by Brian Hobbs | Jul 1, 2013
Suicide. It’s an unwelcomed topic in any conversation. It is an unwelcomed enemy in any family. Especially healthy, well-balanced, Christian families like that of Southern Baptist Convention leader Frank Page.
Frank Page, who is Executive Director for the SBC’s Executive Committee, has written an important, compelling, heart-rending book about his family’s personal tragedy of losing his adult daughter Melissa to suicide in November 2009.
From sin to prescription drugs, depression to spiritual warfare, Dr. Page’s book (Melissa: A Father’s Lessons from a Daughter’s Suicide) covers the waterfront in factors that converge to make people suicidal. His book is pastoral in tone but is by no means “preachy.” In fact, if you walk away with one singular impression from the book, it is how much Page and his wife Dayle love Melissa. His perspective is decidedly Christian and draws heavily from the Scriptures, yet the book is approachable for a person of almost any faith.
After all, a tragic number of families in America know the type and kind of grief Dr. Page and his wife Dayle have faced. Suicide is, after all, one of the leading causes of death today, especially among men and youth.
As he says in “Melissa,” you do not get over this kind of grief, you get through it. In his book, Dr. Page walks us through his family’s journey with this precious young lady, who was made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26). He does not gloss over their problems along the way but shows how God never stopped working in her life.
The book also contains powerful letters at the end of each chapter that speak to people with suicidal tendencies. It also ends on a note of “hope” and “peace,” leaving the reader to walk away refreshed.
In reading Dr. Page’s book, the reader will be better equipped to help neighbors, friends, family members and strangers when a crisis may arise. To that end, I highly recommend this resource for people in ministry and every Christian.
by Brian Hobbs | Jun 26, 2013
Rainbow flags waving, “gay rights” advocates cheering and people reacting in social media circles. These were some of the sights and sounds following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling(s) on Wednesday, June 26. Like others, I watched this debate with great interest in the results.
Consensus appears to be that the institution of marriage is even more at risk nationwide, as key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act were struck down. Experts also say that while the Court stopped short of a grand-scale legalized mandate of same-sex marriage today, the stage is set for more social upheaval and redefinition of marriage tomorrow.
The head of Oklahoma Baptists, Dr. Anthony Jordan (Twitter: @DrAnthonyJordan) said, “While it is disappointing that the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Defense of Marriage Act fails to protect the institution nationwide, we take heart knowing that no government body can redefine what God Himself created in marriage as one man and one woman. Time will tell what net effect this will have on Oklahoma and the culture, yet God’s people will stand firm in the days ahead grounded in the truth of the Scriptures.”
That is well said. Another important Southern Baptist leader Dr. Russell Moore, when asked what this changes said: “In one sense, nothing. Jesus of Nazareth is still alive. He is calling the cosmos toward his kingdom, and he will ultimately be Lord indeed. Regardless of what happens with marriage, the gospel doesn’t need “family values” to flourish. In fact, it often thrives when it is in sharp contrast to the cultures around it. … In another sense, though, the marginalization of conjugal marriage in American culture has profound implications for our gospel witness. First of all, marriage isn’t incidental to gospel preaching.”
I think we Southern Baptists recognize how high the stakes are on this issue. That is why it is important not only what we communicate but how. We should have a quiet confidence knowing, as Drs. Jordan and Moore said that God’s plan for mankind will march on. While clashing viewpoints will be on display on the Internet and TV in the days ahead, as Christians, let’s hold firm to what we know and compassionately and passionately contend for our viewpoint, whether or not we win legal or cultural battles.
by Brian Hobbs | Jun 26, 2013
One of the privileges of working as the PR guy for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s Disaster Relief Operation is getting to witness first-hand a great outpouring of volunteering and giving.
I have watched with awe as people from more than 120 countries throughout the world—men, women and children—give to the Disaster Relief work so churches can give to victims in need.
Just this week, I became aware of another heart-warming story that shows how God compels people to generosity. Justin, a member of a Southern Baptist Church in South Oklahoma City that has been able to give to families in need, self-initiated another type of generosity. He said:
I was talking to an employee of ours who I had heard had family affected by the May 20 tornado. When I asked him about it he said that yes his fiancé’s house was completely wiped out. After talking for a little bit I asked, “So you’re getting married?” and was shocked to hear his response of “Not anymore, she died.”
He went on to say that he knew where she was because she knew the Lord and he did too and it was his only hope and the only way he was making it through. I decided to look up his fiancé based on her first name that he had mentioned, and found the obituary of a lady named Cindy (last name withheld), who was killed when the tornado hit her home. She was 49 years old and a grandmother of 4. At the end of the obituary it mentioned that she would have turned 50 on June 24, and all she wanted to do for her birthday was take the grandkids to Disney World. After reading this I immediately felt compelled to figure out a way to send these kids to Disney World.
My ultimate goal is to raise enough money to send them on a trip to Disney World and present it to them on what would have been Cindy’s 50th birthday, June 24. My prayer is also that these families see God and know that it is Him who is blessing them and loving them in the midst of their tragedy.
We received word that Justin’s prayers and plan were answered and realized. While some might think a trip to Disney is extraneous, for this family, it could be just the right thing to spread some cheer. Ultimately, we are ambassadors for Christ and by showing His love and generosity, whether it’s through a trip or financial assistance, “all men will be drawn unto Him.” (John 12:32).
by Brian Hobbs | Jun 16, 2013
For some reason the most musical sound to my ears is to hear my children, especially my daughters, call me “Daddy.” It saddens me that many in this life, through no fault of their own, are orphaned by the death of their parents and have no one to call “Daddy.”
What seems even more unbearable, though, is the number of men who willingly run out on their children. A new column in The New York Times went so far as to praise and defend these “deadbeat dads.” In a piece called “Is Forced Fatherhood Fair?” columnist Laurie Shrage said this::
“If a man accidentally conceives a child with a woman, and does not want to raise the child with her, what are his choices? Surprisingly, he has few options in the United States. He can urge her to seek an abortion, but ultimately that decision is hers to make. Should she decide to continue the pregnancy and raise the child, and should she or our government attempt to establish him as the legal father, he can be stuck with years of child support payments. Do men now have less reproductive autonomy than women?”
What a telling statement of how far we in America have fallen, that the pro-choice movement has led to its logical end; namely embracing barrenhood and sex without consequences.
Christ calls us to something more. These deadbeat dads are truly scoundrels and should have the full force of the law and social pressure causing them to own up to their actions. Yet what we are asking them to do, namely be responsible for their offspring, is not only for the child’s good but their own.
After all, fatherhood is a joyful station that gives deep meaning to life. Aside from becoming a Christian, nothing has blessed me more than to be a husband and father. Yet it is not merely the joy of hugs from my children and cards on Fathers’ Day that give fatherhood purpose. Without fathers, the very chain of life reaches a dead end.
A moment ago I said that I feel sorry for those who have no one to call “Father.” That is not really true. Because of Christ’s death on the cross, we can be reconciled to our Maker, our Heavenly Father (John 3:16). Like Jesus Himself taught us, we always have Him to call “Father,” even “Daddy” (Mark 14:36).
So this Fathers Day, take a moment to pray to the Lord, that He Himself would (continue to) show you His presence and love. In the end, that alone is what will make everything else in life fall in line, even the most deadbeat of dads.
by Brian Hobbs | Jun 12, 2013
The Obama Administration this week announced it will no longer seek to restrict by age limits those who can gain access to the so-called morning-after pill without a prescription.
To be specific, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) policy will allow girls and women of all ages to obtain pills like Plan B®.
In a May 6 post on “Word Slingers,” pharmacist Derek McCarver of El Reno talks about the science behind Plan B® and how it actually can lead to an abortion.
What’s more, he discusses the serious side effects for the women and girls using these pills, as well as some of the spiritual side effects. Here I wish to present three fatally flawed problems of the Administration’s policy. It is:
1) Irrational
The FDA, with former President George W. Bush’s approval, first made it over-the-counter (though not for minors) in 2006. At the time, courageous leaders like U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma medical doctor, warned that this was a tragic move.
Why, Coburn wondered, would the FDA make the super-dose of birth control, which can likely terminate a pregnancy, available over-the-counter, when the ordinary birth control pill requires a prescription? It does not make sense.
2) Irresponsible
We have done a great disservice to pharmacists like McCarver, who have now been degraded to mere vending machines for abortifacient pills through this policy. Previously, women would be required to seek medical advice before taking such a pill.
With the FDA ruling, doctors are taken out of the equation for women, who are hurriedly using this drug after sexual contact. Whereas a doctor could have tested the patient for sexually-transmitted diseases and advised her in other ways, she is now on her own.
3) Immoral
In the 1970s, a fear of “back-alley abortions” was a big argument used to bring abortion to America. Abortion rights proponents argued, “we needed to get abortion off the streets and on the record.”
Today, this FDA policy has the potential to move abortion back off the record. Whereas clients previously had to visit a doctor or clinic to receive an abortion, the future may mean nothing more than a trip to the local pharmacy. Is not the potential ending of a human life worth more deliberation than what it is given here?
Women’s issues activists, too, have raised a question as to whether sex traffickers will be more easily able to cover up their tracks with the easy access to this pill for their sex slaves. The human trafficking problem is not just some problem on another continent. It is happening right here in Oklahoma. The last thing we need to make is an easier way for these monstrous traffickers to hide their evil deeds.
Again, this decision is irrational, irresponsible and immoral. No one wins with this decision, except maybe Big Pharma and the abortion lobby.
Truly it is a sad day in America when a trip to the local pharmacy could mean the end of a human life and hurry women and girls into a decision that has eternal consequences as well.
With Jesus Christ, however, there is always hope. Let us pray that those in leadership (1 Tim. 2:1-4) would change course and that Christ Himself, who came to give us “life and life abundantly” (John 10:10) would save us from our own devices.