20160601 TCI - Christian Index

The Christian Index
June 1, 2016 |
Reaching the World Through Mission Georgia | www.christianindex.org
Truett-McConnell University begins
By Jenny Gregory
Planning for growth
The university’s
CLEVELAND —
strategic plan includes
Truett-McConnell
additional undergraduCollege officialate programs as well as
ly became Truett
new graduate programs,
McConnell University
adding to the curon commencement
rent Master of Arts in
day, May 14.
Theology. The addition“On July 23, 1946,
al graduate degree proTruett-McConnell
grams already approved
College was charby faculty include:
tered,” said TMU
Master of Science in
President Emir Caner.
Biology, Master in
“The hope and dream
Business Administration,
was to simply raise up
Master of Arts in
a generation of minCounseling, Master
isters who will pastor
of Arts in Missions,
churches and a generand Master of Arts in
ation of students who
Education, all of which
will love Christ. I’m
need approval by the
pleased to say that 70
Southern Association of
years later, that vision
Colleges and Schools
is still intact.”
Commission on
The name change,
Colleges (SACSCOC ).
which also coincides
Truett-McConnell University President Emir Caner
stands with Ben Garrison, the university’s first
These changes
with the school’s
demonstrate the univer70th anniversary and master’s degree graduate. Garrison’s degree is a
Master of Arts in Theology. TMU/Special
sity’s continued growth
their first master’s
and a glimpse of what
degree graduate,
Visitors member Ken Hall.
is in store for Truett
comes after approval
“Congratulations Truett
McConnell. The faculty,
from the TMU Board of
McConnell for reaching uni- staff, and students are optiTrustees last October.
versity status. What a great
mistic and excited about the
Board of Trustees
day for Georgia Baptist and
future of Truett McConnell
Chairman Phillip Jones said,
for future students.”
University.
“In Joshua 4:24, the Bible
“We currently sit on the
states ‘all peoples of the
TMU Class of 2016
eve of raising the bar in
earth may know that the
The 2016 graduating
Christian and Biblical eduhand of the Lord is mighty.’
class was the first to receive
cation here in the United
Like the children of Israel
their diplomas from Truett
States and worldwide,” statwho set up memorial stones
McConnell University,
ed Robert Bowen, Science
to remember God’s mighty
including the first master’s
and Mathematics Division
hand allowing them to cross
graduate, Ben Garrison.
chair and associate professor
the Jordan River on dry
Scotty Wilbanks, a
of Biology. “We are primed
land, today we mark this
member of the Christian
to become a premier acaday as the day we become
band Third Day and twodemic institution in teaching,
a university. When future
scholarship, and service to
generations ask us about this time nominated, multiour profession and commuday, we can say the Lord was ple-Dove-Award-winning
record producer, delivered
nities.
mighty by allowing us to see
the commencement address
Bowen added, “I am
more students saved, called,
to the 134 graduates.
excited about the platform
equipped and sent.”
“This life is not about
being presented to our insti“God continues to raise
me or you,” Wilbanks said.
tution to storm the academic
up a school for His glory
“It’s about focusing on the
and professional worlds with
in the North Georgia
journey.”
Christ’s ultimate love bound
mountains,” said Board of
to a steadfast dedication to
our craft as scientists, business people, pastors, missionaries, theologians, teachers,
nurses, musicians, writers,
historians, law enforcement,
plus so many other areas of
training and influence.”
For many of the professors, this change
means progress for Truett
McConnell.
Stephen Tyndall, TMU
assistant professor of Music
and Fine Arts, described the
change as “Not only growth
in academia, but also with
regards to our Lord’s work,
preparing young men and
women to witness and proclaim in their chosen profession.”
“Growing in size, talent,
variety, and opportunities”
Maël Disseau, associate professor of Christian
Studies, shared his thoughts
by adding, “Since changing to a university status is
the natural progression of a
growing academic institution, this new phase in our
history means that Truett
McConnell is growing in
size, talent, variety, and
opportunities.”
“All of these,” Disseau
said, “will help us to fulfill
the Anabaptist vision set out
by our president, to train
ministers, regardless of their
chosen vocation.”
Fletcher Humphrey, a
junior Christian Studies
major looks forward to finishing his last year at Truett
McConnell University.
“Finally, the school will
have a name that parallels the greatness they are
already achieving in creating
leaders and encouraging
a generation to seek after
God,” Humphrey exclaimed.
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX | June 1, 2016
2
Gray transfers to Georgia Gwinnett campus ministry
in Panama and a
daughter, Torrie,
COLUMBUS —
who was born in
Tony Gray is about
Columbus. Both are
as much of a legnow studying at the
end on the campus
University of Mobile
of Columbus State
in Alabama.
University as he is to
A change in
the Baptist Collegiate
leadership at the
Ministry(BCM) just
Columbus campus
across the street.
provided the open
Gray joined as direcdoor that made
tor of the ministry in
his transition easy.
January 1996, followJohnson was transing Bill Neal and Jerry
ferring to Statesboro
Johnson as fulltime
to launch the BCM
directors. Now Gray,
at fast-growing
after serving 20 years
Georgia Southern.
at the campus, turned
The Columbus
in his keys May 13 to
position remained
accept a newly created
open for a year until
position at Georgia
the Georgia Baptist
Tony Gray, left, outgoing campus minister at Columbus State University, talks with incomGwinnett College in
Mission Board’s
ing minister Rick Jenkins outside the BCM center. Gray transfers on May 13 to Georgia
Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville. JOE WESTBURY/Index
Lawrenceville.
Collegiate Ministries
He will enter the
department learned
classroom and the challenges
Every Thursday – 32
new phase of his camthat Gray was returnthey receive to their faith.
times a year – a local church
pus ministry on June 1 and
ing to the States and asked
“Our role is to help them
will provide food for the
will be succeeded by Rick
if he would consider the
grow into being the salt
fellowship known as SLT, or
Jenkins who is already on
opportunity.
and light in their Jerusalem
Student Luncheon Together.
campus.
And, as they say, the rest
where God has placed them.
On May 5, for example, the
Gray’s youthfulness mimis history.
We want to disciple our stumenu featured hot dogs and
ics that of the students at
“I would not trade
dents to boldly go onto the
hamburgers grilled outside
least half his age, displaying
anything for my time at
campus and live their witness and served up with all the
an abundance of cheeriness,
Columbus State,” he said in
outwardly.”
trimmings.
energy, and optimism that
the last week of his ministry
The success of his long
Gray and his wife, Laura,
is contagious. And that is
there.
have seen many changes
necessary to relate to the stu- hours of discipleship have
The question, then, is
paid off. Numerous students
in the campus and students who are shouldering
“why move?”
have been involved in lifedents since their arrival two
more stress than when he
Gray responds with saying
style missions; at least 200
decades ago. The academic
was on campus as a student.
it was “an overwhelming
community has grown from
“While some of the prob- have participated in Send
sense of rightness.” It just
Me Now mission trips spon4,200 students at then-Colems we had as students
seemed to be the natural
sored through the BCM
lumbus College to 8,500
decades ago are similar,
next step to be part of a
now as a full-fledged univertoday’s seem to have a great- and Georgia Baptist Mission
building a new campus minBoard.
sity.
er intensity. I see a lot more
istry on a fairly new campus,
Many have also particifamily issues with divorce,
building on the groundwork
pated in mission opportunidrugs, and social issues. The
laid by Teresa and Bob
Johnson’s move to
ties through local churches
internet, which didn’t exist
Royal. Teresa Royal serves as
Statesboro opens door
and the Columbus Baptist
when I was on campus, now
campus minister at Georgia
for Gray
Association.
shapes and drives much of
State University in down
He first set foot on the
what they do today,” he
campus as Jerry Johnson’s
explains.
Great support from churches, intern as he and Laura were
To read this entire story
Columbus Association
preparing for service at the
and others from around
BCM mission remains
“We have great support
International Mission Board.
the state, visit http://
through our Association
the same
For the next five years he
www.christianindex.org.
and churches. We frequently
But, he quickly adds, the
and his family served in
The Index provides news
mission remains the same; to have church staff who attend Panama before returning to
around the clock for free
lunches in our building who
provide a safe house, a sense
Georgia to be close to his
at its newly redesigned
of security from the pressures come for mentoring opporparents. They have a son,
website.
of what they deal with in the tunities,” he adds.
Matthew, who was born
By Joe Westbury
Managing Editor
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX | June 1, 2016
I
have had
the delightful experience this
week of speaking at
senior adult conferences in two states.
At the first of the
week I preached
at the Alabama
Baptist Senior
Adult Evangelism
Conference. We
met at Taylor Road
Baptist Church
in Montgomery,
Alabama.
The lower level of
this large sanctuary
was full. There was a
multitude of church
buses in the parking
lot from all across the
State of Alabama. The
spirit of the group was
delightful. We sang,
we prayed, and we
worshiped together
in a very memorable
worship service.
Seniors have a lot
of credibility. Our
group of Southern
Baptists love the
church and we
demonstrate that love
by supporting the
church well through
our tithes and
offerings. We were
brought up by parents
who went through the
depression and World
War II and understood the value of a
dollar.
Southern Baptist
senior adults were, in
all likelihood, raised
by deeply-devoted
Southern Baptist parents who believed in
missions and educated
3
OPEN DOOR
their children regarding the value of the
Cooperative Program.
We were greatly
involved in RAs and
GAs, Training Union,
and annual stewardship emphases in our
churches focused on
tithing. Some say that
today’s young people
do not have “brand
loyalty” as those of us
who were raised by an
earlier generation.
Actually, I have
observed that many of
our young people do
possess brand loyalty
to Southern Baptists,
others do not. This is
a matter of devotion,
not just to things you
know, but to things
that you know are
making a difference in
the world today.
Baptist Seniors
Music in the Garden
event sponsored by
Worship and Music
Ministries. The event
was held at Callaway
Gardens. What a
happy crowd it was!
They just enjoy so
much the fun of getting together and
singing to the Lord.
I want to thank Jon
Duncan and his outstanding staff for their
marvelous work in
bringing about this
delightful experience. I love Georgia
Baptists, and cherish
every opportunity to
be with our seniors.
To all of our
younger generation,
our seniors would say,
J. Robert White
Executive Director
“We are praying
for you as you assume
leadership of our
beloved denomination
in the years ahead. We
love the potential we
see in you.” Nothing
would please our
seniors more than to
see our younger leaders doing a far superior job of fashioning
our Georgia Baptist
and Southern Baptist
future than did our
generation.
EDITORIAL
You can judge a school by its commencement speakers
E
ver since
atheist Salman
Rushdie
spoke at Emory
University’s
Commencement last
year and was awarded the Doctorate of
Humane Letters I
have been studying
American college and
university commencement speeches.
It is encouraging to
know that our Georgia
Baptist Colleges have
commencement speakers who are firmly
founded in the faith
once for all delivered
to the saints. BrewtonParker College
invited Thomas
Hammond, president
of the Georgia Baptist
Convention as its commencement speaker for
this year. Hammond is
a well-known Baptist
leader and pastor of
First Baptist Church in
Alpharetta.
Steven F. Echols,
President of BrewtonParker stated, “We
are reminded of how
disturbing the moral
decay has become in
our country when we
see the outrageous
things being said
at commencement
speeches. Far left wing
radical and decadent
agendas are espoused
while anyone who
dares speak of morality and God are often
banned.
I think of the
stark contrast of such
destructive thought
with that of our inspiring 2016 BrewtonParker College commencement address
from our Georgia
Baptist Convention
President, Thomas
Hammond. We are
thankful to Georgia
Baptists who support
Christian higher education as it is needed
now more than ever
before!”
Shorter University
had for its speaker
Mark Demos, a strong
Christian and President
of The Demos Group,
an Atlanta-based full
service public relations
firm he founded specifically to serve Christian
organizations and
causes.
Don Dowless,
president of Shorter
University, declared,
“It has become commonplace for many
commencement
speeches to be used
by liberal speakers as
a means of promoting
agendas that attempt
to excise God from
intellectual life and
replace His truth with
their own world views.
“In contrast
Christian colleges
serve to impart God
given truths to help
graduates transform
our world through the
power of Jesus Christ.
That truth is timeless,
transformative, and
contagious.”
Truett-McConnell
University’s commencement speaker
was Scotty Wilbanks,
Truett-McConnell
College alum and twotime Grammy nominated, multiple Dove
award winning record
producer, who has a
powerful Christian testimony.
Truett-McConnell
President Emir Caner
commented, “Well, it’s
that time of year again
when colleges and
universities have their
graduation ceremonies.
At most universities,
that means graduates
have the cumbersome
responsibility of listen
J. Gerald Harris
Editor
ing to prolonged
lectures from leftists
on safe spaces, from
Marxists on economic
injustice, from politicians like the President
who tells them they
just got lucky, and
from celebrities bloviating about how graduates are still victims.
“In juxtaposition, I
thank God that there
still are Christian
colleges who have
ceremonies that give
graduates godly and
practical advice about
the real world, about
true faith. May their
tribe increase.”
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX | June 1, 2016
ACROSS
1. Author Bombeck
5.Zero
10.Volume
14.Complain bitterly
15.“Come, let us ___
him”
16.___ mater
17. Where Paul wintered (Acts 28:11)
18.Model
19.“Iniquity shall ___
her mouth”
(Ps. 107:42)
20.Pickup maker
22.Tan color
23. “Dogs shall ___
Jezebel”
(1 Kings 21:23)
24.Female sheep
(Gen. 21:28)
26.Color of pottage
(Gen. 25:30)
27.Iota, as in
Matt. 5:18
30.Divide, as in
(Ps. 108:7)
33.Ladies’ undergarment
35. Flightless birds
37. Forms in which
Jeroboam’s story
is told
(1 Kings 14:19)
42.This animal chews
cud in Lev. 11:6
43.Long time
44.Plow (Gen. 2:5)
45.Not amiable
49.Flexible tube
50.Presidential initials
4
51.“Thou shalt see it
with thine ___”
(2 Kings 7:2)
53.“Sing unto him a
___ song”
(Ps. 33:3)
54.Pouch
57.Before, as in
Ex. 1:19
59.Alias
61.Approximate date
63.Keillor and William
Lloyd
69.Twelfth Hebrew
month (Est. 3:7)
70.Tower
71.“Every ___ shall
bow” (Isa. 45:23)
72.TV host Jay
73.“The ___ of thine
eye” (Prov. 7:2)
74.Economics (abbr.)
75. “She ___ not near
to her God”
(Zeph. 3:2)
76. “Jeroboam ___ by
the altar”
(1 Kings 13:1)
77.Remove, as in
1 Kings 11:11
7.“A time to ___; a
time to keep”
(Eccl. 3:6)
8. Paul’s destination
in Acts 27:12
9. That girl
10.Aram offspring
(Gen. 10:23)
DOWN
11. Jeroboam made his
1. Actor McCormack
offering upon this
2. “Be not ___ with
(1 Kings 12:33)
thy mouth”
12.Ascended with the
(Eccl. 5:2)
prayers in Rev. 8:4
3. Distance in
13.Flavorful
Matt. 5:41
21.Elihu kin
4. Tylenol’s compet(Job 32:2)
itor
22.Lotion brand
5. Southern Mexican
25.Ephraim to
Indian
Shechem (dir.)
6. Made of wood and
stone (Deut. 29:17) 27. Son of Jehoshaphat
(2 Kings 9:14)
(sing.)
28.Gulf nation
29.Territory
31.“___ Jeroboam
built Shechem”
(1 Kings 12:25)
32.Eat away
34.Hormone
36.Vassal
38.“He ___ of
Jeroboam shall
come”
(1 Kings 14:13)
39.“It slew a prophet
(1 Kings 13:24)
40.Otherwise, as in
Ex. 10:4
41. Killed
46.Belief
47.Stray, as in
(Ps. 119:118)
48.Longed for, as in
1 Kings 3:26
52.Winter sport
54.Blanch
55.Helper
56.Bird of Jer. 8:7
58.Where Jeroboam
fled in
1 Kings 11:40
60.Beggar
62.“Before the cock
___” (Luke 22:61)
64.Dog food brand
65.Rolled chocolate
candy brand
66.“___ in three years
came the navy”
(1 Kings 10:22)
67.Glowing sign
68“I will ___ rain
upon the earth”
(1 Kings 18:1)
70.Not (Fr.)
This special edition of The Christian Index is distributed online bi-weekly at www.christianindex.org to provide
additional content to readers who prefer a print version of the publication. To read additional stories of how God is
working through Georgia Baptists, visit the website daily for stories that inspire and inform.
The Christian Index is a publication of the Georgia Baptist Convention, 6405 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth, GA 30097.
Our editorial office can be reached at (770) 936-5590. J. Gerald Harris serves as Editor.