Messengers approve six resolutions

LITTLE ROCK – Messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention Annual Meeting held Nov. 1-2 at First Baptist Church, Little Rock, approved six resolutions.

Resolutions addressed Christian citizenship, services to children at risk, risks and help for marriages, alcohol “the number one drug problem in Arkansas”, sanctity of human life and appreciation to convention leaders, the host church and all involved in the planning and arrangements for the meeting.

Each resolution is printed below in its entirety.

Resolution No. 1:

APPRECIATION

Whereas, this year’s annual meeting has been guided prayerfully, fairly, and effectively by our President, Dr. Clay Hallmark, with the support and assistance of Dr. Emil Turner, Executive Director, and the other dedicated staff and leaders of the Convention; and 

Whereas, the staff and laity of First Baptist Church, Little Rock, have provided excellent service and arrangements for the annual meeting; and

Whereas, the one hundred and fifty-eighth session has been ably organized by the Program Committee; therefore be it 

Resolved, that we, the messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, meeting at First Baptist Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, November 1-2, 2011, express our deep appreciation to our president, executive director, convention officers, the staff and members of First Baptist Church, Little Rock, and the Program Committee for their diligent and sacrificial service in the successful preparation and guidance of the one hundred and fifty-eighth session of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

Resolution No. 2:

ON CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP

Whereas, in next year’s general election many very important issues and races will be determined by the ballot; and 

Whereas, God has ordained government to provide an ordered society (Romans 13); and 

Whereas, Christians are charged with the task of being “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13-16); and

Whereas, the scriptures assure us that “Righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34); and 

Whereas, the Baptist Faith and Message affirms that “…every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.” (XV. The Christian and the Social Order); and 

Whereas, more than half of Christians who are eligible to vote do not do so on a regular basis; and

Whereas, the U.S. and Arkansas constitutions have given the electorate the weighty responsibility of choosing our government leaders and establishing many matters of public policy; therefore, be it

Resolved, that we, the messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, meeting at First Baptist Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, November 1-2, 2011, encourage all believers to engage the culture by being informed and proactive citizens and by participating in all appropriate elections; and be it 

Resolved, that we encourage churches to stress voter registration and voter participation; and be it

Resolved, that we urge believers to vote for those candidates and for positions in ballot issues that most closely reflect and embody biblical principles and represent what is best and most wholesome for our families, our communities, and our culture.

Resolution No. 3:

ON SERVICES TO CHILDREN AT RISK 

Whereas, on Sunday, November 6, 2011, Orphan Sunday will be recognized among churches and by believers all across the U.S.; and

Whereas, that emphasis Sunday is to focus on the plight of the more than half a million orphans, foster children, and minors who have no permanent, forever family in America; and

Whereas, children enter the foster care system through no fault of their own—it is a result of being abused, neglected or abandoned by parents or when the parents’ own difficulties, such as drug addiction, mental illness, and incarceration leave them unable to provide adequate care to their children; and

Whereas, the need is great and critical; and 

Whereas, in Arkansas on any given day some 4,000 children are in need of foster care, but a 1,000 or so open foster homes qualified to care for those children; and 

Whereas, existing foster homes and institutions cannot begin to meet the incredible need; and 

Whereas, in our state there are some 700 to 800 foster children waiting to be adopted with many fewer homes than that prepared to adopt a child; and

Whereas, foster children who “age out” of the foster care system (reach age 18 without having been adopted into a permanent family) face almost insurmountable problems; and 

Whereas, foster children are a population at risk and foster children who age out of the system are even more so; and

Whereas, those problems can and often do include being less well-prepared educationally, suffering stunted development, having a harder time finding proper employment, abusing alcohol and other drugs, and are more likely to be incarcerated; and

Whereas, those and other problems nearly always have roots in experiences that occurred before those children entered the foster care system; and

Whereas, the failure to meet the needs of these vulnerable and needy children causes untold harm, misery, and dysfunctional and spiritually impoverished lives; and

Whereas, Arkansas churches and church families have the means, are able, and equipped to meet the  needs of the state’s children at risk; and

Whereas, we affirm & support the work of the Arkansas Baptist family ministry and  other Christ centered efforts to reduce the number of orphans in Arkansas; and 

Whereas, God finds the care of orphans to be “pure and undefiled religion” (James 1:27); and 

Whereas, believers are charged with caring for “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40), our “neighbor” (Luke 10:25-37), and the “fatherless” (Psalm 82:3 and Isaiah 1:17); and

Whereas, Christ said that “whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me” (Matthew 18:5); and 

Whereas, we acknowledge that we believers are disobedient when we do not do the good we know we should do (James 4:17); therefore, be it 

Resolved, that we, the messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, meeting at First Baptist Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, November 1-2, 2011, commit ourselves to an aggressive effort to reach churches, their pastors and staff members, and their members with the urgency of the tremendous needs of the most vulnerable children in our state and to recruit members within the churches who can meet those needs; and be it

Resolved, that the essence of this message will be to seek church members who will step up and offer to serve as foster and adoptive parents or to aid those who do so financially or in other ways; and

Resolved, that we encourage every Arkansas Southern Baptist – pastor, associational missionary, denominational leader and staff members, and lay members alike – to promote this emphasis energetically; and be it

Resolved, that we enthusiastically embrace this approach, knowing that it can and should prove to be a very effective way in which we can further accomplish the Great Commission by not only meeting the physical, social, emotional, and psychological needs of children – but also the greatest need of all – the need for Christ in their lives (Matthew 5:16).

Resolution No. 4:

ON MARRIAGE

Whereas, we readily acknowledge that the institution of marriage is in serious trouble in America; and

Whereas, all the reliable indicia reveal the depth of the problem; and

Whereas, in 1970, 89 percent of all births were to married parents and today that figure is at 60 percent; and

Whereas, in 1960, 72 percent of adults were married – in 2008 that percentage had fallen to 50 percent; and

Whereas, the rate of cohabitation has exploded – a fourteen-fold increase since 1970; and 

Whereas, about 24 percent of children are born to cohabitating couples today, and another 20 percent are part of a cohabitating household at some point during their childhood/youth, meaning that nearly half of all American children have lived in a home where the adults are only living together, and not married; and

Whereas, children living with their mother and a live-in boyfriend are 33 times more likely to be abused than those living with their biological married parents, and children in households with unrelated adults are 50 times more likely to die from inflicted injuries, compared with children living with both biological parents; and

Whereas, the breakdown of marriage has caused great social and economic cost, with women and children suffering most and in ways that are not always easy to quantify; and

Whereas, some studies indicate that in areas where Southern Baptist churches are numerous the divorce rates are as high or higher than in those areas that could be defined as “unchurched;” and 

Whereas, we recognize that God’s design for marriage – one man and one woman for life (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:1-9) – should be the ideal and the pattern for marriage that we believers adhere to and model for our children and for the world; and

Whereas, research shows that couples who receive substantial pre-marital counseling reduce dramatically the likely-hood of divorce; therefore be it

Resolved, that we, the messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, meeting at First Baptist Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, November 1-2, 2011, acknowledge that the key to a successful marriage is grounded in the selfless love Christ has for the Church, His bride (Ephesians 5:25-26); and be it

Resolved, that we encourage our churches to emphasize the premium that the Bible puts on the permanence of marriage; and be it 

Resolved, that we urge churches to provide appropriate pre-marital counseling and mentoring to couples and to families in the midst of marital stress and facing dissolution; and be it

Resolved, that we ask our churches to be champions of God’s mercy and grace to everyone – including those who have been divorced – in sure confidence that Christ’s love can redeem lives, restore brokenness, and reconcile relationships.

Resolution No. 5:

ON THE NUMBER ONE DRUG PROBLEM IN AMERICA

Whereas, the continuing and increasing use of alcohol in the U.S. has been and continues to be a scourge on this culture and its quality of life; and 

Whereas, results of studies recently published by the American Journal of preventive Medicine and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence assessed the annual damage wrought by alcohol; and

Whereas, some of the findings of those studies include:

1. In addition to premature death, excessive alcohol consumption is directly related to increased disease and injury (including liver cirrhosis, certain cancers, unintentional injuries, violence, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder), property damage from fire and motor vehicle crashes, alcohol related crime, and lost productivity; and
2. One-quarter of all emergency room admissions, one-third of all suicides, and more than half of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol-related; and
3. Nearly half of all traffic fatalities are alcohol-related; and
4. Between 48% and 64% of people who die in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating intoxication; and
5. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading known cause of mental retardation; and

Whereas, the above economic costs of alcohol use, as significant as they are, pale in comparison to the staggering toll alcohol takes on individual lives and families, communities, and the nation as a whole; and

Whereas, some of that damage involves the death, debilitating injury, or serious chronic illness of spouses, parents, children, and other loved ones; divorce; destroyed relationships; broken homes and displaced children; child and spouse abuse; bankruptcies and lost homes, businesses, jobs and self respect; and 

Whereas, scripture warns against alcohol abuse in Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:30-32, and Ephesians 5:18; therefore, be it

Resolved, that we, the messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, meeting at First Baptist Church, Little Rock, AR, November 1-2, 2011, lament the tragic consequences caused by excessive alcohol consumption; and be it

Resolved, that we urge Arkansas Southern Baptists to actively support legislation designed to limit alcohol use in our communities and be proactive in confronting new applications for private clubs and in opposing local option elections intended to convert our state’s dry counties from dry to wet; and be it

Resolved, that we encourage each other to participate in and promote those programs to educate youth and adults about the harmful nature of alcoholic beverages and that strongly and persuasively advocate abstinence; and be it 

Resolved, that we are grateful for those organizations and ministries that approach alcohol-related issues with a biblical perspective and that embrace abstinence as the only sensible solution for those already caught up by alcohol-related problems or for those susceptible to it and at risk. 

Resolution No. 6:

ON SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE

Whereas, the Bible clearly establishes the sanctity of human life in that God created humans in His own image and no conception of a person can occur beyond His direction or permissive will (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 9:6); and

Whereas, the Bible affirms that the unborn baby is a person bearing the image of God from the moment of conception (Psalm 139:13-16; Luke 1:44); and

Whereas, Scripture further commands the people of God to plead for protection for the innocent and justice for the fatherless (Psalm 72:12-14; Psalm 82:3; James 1:27); and

Whereas, the Baptist Faith and Message, affirms that children “from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord”, and further affirms that Southern Baptists are mandated by Scripture to “speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death”; and

Whereas, in 2007, 84 percent of all abortions were performed on unmarried women; adolescents under 15 years obtained .05 percent of all abortions, but had the highest abortion ratio, 768 abortions for every 1,000 live births; 47 percent of women who have abortions had at least one previous; and at current rates, nearly one-third of American women will have an abortion; and

Whereas, on average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion; ¾ say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about ¾ say they cannot afford a child; and ½ say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner; and

Whereas, the legacy of Roe v. Wade has grown to include ongoing assaults on human life such as euthanasia, the harvesting of human embryos for the purposes of medical experimentation, and an accelerating move toward human cloning; therefore, be it

Resolved, that we, the messengers of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, meeting at First Baptist Church, Little Rock, November 1-2, 2011, hereby state in no equivocal terms our reaffirmation of the sanctity of human life; and be it

Resolved, that we abhor the taking of innocent, defenseless preborn human lives and that we will spare no effort in opposing any federal or state law that will further legitimize infanticide; and be it

Resolved, that we pray for and support the reversal of the tragic Supreme Court decisions, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton; and be it 

Resolved, that we call on all Christians everywhere to work for the passage of prolife legislation that will serve to reestablish respect for and protection of human life at all stages.