis that state regulations prohibit license plates of a religious nature. Vermont Assistant Attorney General, Harvey Golubock, said: “The state doesn’t want to be in the business of endorsing a particular religion or deity. He could paint it on the side of a car — the state wouldn’t have a problem with that.”

2005 — Indiana Federal court judge bans sectarian prayer in House: Judge David Hamilton issued a ruling on Nov. 30 covering the prayers delivered by volunteer clergy at the opening of daily sessions of the Indiana House of Representatives. He noted that “…prayer opportunities have frequently and consistently been used to ad-vance the Christian religion.” He barred future prayers that endorse any specific religion. He based his decision on a 1983 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, which was in turn based on the principle of the separation of church and state. Judge Hamilton said that those delivering prayers: “…do not have a First Amendment right… to use an official platform like the Speaker’s podium… to express their own religious faiths…If the Speaker chooses to continue to permit nonsectarian prayers as part of the official proceedings, he shall advise all per-sons offering such prayers… that the prayers must be non-sectarian and must not be used to proselytize or advance any one faith or belief or to disparage any other faith or belief… The prayers should not use Christ’s name or title or any other denominational appeal.” The court challenge was triggered by Rev. Clarence Brown, of Second Baptist Church in Bedford, IN. He led the House in singing “Just a Little Talk with Jesus.” It caused some offended representatives to leave the House.

Advice to BMA Churches Churches will need to take steps to enhance their protections against being forced to perform or open their facilities for same-sex marriages. To bolster their legal position and protect themselves in this regard, churches can establish additional and specific facilities usage policies that will legally al-low them to deny uses that are inconsistent with their faith. Model policies and more specific legal advice are available from our allies at Alliance Defending Freedom and Liberty Institute. Rather than retreat from the public square, churches and pastors should en-sure they have taken the proper steps to have protections in place so they can continue to play an active part in and minister to their local communities. The current legal position of pastors and churches does not mean there will be no legal challenger, as some may still attempt them. Any efforts to force churches to open their facilities for same-sex weddings or otherwise infringe on the ability of pastors or churches to act according to their faith should be promptly communicated so we can be sure these issues receive the proper atten-tion, and assistance from our allied legal organizations can be available. (Travis

Recent Legal Cases About ReligionPassionPurpose&

-4- BAPTIST TRUMPET, January 25, 2017

Editor’s Notebook

By Mrs. Diane Spriggs

Baptist Trumpet (USPS 043-720) (ISSN 0888-9074) Published by the Baptist Missionary Association of Arkansas; sponsoring Missions, Benevolence and Christian Education.

MRS. DIANE SPRIGGS, Editor and Business Managereditor@baptisttrumpet.com

P.O. Box 192208 • Little Rock, Arkansas 72219-2208Telephone (501) 565-4601 • Fax Line (501) 565-NEWS

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MARENE WATERS • adminassistant@baptisttrumpet.com(posting and billing inquiries; mailing list changes)

Price: $18.50 per year; Church Plan: 36 cents per copy PublishedweeklyexceptfortheweekofNewYear’sandoneweekin April, May, July, September, November and December. Periodi-calpostagepaidatLittleRock,Arkansas.Editorialofficesat10712Interstate 30, Little Rock, Arkansas 72209. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Baptist Trumpet, P.O. Box 192208, Little Rock, Arkansas 72219-2208. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the writer and do notnecessarilyreflectthoseoftheeditororthechurchesoftheBMA.

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Back to Tanzania — Twice! On Saturday, Jan. 14, I got to talk to my girlfriends from Mt. Vernon District WMA about the trip to Tanzania; and on Saturday, Jan. 21, the girlfriends at Mt. Calvary District WMA put up with me. Talk about some “serious girlfriend time” and being on a mountaintop! (Yes, the pun was intended. Work with me here!) Thank you all so much for your hospitality, love and generous support of this ministry. Trenton at Marvell WMA, who hosted the Mt. Vernon meeting, gave a generous offering, and so did the ladies of the Mt. Calvary WMA. Love my girlfriends! Much-Needed Special Offerings In addition to my WMA girlfriends, others have also given generously to help us. We always appreciate special offerings, and especially at this time of the year — when extra (yearly) bills come in and our Special Emphasis funds are almost depleted. Two faithful readers added offerings to their subscription renewals — Melba Keith ($81.50) and Bro. & Mrs. Marvin Delk ($200) — and Bro. & Mrs. Kenneth Bobo gave another $125. Thank you all so very much! Although our Special Emphasis doesn’t start until March 1, J.B. Mills always is always the first to send in his donation of $50. Thank you so much for being faithful to this ministry, Bro. Mills! God bless you all!

GOALS(Continued From Page 1)

this need and encourage your church to be faithful in the mission. Director of church planting for North American Missions Larry Barker gives the following goals for 2017: • Send out 10 new church planting teams • See a resurgence of and recom-mitment to evangelizing the lost • See church plants become healthy, vibrant multiplying churches. •  Cultivate 5 new multiplying church planting clusters  •  Maintain a continued focus on P-5 Multiplication: Pray, Prepare, Partner, Parent, Plant •  Provide 5 regional trainings on multiplying disciples, leaders and churches • Help 12 existing churches multi-ply by planting a new church International Missions Director Phil Knott stated that the following ministries have recently made great progress. The goals for 2017 include the continued development of these and many other ministries: •  Eli Semedo — The Semedo’s ministry to a very specific target group in Thailand is off to a great start. •  Brandon Lingle and Siripong Yabaeng — Bangkok, Thailand. This missionary team is making disciples toward church planting in urban areas. • Prashant Prakash — This minis-try, in addition to many established ministries, is starting church planter and pastoral training in new areas of India. They also have a girls’ home and schools. • Jeremiah Shetti — Jeremiah has started a new church and vocational

training ministry in Pune, India • Joe Costa and Dr. Rana Costa — Joe will do ministry among youth in Lebanon and Middle East. Dr. Rana will lead medical missions in that re-gion. •  Renatus Kanunu — Renatus is the leaders of a movement to plant 15 to 20 new churches in the Tabora region of Tanzania, Africa. • Buddy Johnson and Dale Broom — These brothers will do church planter training in Liberia, Africa. • Wilmer Carpio — Wilmer is a new missionary in Venezuela. His ministry is a partnership between the BMA of America, BMA of Mexico and the BMA of Brazil. •  Jairo Bonilla —Costa Rica. The BMA of Costa Rica continues plant-ing new churches and also has a mis-sionary in Mozambique, Africa. •  Pablo Muñoz — Bro. Pablo is leading the multiplication of church-es in Santiago, Chile.  • Sam Freeman — Sam will con-tinue to develop the new ministry in Negros Oriental, Philippines. • Oscar Gaitan — Oscar is leading in the church planting effort in Cuba. Thank you for your constant sup-port for BMA Global Missions. May God use our association of churches to send many more missionaries!

Arkansas MissionsPaul White, Exec. Dir. God continues to bless your church planting efforts right here at home. We presently have one bi-vocational candi-date we will be interviewing in April and there is a possibility of another by the end of the summer.

To me, this is a simple demonstra-tion of God’s timing as The Bridge Mission in Mountain Home will be organizing and going self-support in March. This, combined with two more mission works that should be close to organizing by the end of 2017, shows that God continues to broaden the ministry of State Missions. During 2016 we emphasized the theme “Every Church Every Month” during our State Missions’ rallies. If you have not accepted our invitation to be an active member, we pray that 2017 will be the year you do. In the next few months, we will be presenting an opportunity to become a partner in winning souls on an individ-ual basis. Every day we are bombarded with good causes seeking financial support. While many, if not most, are truly legitimate requests, we feel that helping people here in our own back-yards to come to know Christ deserves our heartfelt consideration. We are truly grateful for the prayers and financial support we re-ceive. Just think, every time a person receives Christ or a family is restored on any of our mission fields, you who give are responsible. As for sharing my desires, it could be summed up in three easy state-ments: • That our current works continue to grow both spiritually and numeri-cally. •  That we would be able to add two or more new missionaries. •  That our current works in Fort Smith and Alexander will be able to find meeting places they can call their own. All these are reachable if we work together. Please consider your person-al role in all BMA mission ministries.

Matthew Davis, Malvern; Marcus Davis, Malvern; Morgan Davis, Bur-leson, Texas; Cody Duffey, Corinth, Texas; Timothy East, Conway; Kaylen Fagala, Greenbrier; Reagan Fellers, Texarkana; Alyssa Fontillas, McKinney, Texas; Seth Foster, Hope; William Freeman, Alexander; Gun-nar Gault, Midland, Texas; Drew Gill, Conway; Kelly Gordon, Searcy; Taylor Graham, Cave Springs; Sa-vannah Graham, Conway; Shayla Green, Wake Village, Texas; Jarrel Grimes, Houston, Texas; Kobie Hartman, Greenbrier; Brady Harvey, Lynden, Wash.; An-drew Heid, Little Rock; Danielle Hightower, Arlington, Texas; Al-exandria Hillman, Conway; Colter Hinchey, Bee Branch; Ben Holmes, Great Britain, United Kingdom; Lauren Horton, North Little Rock; Hopi Horvat, Newark, Ill.; Michelle Houser, Melbourne; Matthew James, Greenbrier; Michael Johnson, Cor-dova, Tenn.; Cobi Johnson, Vilonia; William Johnson, Norcross, Ga.; Kady Johnson, Greenbrier; Gavin

CBC(Continued From Page 2)

Johnson, Little Rock; Jessica Jones, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Beth Jones, Conway; Courtney Jordan, Conway; Kelsy Knox, Barling; Samantha Lagergren, Conway; Brandon Laisure, Alexander; Emily Law, Conway; Zachary Lee, South-aven, Miss.; Garrett Lenzen, Morril-ton; Jordan Lockhart, Hope; Carter Mayo, Conway; Kylee McClendon, Benton; Chris McVay, Conway; Ale-jandro Mendoza, Puyallup, Wash.; Eduard Millan Morales, Kirby, FC Spain; Ryan Orr, Hope; Travis Owen, Magnolia, Texas; Jacob Pan-gle, Moore OK; Caley Perry, Searcy; Noah Phillips, Leola; Deekota Polk, Matthews, Mo.; Cameron Reesor, Concord; Mar-ley Ruple, Lewisville; Kalynn Simp-son, London; Allison Skelton, Prai-rie Grove; Madison Skelton, Prairie Grove; Luke Smith, Texarkana; Kay-lee St. John, Conway; Fantasia Stepp, Hartman; Marcel Swinton, Morril-ton; Tiffany Thornton, Conway; Ki-era Timmons, Clinton; Alexis Toney, Judsonia; Sabrina Torres, La Verne, Calif.; Madilyn Townsend, Conway; Timothy Turner, Mayflower; Jerry Valdez, Berryville; Jessica Vickers, Bald Knob; Michaela Wann, Con-way; McKenna Wilson, Moore, Okla.

PACE and Online Students Brandon Adams, Maumelle; Kimberly Ballard, Conway; Boni Jo Boser, Vilonia; Rebecca Brown, North Little Rock; Nathan Broyles, Greenbrier; Kenneth Butler, Little Rock; Justin Cockrum, Conway; Aline Cross, Conway; Delphine Crumpton, Redfield; Robert Dun-

ning, Cabot; Gregory Fields, Con-way; Christopher Fields, Greenbrier; Lily Gentry, North Little Rock; Leigh Gray, Conway; Tarik Griffin, Conway; Angie Halvorson, Conway; Cody Harrod, Conway; Lance Hawkins, Conway; Sierra Hayes, Conway; Shala Heffington, Conway; Mitchell Hensley, Greenbrier; Cetoria Hersey, Conway; Kerri Hester, Conway; Da-vid Hill, Quitman; Michael Himes, Vilonia; Angela Holt, Conway; Angelia Johnson, Conway; Michael Jones, Conway; Jasmin Joseph, Con-way; Jacob Mahan, Conway; Kristen McCravey, Conway; Sara Minett, Conway; Matthew Morriss, North Little Rock; Glenda Mulligan, Vilo-nia; Alyssa Newhouse, Conway; Zachary Payne, Houston; Dennis Perry II, Russellville; Chelsea Rid-dle, Damascus; Misty Rucker, Per-ryville; Paulina Ryan, Conway; Prin-cess Smith, Conway; Elvin Sprankle, Little Rock; John Stuart, Conway; William Tapley, Greenbrier; Adri-enne Tolbert, Conway; Jassen Travis, Conway; David Tull, Conway; Tracie Varnadore, Cabot; Wanda Virden, Russellville; Robert Webber, Green-brier.

DISTRICtCALENDAR

Jonesboro District Brother-hood, Feb. 14; New Hope Mission, Jonesboro. Mt. Vernon District WMA, April 8; Rondo, Rondo.

-5- BAPTIST TRUMPET, January 25, 2017

The awe-inspiring view of a snow-capped Mt. Ararat (yes, the one from Noah’s ark fame) is visible from al-most every vantage point through-out the country of Armenia. With a population of slightly more than three million, Armenia is a land rich with biblical history and the home of a present-day church multiplication movement. It is also the home of national missionary Asatur Nahapetyan, his wife, Jasmine and their three chil-dren, who live in the capital city of Yerevan. Bro. Asatur is a long-time partner with BMA Global Missions. He also serves as the leader of the Baptist Union in Armenia and presi-dent of the European Baptist Fed-eration. Armenia was the first country in the world to claim Christianity as its official religion. Bro. Asatur likes to greet fellow believers with his fa-mous, “Welcome home!” upon their arrival to his beautiful country. Since most Armenians belong to the Ar-menian Apostolic Church (Eastern Orthodox), it is considered a Chris-tian country, but it is almost com-pletely surrounded by non-Christian neighbors. Bro. Asatur reports that in the early 1990s when the former Soviet

Antioch, Nashville, witnessed one profession of faith and received one by baptism. Bobby Neal, pastor; Sue McCoy, reporter. Fairview, Jonesboro, added one by letter. Jerry Jolly, pastor; Brenda Wood-bury, reporter. Oakland Heights, White Hall, welcomed two by letter. Rusty Womble, pastor; Carolyn Gammel, reporter. Park Avenue, Searcy, gained one by baptism. Keith Lunceford, pastor. Russell, Russell, added one by letter. Randy Zinn, pastor. Southside, Hope, received one by baptism. Ernie Sorrells, pastor. Unity, Hope, welcomed two by letter. Glen E. Tropp, pastor; Penny Ehrhardt, reporter. Victory, Hampton, witnessed one profession of faith, and gained one by letter and two by baptism. Eddie Raines, pastor. West Race, Searcy, added two by letter. Joey McIntosh, pastor; Chelsea Hill, reporter.

World Missions Fund #2Armenia

Union fell, there was one Baptist church in all of Armenia. Today there are almost 150 Baptist churches and about 60 church plants. There is a ro-bust church multiplication program, a well-developed seminary and min-istries to some of the creative access countries on their borders. All of these churches have been planted without the help of an in-ternational missionary and through partners like the BMAA. Bro. Asatur speaks very fondly of BMA Missions as being one of the primary partners throughout the years, with key men like Grady Higgs, Jerry Kidd and Jeff Franks having high esteem in the hearts of our Armenian brothers and sisters. BMA Global Missions desires to continue supporting this worthy church multiplication movement! Your gift to the Global Missions Fund on World Missions Day (Feb. 26) will make that possible. Pray and give for eternal change! (#worldmis-sionsday, #changemaker)

Although rain was a deterrent to many, about 2,000 people participated in the 2017 March for Life in Little Rock last Sunday afternoon, according to Rose Mimms, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life. Monica Kelsey, who was conceived during the brutal attack and rape of her mother, abandoned two hours after her birth, then adopted as an infant, was the keynote speaker. Among the dignitaries present were Governor Asa Hutchinson, Represen-tative Andy Mayberry and Senator Cecile Bledsoe. For more information on Arkansas Right to Life, visit artl.org.

Arkansas March for Life

Edith O. Darst, 101 and a native of Belgrade, Mo., died Jan. 20. She was the widow of C.A. Darst, who served as pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in St. Louis, Mo. for 38 years before moving to Tyler, Texas in 1966, where they continued to build churches. Survivors include four grandsons and 10 great grandchildren. A graveside service was held Jan. 24, as she was laid to rest next to her husband at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler, Texas, with her grandson, David Darst officiating. Burial was under the direction of Lloyd James Funeral Home at Tyler (dignityme-morial.com).

Darst, Minister’s Widow, Dies

By Dr. Ralph Izard, Director The following list of Baptist Med-ical Missions International (BMMI) trips shows the dates of the trips planned, the mission field and the missionaries with whom the group will be working. All information is subject to change: •  April 3-April 13; Vietnam; Doyle Moore and Rose •  June 10-17; Armenia; Asatur Nahapetyan •  Aug 4-13; Atalaya, Peru; Paul Tinoco • Sept 9-16; Romania; Daniel Ba-gosi • November (date not confirmed); Jordan; Sam Jordan •  2018 (date note confirmed); Haiti; Michel Poirier Please check with Angela an-gela@bmaam.com, me at ralph@bmaam.com or Dr. John Ladd at johnladd41@gmail.com for more information on any scheduled trips. Also, let us know if you would like to be part of any of the BMMI teams.

BMMI Schedule

By David PowellChurch Development

I wanted to share with the Baptist Trumpet readers a very special Mili-tary BibleStick (MBK) emphasis. MBK is a ministry of Faith Comes by Hearing. Many churches will participate in the outreach this February to com-memorate Four Chaplains Day (Feb. 3). You may be familiar with the story from World War Two of four Chaplains who died while serving on the SS Dorchester. On Feb. 23, 1943, the Dorches-ter was torpedoed by a German U-boat. As it sank, the chaplains aboard moved among the men, assisting, calming and passing out life vests. They gave up their own live vests to save others. What a tremendous tes-timony of “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” ( John 15:13). We want to support our nation’s military Chaplains by providing them with tools they can use to help save others. The Military BibleStick

Four Chaplains Day is Feb. 3

is a modern day life preserver! It is a dedicated listening device that has been pre-loaded with the audio dra-matized New Testament and 36 se-lected Psalms. Someone in the Air Force just wrote: “I am coming back into the arms of the Father who has never forsaken me. This MP3 Bible came right on time because I have been contemplating suicide.” Thank you Lord for guiding a chaplain to give an MBK to that person! So far, 1,897 chaplains (including BMA chaplains) have partnered with Faith Comes By Hearing to distrib-ute 757,864 MBKs to our troops/veterans. A total of 163,000 MBKs

were distributed last year, with 49,721 being sent to Veterans hospitals! BMA congregations have now funded 6,912 MBKs. Amen! Pastors who want to invite the congregations to participate can simply play the Dorchester Chap-lains video on YouTube and invite their folks to help. Matching funds are available for February, so every $25 raised will provide two MBKs for our troops/veterans. Pastors can call me at (800) 545-6552 or (505) 881-3321 if they would like an MBK sample for show-n-tell. A special bulletin insert is available at our website MilitaryBibleStick.com. Thank you, BMA, for your help.

Singing Sunbeams — The Sunbeams from Spring Lake Baptist in Texar-kana recently sang at The Villa, a local nursing home. They sang five songs including, “Good, Good Father,” for about 15 residents. The Sunbeams that participated were Zoe Knighton, Roman Riddle, Eli Rankin, Morgan Hol-liman, Lily Corbin, Carson Chandler, Lakyn Chandler, Kaydence Lyda, Mark McCright, Cash Coleson and David McCright. (April McCright, re-porter)

Need Printing? Trumpet Printing

can help. Call(501) 565-0479

-6- BAPTIST TRUMPET, January 25, 2017

Deaths Harmony Baptist Church at Stutt-gart is seeking a bi-vocational pastor. Contact Mike Sells at (870) 672-1646 or msells101@gmail.com. Hillcrest Baptist Church at Texar-kana is seeking a bi-vocational pastor. Contact Greg Kelley at (903) 559-2180 or gkelley.txk@gmail.com. Meadowside Baptist Church in Pittsburg, Kan. is seeking a pastor. For more information, contact Greg Hardis-ter at (620) 704-6860 or gregh@pittks.org.

Gwen Lawson, 72 of Searcy, died Jan. 23. She had been a member of Park Avenue Baptist Church since 1955 and served for many years as the church pianist. Thomas Pyle, 77 of Magnolia, died Jan. 17. He was a member of Pilgrims Rest Baptist Church. Oscar Anderson, 98 of Batesville, died Jan. 13. He was a member of Ramsey Heights Baptist Church.

LIFEWORD(Continued From Page 1)

counterparts. Luis began to see this need for infor-mation among the Hispanic churches, church members and pastors as he met people interested in Lifeword Com-munity Radio during his media-train-ing trips to the Americas. They often felt disconnected from what was going on in BMA departments. All print and visual media was in English, and information about BMA departments was not understandable for Hispanic church members. “Now, more than ever, some His-panics have fears of the unknown in the States, and I need to connect with my own church members and those around our work so they can feel at peace in this country. “For example, we want them to stay connected to BMA happenings by participating in World Missions Day and Lifeword Sunday. So they need something in their hands that tells them about Lifeword, that we have 40 languages and many broad-cast areas they can pray for. “ To invite Luis to speak, individu-als, churches and groups can con-tact him at luis@lifeword.org or call (501) 358-3835.

MORAL(Continued From Page 3)

S. Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Re-search Council) Additional information that might prove helpful to our churches is shown below:

Doctrinal Statement on Marriage The following change to the BMA of America Doctrinal Statement was proposed at the 2015 BMA of America and approved unanimously at the 2016 meeting: Article III – Creation: C. Man — As the crowning work of His creation, God created human-kind (man and female) in His own image (Psa. 8; Gen. 1:27, 2:7). Con-sequently, every person from concep-tion is of inherent dignity and worth and merits the respect of all other persons (Psa. 51:5; Psa. 139:13-16; Gen. 9:6; Matt. 10:28-31; James 3:9) D. Marriage — God created mar-riage (Gen. 1:27-28; 2:23-24). Jesus Christ declared the Creator’s inten-tion for marriage to be the insepa-rable and exclusive union between a man and a woman (natural man and natural woman) (Matt. 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9). Marriage testifies of the union between Christ and the church (Eph. 5:31-32; Rom. 1:25-27)

White Paper On Scriptural Marriage The BMA Seminary’s faculty “White Paper on Marriage” — “God Created Man and God Created Mar-riage” — appears on page 1 of the March 4, 2015 issue of the Baptist Trumpet. That issue is included in the Trumpet Archives and is available on their website at baptisttrumpet.com.

Example of Marriage/Church Motion Motion and second that (church name), its pastors, preachers, staff and members adopt the Doctrinal State-ment Article III D “Marriage — God created marriage” (see above.) We declare that our pastors, min-isters (licensed and ordained) not marry gay or lesbian couples while being a member of (name of church/location), and that our building and grounds not be used in gay marriages.

It’s a Charitable Gift Annuity offeredby the BMA Foundation.

Receive •Incomeforlife(partiallytaxfree) •Afederalincometaxdeductiontheyearofthegift

CurrentRates Age Rate 65 4.7% 75 5.8% 85 7.8%

ContactBMAFoundationExecutiveDirectorCharlesAtteberyformoreinformation.

charles@bmaamerica.orgorcell501-472-2183

The Gift That Gives Back

*AnnuitiesissuedbytheNationalChristianFoundationonbehalfoftheBMAFoundation

ABORTION(Continued From Page 1)

contend against the predatory abor-tion industry,” Moore told Baptist Press in written comments. Americans United for Life (AUL), the country’s leader in helping state legislators pass pro-life laws, cited such policies, as well as technology, in explaining the trend. “Research has shown that life-affirming laws do have an impact on lowering the number of abortions, and with all the life-affirming laws passed since 2010, we have a reason to cel-ebrate the number of lives saved and women protected as legislators worked to defend them from a predatory and rarely accountable abortion industry,” AUL Acting President Clark Forsythe said in a written statement. “But another factor in lowering the number of abortions is the power of beautiful pictures of life inside the womb, through ultrasound,” he said. “Such pictures are worth more than a thousand words when it comes to helping people understand whose lives are on the line.” In 2016, 43 states considered more than 360 abortion-related measures, according to AUL’s annual report released Jan 10. The bills introduced included such measures as bans on government funding of abortion, re-strictions on late-term abortions, ul-trasound requirements and prohibi-tions on abortions based on sex, race or genetic abnormality. The Guttmacher Institute, which is affiliated with the abortion rights movement, suggested the improved use of contraceptives attributed to the falling rate and total, but it also acknowledged state regulations and the declining number of abortion clinics may have contributed. “Abortion restrictions and clinic closures mean that patients may need to travel greater distances to access services,” said Rachel Jones, lead author of the study, in a written release. “The majority of abortion pa-tients (75%) are poor or low-income, and nearly two-thirds are already parents. It can be very difficult for them to arrange for time off from work, transportation and child care. While many find ways to access care despite these obstacles, some of the abortion rate decline is likely attrib-utable to women who were prevent-ed from accessing needed services.” The good news for pro-lifers came only five days before the anniversa-ry of Roe v. Wade — the Supreme Court’s Jan. 22, 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide — and the observance of Sanctity of Hu-man Life Sunday. It also arrived shortly before the second annual Evangelicals for Life conference Jan 26-28 in Washington, D.C. The conference, cohosted by the ERLC and Focus on the Family, fea-tured more than 50 speakers address-ing not only abortion but such issues

college students. Most of them didn’t know the area that Antioch is in; they only knew west Conway and the area around UCA,” Hammontree said. “It was hard for us to get those students to come, so we wanted to get back to the UCA campus.” The new building boasts a number of features that will be utilized in the coming months. Inside, the auditorium seats 320 people comfortably, and there is a foyer area where students can hang out and mingle. Students can enjoy the warmer weather out on the patio at the back of the building. The patio also leads to a small park. The building’s sound sys-tem is wired to the outdoors, so what-ever is happening inside the building can be heard outside. Garage-style doors on the back of the building can also be lifted, increasing the useable space. “I’m trying to get more information on putting in a sand volleyball pit, so students can enjoy that. We also have a gas line that was run to the patio area, so we hope to do some cookouts this summer,” he said. The Perspective building will be open during the day for students to come and have a space to relax. “The thing I am really excited about is being back on UCA’s campus and being able to minister to the students, especially the international students. We had prayer time during our open-ing night ( Jan. 16) and a young man from Argentina prayed out loud. He said ‘God, I don’t know you, and You don’t know me, but I’ll give this a shot because You seem to be important to a lot of people around here.’” Perspective will host an Open House Sunday, Jan. 29 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. The event is open to anyone and there will be refreshments. The ministry meets every Monday night at 7 p.m.

PERSPECTIVE(Continued From Page 1)

as adoption, end-of-life care, ministry to those with special needs, human trafficking, service to immigrants and refugees and the development of a pro-life worldview. Conference at-tendees were able to participate in the Jan. 27 March for Life. The Guttmacher report also in-cluded the following information: •  Nearly half (45%) of all abor-tions in the first nine weeks of gesta-tion were performed using pills, and the percentage of such nonhospital abortions increased from 24% in 2011 to 31% in 2014. •  The abortion rate declined be-tween 2011 and 2014 in all but six states and the District of Columbia. • 90% of all U.S. counties in 2014 contained no abortion clinic. • Five states — Mississippi, Mis-souri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming — had only one abor-tion clinic each in 2014. •  The number of abortion clinics fell by 17% from 2011 to 2014 •  Abortion clinics made up 16% of all abortion facilities in 2014 but provided 59% of all abortions. The Guttmacher Institute ac-knowledged its report has limitations. For instance, it reported only 58% of facilities it believes provided abor-tions in 2014 responded to the survey. Guttmacher used state health depart-ment information for 20% of facilities and made estimates on another 17%. While the Guttmacher report is based partly on estimates, it cov-ers all 50 states. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which also reported a de-cline in abortions in its December announcement, does not require states to provide information on abortions. Three states (California, Maryland and New Hampshire) did not provide data to the CDC. Forsythe said the country needs “a more complete picture of the impact of abortion on women, through veri-fiable tracking.” In its annual report, AUL named these as the 10 best states for pro-tecting life in 2016: (1) Oklahoma; (2) Kansas; (3) Louisiana; (4) Ar-kansas; (5) Arizona; (6) South Da-kota; (7) Mississippi; (8) Georgia; (9) Michigan and (10) Pennsylvania. The 10 least protective states were: (1) Washington, for the eighth straight year; (2) California; (3) Vermont; (4) New Jersey; (5) Oregon; (6) Nevada; (7) New York; (8) Connecticut; (9) Massachusetts and (10) Hawaii. The ERLC has offered six pro-life priorities for action by President-elect Trump and Congress in 2017, includ-ing the nomination and confirmation of a pro-life successor to the late Su-preme Court justice Antonin Scalia, a permanent ban on all federal fund-ing of abortion and the defunding of Planned Parenthood, the country’s No. 1 abortion provider. The Guttmacher report is avail-able at guttmacher.org/journals (baptistpress.com)

-7- BAPTIST TRUMPET, January 25, 2017

See SPOTLIGHT, Page 8

Office Location: 10712 Interstate 30 • Little Rock, AR 72209 (501) 565-4601 • E-Mail: bmaofarkfrontdesk@gmail.comMailing Address: PO Box 195514, Little Rock, AR 72219

Director’s Email: arstamis@comcast.net

Missionaries Hershel Conley, The Bridge, Mountain Home; (870) 656-4080 Michael Hight, Hispanic Outreach, Little Rock; (501) 326-0198

Juan Carlos Posadas, Misión Creciendo en Cristo, NLR; (501) 712-8752 Jim Tollison, Mustard Seed, Alma/Mountainburg (870) 370-3938

Jorge Vasquez, El Faro, Little Rock; (501) 350-6878 Chad White, Connection Point; Brookland; (870) 243-4683

BJ Wright, Grace Pointe, Mayflower; (501) 827-9665 Darrin Smith, Life Journey, Fort Smith; (479)-763-8909

www.bmaofarkansas.com Paul Whiteexecutive DirectorFacebook.com/ArkansasMissions

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (II Chron. 7:14). Has God given us a reprieve? Is the potential for revival in America some-thing we could experience in our lifetime? While it is too early to tell and our expectation of future improvements has yet to be realized, it is truly an exciting time for us who long to see a movement toward a spiritual awakening in our nation. The end of abortion, respect for the laws of our land and a grateful attitude and acceptance toward those things pertaining to God would be a fantastic start. May the powers that be find strength from the Power that has always been. Join with me in praying for the leadership of our nation that their decisions will be tempered with Godly wisdom. I am confident that if we will do our part, God will do His.

A Change in the Wind

From Our Missionaries Arkansas Hispanic Missions: Michael Hight writes, “Yesterday was a wonderful day at El Faro. I was able to preach there, and the building was full. I ask you to continue to pray for this mission. It is the original one in Central Arkansas, and they are making very intentional steps toward organizing in the future. It truly is  like watching a child — you see its birth, it begins to crawl, walk, run and then eventually spread its wings as an adult. “Someone recently asked me  if it was hard to leave the works  we started and move on to others. The answer  is yes, but there is great joy in seeing God birth new ones. Thank you for all the support you give us.” Connection Point, Brookland: Chad White writes, “We had an-other good week at Connection Point. God blessed us with a good day Sunday, with many in attendance and several first time guests. I would ask that you not only pray for us, but for all of your missionaries. Planting a new church is not an easy under-taking. “This past Wednesday we held a training class for our Audio/Video/Lighting (AVL) ministry. We are en-couraged by some new people who are willing to step up and serve in this way. It is a ministry that often goes unnoticed and unrecognized, but they play a vital role in our wor-ship service every week. I know all of the pastors and music ministers reading this would agree. “We had a work day Saturday. Several people came and helped us with some heavy moving. First, we moved a playhouse that was donated to the church for the kids to play on. Some assembly is still required, but

I think the kids are going to love it. Some desks were donated, and we moved those into our workroom/office. They were a great addition to this space and really increased the functionality of the room.” The Mustard Seed, Alma/Moun-tainburg: Jim Tollison writes, “Our Bible study on Wednesday night and our Sunday services were very good this last week.  “We still have some of our folks out with sickness, and one of them is still in the hospital. Mary Jo has been in the hospital for three weeks, but she has greatly improved and should be going home this week.  Please keep praying for her. She has several family members who have promised to start attending the mission when she gets out.  This is an example of answered prayers. I asked you guys to pray for her, and we have witnessed a miraculous recovery. “We have several people attend-ing who are not members, but they are more faithful than some of our members. Please pray for them like you did Mary Jo, and we will see them making commitments to the mission soon. “Next Sunday, our folks are look-ing forward to another afternoon of bowling.  We are encouraging them to bring family and friends to this special time of fellowship. “Please continue to pray for this mission, as well as our other mission points. We cannot do the work with-out your support. Thanks so much for how you have come through, time and time again. God bless the BMA of Arkansas.” The Bridge, Mountain Home: Hershel Conley writes, “This week has been a busy one with so many sick and in the hospital. Jerry just got out

but he fell in the bathroom, result-ing in broken ribs and a head injury, and is back in the hospital. Cindy is in with pneumonia and another one is in hospice right now. Others are at home with flu, flu-like symptoms or respiratory problems. Pat is home healing after an operation. Olan had trusses fall on him and is home with broken leg and other injuries. Dude is very sick, and Jackie  needs your prayers, as well as these others. As you can see we are a sick bunch, but the Lord is still sending new faces to visit, with five new people Sunday. “We had good food Wednesday night, and Pam was back helping Tanya in kitchen. Sunday night, we took the Lord’s supper and what a wonderful, spirit-filled time it was. “Thank you for all your prayers and support. We love you all!”

Garrett Memorial Men’sQuartet Concert, Jan. 29, 5 p.m; Southside, Hope. 2017 CBC Homecoming, Feb. 3-4; for complete schedule, visit www.cbc.com/homecoming; Central Baptist College campus. Open Mic Singing, Feb. 4, 5 p.m. (meal); 6 p.m. (singing); Faustina, Hampton. Canned Food Drive, Feb. 5, 9:45 a.m.; Fellowship, Walnut Ridge. 3rd Annual Southern Jubilee Gospel Convention, Feb. 10-11, 6 p.m.(Fri.);5p.m.(Sat.);Heaven’sEchoes, NHim, Velvet Ridge and Broken Vessels will be featured; Mike Goodwin, emcee; Shady Grove, Piggott. Valentine’sDinner,Feb. 11, 6 p.m.; $10 per person, fundraiser for youth summer activities;; Prospect, Jonesboro. Valentine’sBanquetandSpa-ghetti Dinner, Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m.; Fellowship, Walnut Ridge. Singing, Prayer and Potluck Fellowship, Feb. 26, 5 p.m.; Fel-lowship, Walnut Ridge. The Camerons in Concert, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.; Calvary, Warren. Gospel Singing Convention, April 7-8, 2017; Prospect, Jones-boro. Truth Infusion, April 29, 6 p.m.; Southside, Hope.

Send offerings to BMA MissionsP.O. Box 878 • Conway, AR 72033-0878501.455.4977 • www.bmamissions.org

MissionsSpo t l i gh t On

Jesse & Rebecca Hales • Dominican Republic Most of you have been praying with us for 10 new givers to commit to give $10 or more a month. This week I got a letter in the mail confirming that God has added the 10th giver to that answered prayer! This is a clear and definite example of God giving us direction on how to pray and answering “yes” to that prayer. Sometimes God gives very clear positive answers like this, and other times God’s plans and purpose are a lot less clear. That is the case with our visas. We had planned on being back in the Dominican Republic by Dec. 30, but we are still waiting on our visas to be approved. We were informed that the consulate refused to even process our request for residency visas. We are now over a month into a one to two-week process to get their approval on the same one year visas we have been using. We are all more than ready to be home in the DR, but are also all confident that God is in control and knows His perfect timing better than we do. Editor’s Update: The Hales’ paperwork went through, and on Tuesday morning ( Jan. 24) they boarded a plane headed to Atlanta and then on to the Dominican Republic. Thank you for your prayers. (missiondominican@hotmail.com)

Sam & Sue Jordan • Jordan In December, the Mercy Medical Clinic saw a big increase in the number of

patients — we served 2,597 people from different background, and two-thirds of that number were Syrian refugees. Many were transferred to specialist doctors and lab, and seven cases were sent to the hospital for surgeries. We also saw God in action when He blessed us with new souls who received their salvation. Our visiting team started to visit homes on a daily basis, doing a case

study for each family by filling out a special form. They visited 89 homes in December. People are more open to ask our team to pray for them, and God has opened many doors to share faith and the good news with them. Other activities included: • Special program for kids celebrating Christmas, where each child got one gift. Santa Claus was a Syrian young man. • 33 heaters were distributed to Syrians families. •  Our team visited a school at the refugee camp, which has non-formal education. We served them with a meal for each child, and are providing English classes for the children twice a week. We praise God for many opportunities, and for His protection, faithfulness and providence. We praise God for our friends, partners and volunteers, with more people getting involved. Please pray for Jordan — we recently became a target for the terrorists, with 15 people killed in two incidences. The terrorists’ plan was to attack churches during Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but, thank God, they were discovered before they could carry out their plans.   Pray for more doors to share the Good News, that God will protect the new believers and use them to share their testimonies boldly.  (bmajordan@gmail.com)

DR children enjoy Christmas in our absence

The Greenbrier District Men’s Fel-lowship held its quarterly breakfast meeting 7:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 14 at Needs Creek Baptist Church near Greenbrier, with 59 men and boys in attendance. Faulkner County Sher-iff Tim Ryals was the guest speaker. Sheriff Ryals spoke from Romans 13 on “All authority is of God.” Sheriff

Greenbrier Men Meet Ryals serves as minister of music at the Cowboy Church, east of Conway. The offering was $143. After taking out $20 to cover cost of mailing flyers, the rest is divided 50-50 between the Greenbrier District Galileans and the New Hope Baptist Church at Clinton. The next quarterly meeting will be held at Kaley Hill Baptist Church at Quitman. ( Jim Atkinson, reporter)

-8- BAPTIST TRUMPET, January 25, 2017

From the

Mailbox

SPOTLIGHT(Continued From Page 7)

Your church can experience a short-term mission trip close to home!

MARDI GRASMISSIONSFEBRUARY 24-25 GULFPORT/BILOXI, MS

$35 per person and includes lodging, training, evening snack, Saturday morning breakfast, Bibles to hand out and a Mardi Gras Missions T-Shirt.

www.bmamissions.org/mardigrasmissionREGISTER ONLINE NOW!

Training and lodging will be at:Campground Baptist Church

20577 Highway 53Gulfport, MS 39503

Dear Editor: I’d like to thank the Baptist Mis-sionary Association of Arkansas Baptist Trumpet readers for their generous donations (of toiletries) to the Dorcas House. It is such a bless-ing to know that there are people in this community who also care about the “least of these.” Your gifts are such an encourage-ment to us. I pray that God will re-ward you for your generosity. – Dorcas VanGilst, LPC, director of women’s ministries and counseling ser-vices, Dorcas House, 823 S. Park St., Little Rock, Ark. 72216. Editor’s Note: Donations of toi-letries (including the individual ones that are given free when you visit a hotel) may be taken to the BMA of Arkansas Building, 10712 Interstate 30, Little Rock, Ark. 72209 or giv-en to me when I visit our churches around the state. The donations benefit Dorcas House, as well as Union Rescue Mission and Nehe-miah House. Also remember — we continue to collect greeting cards (especially masculine ones) for the chaplains at Camp Robinson to send to the soldiers.

Doug & Diane Lee • Philippines The BMABC is celebrating its 40th year of service in the Philippines, supplying our churches and missions with trained and qualified pastors, leaders, musicians and teachers. In 1976, Doyle and Linda Moore came to start a Bible college in the Philippines. At the 40th anniversary celebration conference, they were honored for their 40 years of continuous service. You can honor the Moores for their dedicated service by making a donation for a scholarship to BMABC. The cost of a scholarship is $100 per month. These funds can be sent to Mill Creek Baptist Church, Doug and Diane Lee, Doyle Moore Scholarship Fund, 11 Old Kiln Road, Picayune, Miss. 39466; or Lee’s Chapel #2 Baptist Church, Doyle Moore Scholarship Fund, 27015 Leetown Road, Picayune, Miss. 39466. 2016-2017 School Year is coming to a close in March, and we will be going to the U.S. to raise personal funds for our support and funds for the college. If you would like for us to visit your church to present our ministry, contact us at (601) 427-0128, doug@musicservicesinc.com, or private message us through our Facebook page at Elwin Doug Diane Lee. We are excited about what God is doing through the college and students and would love to share it.

John & Brenda Bienlein • Swartz Creek, Mich.Master’s Hands Deaf Church

Following the 80% rule, Master’s Hands Deaf Church (MHDC) is at capacity in our present building. Our average monthly attendance is 30-35 people. Pastor Chris Yager alerted me to this and the possible need to find some new space for Master’s Hands. Pastor Chris is exactly right. God, however, showed me the “other” way. We are not going to look for a new building, storefront or rental for Master’s Hands Deaf Church. (Okay, calm down.) Our leadership team has seen and is onboard with the vision of taking our intern pastor (Austin) and a few MHDC people and start a new Deaf work. God is awesome! There will be struggle and praise, but God gets the glory! We have already identified areas that need to be reached, and are putting together the details. Please keep us in your prayers and your financial support for this. Austin is in the final semester of Missions study at Deaf Missions in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It’s next door to Omaha. Our people and Austin have great relationship, and He is learning as much as we can throw at him. He is a graduate of Michigan School for the Deaf here in Flint, and is known well in the community. He has a heart for love, growth and service and is really on fire to show others how to make followers who themselves make followers. God is active in the Deaf Community. Master’s Hands cannot take credit for this. The Holy Spirit gets credit and God gets the glory for all He does. He uses His people, His way and we are blessed!

Trumpet NotesBy Diane Spriggs

Executive Order DefundsInternational Planned Parenthood On Monday, Jan. 23 President Donald Trump signed an execu-tive order to defund International Planned Parenthood. “Most pro-life Americans are anxiously awaiting Congress to pass a bill to defund the Planned Parent-hood abortion business,” said Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com. “While that defunding legislation concerns the domestic-based Planned Parent-hood abortion corporation, Presi-dent Trump has the ability to put in place an executive order that would revoke funding for its International affiliate.” When pro-abortion former Presi-dent Barack Obama took office, Obama overturned a policy that pre-vented funding of groups that pro-mote or perform abortions overseas. The Mexico City Policy covered over $400 million in federal funds, part of which flowed to the abortion busi-nesses International Planned Parent-hood and Marie Stopes Internation-al for their foreign efforts. As LifeNews.com reported, the pro-life policy had been in place during the entirety of the Bush ad-ministration and Obama rescinded it on his first week in office. Named for a 1984 population conference where President Reagan initially an-nounced it, the Mexico City Policy made it so family planning funds could only go to groups that would agree to not do abortions or lobby foreign nations to overturn their pro-life laws. Trump has now restored the Mex-ico City Policy by executive order. The Executive Memorandum to reinstate the Mexico City Policy stops taxpayer funding of groups that perform and promote abortions overseas but does not stop non-abor-tion international assistance. The order ensures U.S. foreign aid will continue to go to health care and humanitarian relief in the millions of dollars. It just will not subsidize abortion overseas. (lifenews.com)

Tornado Damages University “An EF3 tornado that ripped through southern Mississippi Jan. 21 in the wee hours of the morning damaged nearly all of the 30 build-ings on William Carey University’s Hattiesburg campus and left seven students injured,” said David Roach in a Baptist Press report. William Carey is affiliated with the Missis-sippi Baptist Convention and has campuses in Hattiesburg and Biloxi. The tornado was among a line of storms to hit the Southeast Saturday and Sunday, killing at least 18 people and leaving damage from Mississippi

to Georgia, according to the Associ-ated Press. CNN reported that four people died in southern Mississippi. While there were no deaths on the William Carey campus, the injured included a member of the women’s soccer team who lost three fingers when a door slammed on them. A separate group of students was returning to campus as the storm struck, and it picked their car off the ground. The Jackson Clarion-Ledger re-ported that three first-year medi-cal students studying in the Medi-cal Arts Building found themselves “surrounded by rubble.” In another building, a professor was in his third-floor office when much of the roof detached. Four buildings may have to be demolished and replaced, including Tatum Court, the “iconic building in the center of campus” erected in 1914. Also facing potential demoli-tion are two dormitories and the building housing William Carey’s School of Business. The Clarion-Led-ger reported damage to most vehicles on campus and a “gaping hole” in Green Science Hall. Of William Carey’s approximately 4,400 students, 800 live on the Hat-tiesburg campus, Overton said, not-ing many had gone home for the weekend. There is no estimate how many people were on campus when the storm hit. Campus residents who were un-able to go home have been moved to temporary housing at the nearby University of Southern Mississippi. (bpnews.net)

AFA Founder ToReceive “Prestigious” Award “I’m very pleased to let you know that my dad, Don Wildmon will re-ceive the 2017 National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Hall of Fame Award on Thursday, March 2, at the NRB International Christian Media Convention in Orlando, Fla.,” said American Family Association Presi-dent Tim Wildmon. “NRB’s most prestigious award is presented to an individual NRB member for invaluable contribution to the field of Christian communica-tions, exhibition of the highest stan-dards and evidence of faithfulness in Christ. Dad was selected to receive this year’s award. Don Wildmon started American Family Association 40 years ago, say-ing “he knew he was called toward re-storing Christian values in our culture.” He started American Family Ra-dio in 1991. “Today, his vision is alive in 188 Christian radio stations na-tionwide,” said President Wildmon. (afa.net)

s Southside, Hope, May 21-24; 11 a.m. (Sun. a.m.); 6 p.m. (Sun. p.m.); 7 p.m. (Mon.-Wed.); Jim Moss, evan.; Ernie Sorrells, pastor.

Dorcas HouseSays “Thanks”