(EDITOR’S NOTE — While the Biblical Recorder is seeking an Editor/President, the normal editorial page will be filled with guest commentaries from the BR Board of Directors as well as experts in their particular fields of ministry.)

“Each one of us must be prepared for the conflict. We must know how to sit with Christ in heavenly places and we must know how to walk worthy of Him down here, but we must also know how to stand before the foe.” — Watchman Nee in Sit, Walk, Stand  

(On Jan. 22) our country will acknowledge the 38th anniversary of Roe vs Wade, the Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal for any reason in all 50 states. The thinking at the time was to make abortion legal, safe and rare. Sadly only one of those ideas has come to pass. Abortion is legal.

Safe? Abortion is never safe for the baby, and it’s safety for the woman is debatable. FDA figures from 2006 state that at least 1,100 women have been physically harmed by RU-486, the drug that causes chemical abortion, since it has been approved for use in the U.S. 

And what about the women who have suffered emotionally and spiritually from abortion? Many women are plagued by guilt, shame, regret, anxiety, even self-destructive behaviors following their decisions to abort.

Rare? Current figures indicate that in New York City, our nation’s largest city, 41 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion. Nationwide 20 percent of pregnancies end in abortion. The numbers of abortion were actually dropping nationwide (thanks to pregnancy care centers and abstinence programs) until the use of RU-486 became more common. Now the numbers are on the rise again. We can only imagine the lost potential of 53 million Americans who have been aborted since January 22, 1973.

How did abortion become so commonplace in America, of all places? When God was removed from the public square we saw a dramatic shift in attitudes and practices. Today more than seven million couples are cohabiting. Many will have had children together. Four out of five of those couples will break up before marrying. The children will be left without the benefit of both parents interacting in their lives daily. Marriage is being reduced to just a contract, sometimes between two or more people of any gender.

Families are being created in unusual ways. There is research available entitled, My Daddy’s Name is Donor. Women are offering their wombs as incubators for the babies of others. Often these women will supply the egg, but not always. Individualism, even narcissism, has invaded our thinking.

We’re operating on the premise of what’s best for me alone. Parents aren’t taking the time to set healthy boundaries for their children. Children, by default, are living lives of self-reliance for which they aren’t equipped, nor should they be. This leads children to be self-protective, which leads away from the ability to be vulnerable. Our moral code is lost. Each person is deciding from situation to situation what is right and what is wrong. In this context it is no wonder that Jesus, whom God sent to save us from our sin (from ourselves), becomes irrelevant. Is it any wonder that abortion is on the rise?

Have we also lost the grandeur of God? We have attempted to put Him in a manageable box, to bring out when it’s convenient. In the meantime, we take charge of own lives. We have forgotten that we are created in God’s image, not the other way around. And, as we reach out to minister to others we must remember that all human beings are created in His image, whether they acknowledge Him or not. He sent His Son to die for all of us, not one of us being deserving of that sacrifice. We’ve lost a sense of humility before God and our fellow human beings.

The good news? There are ministries specifically equipped to enter into the culture and provide alternatives to abortion, pregnancy care centers. Largely manned by volunteers trained to minister to young who are facing the challenges of unplanned pregnancy, these organizations fill a unique niche in their communities. Often they represent a rich cross section of the Body of Christ as the staff and volunteers come from a variety of Christian churches for a common purpose, meeting the needs of women who are definitely products of the culture. These women and girls appear self-reliant and optimistic, but the optimism is often devoid of realism. They can talk about past decisions that had negative consequences, but they express no regret. To express regret creates a frightening level of vulnerability, which they are ill-equipped to manage. 

Enter pregnancy care center workers, who love the Lord and are called by Him to reach out. In no way are we going to make decisions for women nor will we change them, but we can offer sound information and a kind, listening ear. The decision-making process and the heart changes are between the woman and God. We are quick to realize our limitations and also to realize that God has no limitations!

If the choice of abortion weighs heavily on your heart I encourage you to find your local pregnancy care center. Every center needs prayer support because the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of this world.

Centers are in need of volunteers. Some of the tasks assigned to volunteers are counseling clients, answering the phone, sorting baby clothes, serving on the Board of Directors, helping with publicity. The list is long for most centers and all of us have talent we can bring. Centers are also in need of money. Most pregnancy centers receive no government support, and grants are hard to obtain. If you would consider putting your local center in your family’s budget each month you would be providing much-needed encouragement.

Most centers provide parenting education for those women who will be parenting their babies. Could you teach a class or mentor a new mom? Have your children outgrown their baby clothes or is there a crib collecting dust in the attic? Call the pregnancy center near you and offer to donate those baby items. It is wonderful for pregnancy care center workers to be able to tell their clients that the Body of Christ stands with them in their decision to choose life for their babies.

Do pregnancy centers really make a difference? The answer is a resounding yes! We have the opportunity to share who Jesus desires to be in each life. We may be the first ones to believe they can make needed changes as we point them toward healthy lifestyle choices for the future. 

We can instill godly principles as we teach parenting skills. In some communities we have the opportunity to present a message of sexual integrity to teens in the public schools. We are equipped to interface with negative cultural trends and befriend women who may have made very different choices from ours, but whom God loves unconditionally, as He does us.

In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says if you want to do God’s will, go where God’s working. He is indeed at work in pregnancy care centers. Won’t you join Him there?

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Every is the executive director of Pregnancy Support Services, serving Durham and Chapel Hill. She has held that role since 1992. In those years she has also served as president of the Board of Directors of Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, a network of pregnancy centers, Christian adoption agencies, and Christian maternity homes. Since 2001 she has served as Regional Consultant for Care Net, a national network of pregnancy care centers. She and her husband make their home in Durham. She can be reached at mimi@pregnancysupport.org.)

(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or issues with items we run, please contact dianna@biblicalrecorder.org or call 919-847-2127.)

A few weeks ago Google unveiled a new search engine database. According to one news service Google’s Ngram Viewer is “the final word on words ... billions and billions of them.”

For centuries people have been searching the written word for knowledge. Now they can do it in ways that just a few years ago were unimaginable. Google has digitally copied 5.2 million books published since 1500. From these digital copies they have built a database of 500 billion words that is as close as your computer keyboard.

With this database and its associated graphic tools you can visualize the rise and fall of concepts, words and phrases published over the last 500 years in English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese and Russian.

Google’s Ngram is impressive. It’s also amusing to see how the usage and relevance of words has changed over the years. While I am not a prophet, I have little doubt that the Ngram viewer is NOT the final word on words. The day will come, probably sooner than later, when it will seem antiquated, limited and slow. 

Solomon certainly got it right when he said, “Of making many books there is no end” (Ecc. 12:12). Indeed, there seems to be no end to any word based information source. We live in a day of information overload.

The last thing any of us need is more words in the form of useless, meaningless information. And the last thing the (Board of) Directors and staff of the Biblical Recorder want is that the Recorder would be viewed as useless and irrelevant. 

Having stated this, we also recognize the reality of the situation.

Many North Carolina Baptists consider the Recorder an important source of information.  But if we will be honest with ourselves I think we would have to agree that many N.C. Baptists would say — in one way or another — that the Recorder is unimportant, even irrelevant to them and their churches.

I know this is the case because I used to hold this view. For many of the 20 years I have served as pastor of Westwood Baptist Church in Roxboro, the Recorder was unimportant to me personally and irrelevant to our ministry — or so I thought. It was too moderate for my theological tastes, too dated in its format and just too far down in the pile on my desk to make any difference. While that has changed for me, it has not for many of my fellow pastors and their church members.

Our circulation numbers are lower than they have been in a long, long time. In the mid-70s our circulation was near 120,000. It is now approximately 21,500. This is not a problem unique to Biblical Recorder.

Newspapers in general have experienced similar declines. In days gone by, people who desired to be “in the know” were eager for newspapers. Not so today. In addition, the decline is not just about subscriptions and finances. It also represents a decline in influence.

The Recorder’s Directors and staff recognize the unique challenges that face us. But more importantly, we also recognize the importance of being fully committed to the paper’s stated mission: “To further Christ’s kingdom among North Carolina (BSC) Baptists by providing relevant news, insightful opinions, and supportive resources in a timely and accessible fashion.”

For us, this mission statement is not just more words. Until our Lord returns and establishes His visible kingdom, the mission is ongoing. The Great Commission is not yet complete.

While the church moves forward in completing the task of making disciples of all nations the Recorder is committed to the supportive task of informing, assisting and equipping the leaders and members of our churches. It is our desire that the Biblical Recorder would become one of the most valued resources to North Carolina pastors, church leaders and all North Carolina Baptists. 

We will not accomplish this if our goals are limited to maintaining the status quo or simply aiming to be a good state newspaper. In a day of blogs, tweets and social media communities, innovation based on our identity as North Carolina Baptists is required for relevance and effectiveness. One of our Board members stated it well, “Rather than thinking of a paper, the Biblical Recorder’s future might be as a communications hub that would utilize whatever media is appropriate to its various constituencies.”

Every generation has its favored media. The challenge of the Recorder includes print for an older generation while at the same time serving a younger generation that is increasingly oriented to social media. We live in a digital world, and for the Biblical Recorder to accomplish its mission with various constituencies it must have a suitable media mix. Moving toward this new paradigm is essential for the Recorder if we will succeed in our stated mission. 

We take our relationship with North Carolina Baptists seriously.

It is not just a matter of finances, budgets and the bottom line, but a sacred stewardship. The Biblical Recorder must be a good steward of the trust and financial support it receives from individual subscribers and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSC). The Cooperative Program dollars the Biblical Recorder will receive in 2011 is equivalent to over 23,000 individual subscriptions. We are not unaware of this trust, and will seek to strengthen this bond and earn the confidence of North Carolina Baptists.   

Milton A. Hollifield Jr., BSC executive director-rreasurer has clearly stated a vision for the Recorder that is shared by the Board of Directors and the staff: “The need for the Recorder is greater now than ever before. With the scarcity of Baptist news outlets, the Recorder continues to provide an important service to North Carolina Baptists as we move further into the 21st century. 

“The necessity for Baptists across our state to have a periodical devoted to missions and ministries from an unapologetic Baptist perspective is of utmost importance. North Carolina Baptists both need and deserve a news journal that provides analysis and commentary, from a Baptist perspective, on events impacting us. 

“The Biblical Recorder has the opportunity to provide this and more! It is my hope that the Recorder will take this convention’s news journal to a new level in this new century. By that I mean, that the Recorder will not simply provide news and commentary, but challenge the churches to examine their motivation for ministries as never before. 

“The Recorder can be the incubator for new ministries while helping make current ministries more effective.

“The Recorder can bring the events impacting Baptists around the world to our very doorsteps, and computer screens, helping readers to see not only what God is doing, but also how you and I can join in His work around the world. 

“The Recorder can bring the needs of the hungry, hurting, and hopeless across North Carolina to the attention of the one institution commissioned by the Lord Jesus to truly meet their needs: the local church.

“Although the Recorder is now experiencing a time of transition, I firmly believe the Recorder is still very much positioned to accomplish all these things. I believe the Recorder will continue to be, for years to come, a valuable source of news for North Carolina Baptists.”

Since 1833, the Biblical Recorder has served North Carolina Baptists.

We seek to continue this legacy of service as we move into 2011, but to do this we rely on the partnership of North Carolina Baptists. 

First, we welcome your input and suggestions. We will need your help to produce a resource that will serve your needs and help you in your ministry. Pastors, what do you value in the Biblical Recorder? What needs to be changed? What would you like to see included in each edition? What should be dropped? What would make it better?

Second, we ask you to pray for the staff of the Biblical Recorder. Alison, Dianna and Amie are committed to serving North Carolina Baptists and working out God’s call on their lives by writing and producing an outstanding periodical which gives North Carolina Baptists a “front row seat to what is going on in Baptist life in our state and around the world.”

Lastly, we appreciate you praying for the Board of Directors as we lead in this time of transition. Our Editor Search Team has begun the process of finding the Biblical Recorder’s next editor/president. We are receiving resumes for this position. Any recommendations or referrals you might have for this can be submitted to the Search Committee c/o the Biblical Recorder.  

Thomas Meredith founded the Recorder with the encouragements and endorsement of many denominational leaders.

One of those leaders was General Agent Samuel Wait, who said, “Such a paper we might hope, being adapted to the existing state of our churches, would be productive of the best consequences.”

The Recorder is still committed to this end. We are excited about where God is leading North Carolina Baptists. We look forward to being an integral part of the life North Carolina Baptists in 2011 and for many years to come.  

(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or issues with items we run, please contact dianna@biblicalrecorder.org or call 919-847-2127.)