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6B ♦ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2006 Southern Baptists lack consensus on speaking in tongues By ROSE FRENCH Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The first time the Rev. Dwight McKißsic ever spoke in tongues, he was a semi nary student, praying on his knees in his dorm room. “Strange sounds begin to come out of my mouth,” McKissic said. “The only thing I could think of was, I was either losing my mind or this is what the Bible calls speaking in tongues. I wasn’t trying to do it. It just happened. “It’s this sense of being intimate with God,” said McKissic, who is now a Southern Baptist minister in Arlington, Texas. “It’s different, but not necessar ily a better way to pray.” Southern Baptists have long viewed speaking in tongues with ambivalence, not exactly condemnirig a practice that’s mentioned in the Bible, but not allow ing it from its pastors and Rambunctious toddlers are not suited to attend church Question: I get very upset because my 2-year old boy will not sit still and be quiet in church. He knows he’s not sup posed to be noisy, but he hits his toys on the pew and sometimes talks out loud. Should I repri mand him for being dis ruptive? Dr. Dobson: With all respect, your question reveals a rather poor under standing of the nature of toddlers. Most 2-year-olds - those who are normally active - can no more fold their hands in church and listen to a sermon intended for adults than they could swim the Atlantic Ocean. They squirm and churn and burn because they must. You just can’t hold a toddler down. All their waking hours are spent in activity, and that’s normal for this stage of development. So I do not recommend that your child be punished for this behavior. I think he should be left in the church nursery where he can shake the foundations without dis turbing the worship service. If there is no nursery, I sug gest, if it is possible from a financial point of view, that he be left at home with a sitter until he is at least 3 years old. Question: At what age POWELL From page jB mother, Eve, by an umbilical cord. When he was born, the cord was cut, forming a scar, called the navel. Humans are limited in their grasp of eternal mat ters and naturally assume that everything has an origin and every cause an effect. We naturally ask the ques [Tysoiii Become Part of a Winning Team Tyson foods, Inc is actively seeking potential catch crew Supervisors for the Oglethorpe location. (Must have one year of supervisory skills) Tyson Foods offers full benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurance. You will also be invited to participate in Tyson Food’s Stock Purchase Plan and 40IK. Please send resume to Tyson Foods, Inc. 4949 State Route 90 W Oglethorpe, GA 31068 Attn: Human Resources For additional information, contact Laurel Mussewhite at 478-472-2068 X3Ol Tyson Foods Incorporated is an EOE/M/F/D/V churches. But now, as Baptist church es become more accepting of charismatic forms of wor ship, some are asking the denomination to clarify its position: Is it OK for Baptists to speak in tongues? McKissic is at the center of the debate, recently send ing a letter to the Southern Baptist Convention’s presi dent and executive commit tee, asking for church lead ers to clarify the conven tion’s position. The nine-page letter was in response to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s refusal earlier last month to post on its Web site audio and video record ings of McKissic’s sermon at the school’s chapel, in which he describes experiencing a “private prayer language.” Leaders at the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary said the statement conflicted with the SBC’s International Mission Board, which voted in November to ban missionar should discipline begin? Dobson: There should be no physical punishment for a child younger than 15 to 18 months, regardless of the circumstance. An infant is incapable of comprehending his or her “offense” or asso ciating it with the resulting consequences. Some parents do not agree and find themselves “swat ting” a baby for wiggling while being diapered or for crying in the mid night hours. This is a terrible mistake. Other parents will shake a child violently when they are frus- Dr. James Dobson Focus on the Family trated or irritated by inces sant crying. Let me warn those mothers and fathers of the dangers of that punishing response. Shaking an infant can cause serious neurological dam age as the brain is slammed against the skull. Do not risk any kind of injury with a baby! Especially during the first year, a youngster needs to be held, loved and calmed by a soothing human voice. He should be fed when tion: “Who created God.” If someone could supply that answer, then we would ask: “Who created the creator that, in turn, created God?” This line of questioning is unending. The only conclu sion we can reach based on our finite wisdom is that God is the “Uncaused Cause.” “I am Alpha and Omega,” say eth the Lord. “I am the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” ies from speaking in tongues in private. Previously, mis sionaries were discouraged from speaking in tongues publicly, but private prayer was not monitored. Dissenting bloggers in the denomination, who have been credited with help ing propel the little-known Rev. Frank Page to election as convention president in June, have criticized the mission board’s decision. Speaking in tongues is com mon among Pentecostals, whose more exuberant brand of Christianity is spreading in the U.S. and in countries where Southern Baptist mis sionaries work. There are different under standings of the practice, which is believed to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. It commonly sounds like a series of nonsense syllables strung together rapidly in a song or chant. Curtis Freeman, director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke University Divinity hungry and kept clean, dry and warm. The foundation for emo tional and physical health is laid during this six-month period, which should be characterized by security, affection and warmth. Question: My children are still in elementary school, but I want to avoid adolescent rebel lion in the future if I can. What can you tell me to help me get ready for this scary time? Dobson: I can understand why you look toward the adolescent years with some apprehension. This is a tough time to raise kids. Many youngsters sail right through that period with no unusual stresses and prob lems, but others get caught in a pattern of rebellion that disrupts families and scares their moms and dads to death. www.woynemorrisford.com • www.woynemorrisford.com * www.woynemorrisford.com • www.woynemorrisford.com ..i i.T - a ■- ■ ■ ra-.-avavwYi ■ Cl, m.iDlii I O'. i dl' V V.'rtY. ■ it .'. I nWUBt-H' WAYNE nOJUIIS EUlSlj HiRIII MLMHVMIFIFf 2006 FOCUS SE MW-,! $18.400 niiiig toot GRAND MARQUIS _ ■ n ii ir-iig», ; vs, IlfcufVll * - ~ Power Driver's PjfMßHßfwfßßßppt' ' ! oink'd [SSSIRIP $32,200 20MB«pn0N«(4 Dual \u iW£a*a» $42,300 WAYNE MORRIS 1608 SAM NUNN BLVD. PERRY, GEORGIA Monday-Friday B:3oam-Bpm Saturday 9am-6pm www.waynemorrisford.com • www.waynemorrisford.com * www.woynemorrrsfefd.com « www.woynemorrisford.com RELIGION School, said Southern Baptists and Pentecostals are competing for the same converts, but Baptists have traditionally seen the prac tice as undermining their belfef in biblical authority. “There’s a kind of theolog ical division,” Freeman said. “The focus of Baptist piety tends to be on Jesus and the Bible, while Pentecostals are more focused on the Holy Spirit.” Freeman said many Southern Baptist churches in recent years have become more charismatic-friendly, with more praise-and-wor ship music, singing choruses and lifting their hands at worship services. McKissic, a seminary trust ee and pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, said missionaries should be able to speak in tongues privately and that nothing in the Baptist Faith and Message, the denomi nations articles of faith, or Bible is at odds with what he I’ve spent several decades trying to understand that phenomenon and how to prevent it. The encouraging thing is that the most rebel lious teens usually grow up to be responsible and stable adults who can’t remember why they were so angry in their earlier days. I once devoted a radio pro gram to a panel of formerly rebellious teens that includ ed three successful minis ters, the Rev. Raul Ries, Pastor Mike Macintosh, and the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of Dr. Billy and Ruth Graham. Each of them had been difficult adolescents who gave their parents fits. With the exception of Raul, who had been abused at home, the other two couldn’t recall what motivated their mis behavior or why they didn’t just go along to get along. That is often the way with adolescence. It’s like a tor WHILE THEY LAST! ALMOST EVERY HEW 2006 IS ZERO APR! 2006 TAURUS SIS CD. .. Mtx'n iyg l ini! Power, »»%■«■> $26,800 2006 FORD 500 * <|). S, Mfrwdaßl $7A,300 >tW.995 2006EXPL0RERXir I*""'?® Hk. < B i . rw«iWi»w^oi L° w t2T9fS OR CALL TOLL FREE I -800-741 -5472 said in his chapel sermon. “I recognize this is a thorny, uncomfortable issue for all of us, but righteous ness and biblical integrity demand that we deal with this issue,” McKissic’s letter states. Kenyn Cureton, vice presi dent for SBC relations, said the executive committee, which met last month at SBC headquarters in Nashville, did not address the issue because it is “not official and therefore pending business at this point.” McKissic said if the execu tive committee does not act, he would make a similar proposal at the SBC’s con vention next year in San Antonio, Texas. Pentecostals believe speak ing in tongues is a sign of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this speech is translated publicly by another person, while at other times it is a private prayer language that McKissic describes. Soon after the nado that drops unexpect edly out of a dark sky, tyran nizes a family, shakes up the community and then blows on by. Then the sun comes out and spreads its warmth again. Even though the teen years can be challenging, they’re also filled with excite ment and growth. Rather than fearing that experi ence, I think you ought to anticipate it as a dynamic time when your kids transi Corner * fjraminy • CMonoyramminy • Oil Ohintinys • oifls (Sustom S/raminff 918 Carroll Street • Perry, GA 478-987-4079 2006FREESTAR i i 3n!^Ri»534,995j 2006 FORD FUSION SEL ■ - ggg* i’Y\ ■Bhfcfeflll--.- -ssatet Ail °y s $25,200 i as f HflrlU 2006F450SUWERCREW eVB, Tow Pkt;, Alloy Wheels, I riadf <1 8.095 DS”*ZL99S HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL International Mission Board’s vote last fall, blog gers jumped into the debate the most notable being Wade Burleson, a pastor from Enid, Okla., and a member of the mission board. Burleson was reprimand ed by other board members for writing about the board’s internal debates on his blog and threatened with remov al. Burleson said the issue was not whether most Southern Baptists agree with McKissic’s views, but whether his sermon can be viewed by the public. Freeman, from Duke University, said most in the SBC’s “new guard” led by Page are likely to be more “charismatic-leaning” and open to charismatic practic es like speaking in tongues privately. “Page and the others I think want there to be a bigger tent in the SBC,” for it to be more inclusive, Freeman said. tion from childhood to full fledged adulthood. Dobson is founder and chairman of the board of the nonprofit organization Focus on the Family, P.O. Box 444, Colorado Springs, CO. 8090.3; or www.family, org. Questions and answers are excerpted from “The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide” and "Bringing Up Boys, ” both published by Tyndale House. QRfMI&CAM LOW AS 5.9% APR FINANCING iw low wwstw a ~ __ nwiA $6,995 Dual Air I uw Milts, luatkrl jcoo (Htrjiii awtmG conYimu i eathrr. Aluminum Wheels $6,995 >k! 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