October 20, 1999
Texas Baptist Forum
Keep on praying
___Allow me to express my deepest appreciation to you and all our Baptist family members for the love and support you have so freely given during these traumatic days at Wedgwood Baptist Church.
___Among more than 12,000 cards, letters and e-mails we have received, we are most blessed to know how faithfully God's people have interceded on our behalf before the Father.
Email the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
___Please continue to pray for us! The shock is wearing off, and now we must deal with raw emotions, unbelievable stress and the fractures in the church these can produce.
___What a blow to God's kingdom it would be if after the initial attack and while the spotlight of the world is on us we stumble or falter or become divided or despairing.
___Let there be for us no more casualties from the attack!
___ Al Meredith, Pastor
___ Wedgwood Baptist Church
___ Fort Worth
Blanketing Kosovo
___I would like to thank each church in Texas for the efforts exerted and for the love shown in the Blanket Kosovo with God's Love project. Thank you for helping provide God's love to so many in Kosovo who really need to understand God does love them very much.
___We shipped over 36,000 blankets. They should arrive in Kosovo by late October.
___ Jim Brown
___ Human Needs Consultant
___ International Mission Board
___ Richmond, Va.
Trojan horse
___We live in modern-day Galatia. The ability of American Christians to discern false doctrine while holding fast to scriptural teaching is disappearing.
___On one hand, we have books in Baptist homes and seminars in Baptist churches that endorse the teachings of devout Mormon Stephen Covey. On the other, we have those who want to override the centuries-old chasm that has existed between Protestant and Catholic belief.
___Recall Canon No. 9 of the Roman Catholic Council of Trent: "If anyone says that by faith alone the sinner is justified, in such a way as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order for obtaining the grace of justification, let him be accursed." Rome still has not overruled this 16th century statement.
___What shall we say then when compromise gains acceptance among the Christian church? With heads in the sand, we silently nod approval to things the Reformed martyrs died refusing.
___The Trojan horse has received a makeover. Shall we continue? To utter a familiar refrain from the Apostle Paul, "God forbid."
___ David Sparks
___ Lewisville
Sing or leave
___Enough complaining about worship music styles. Complaining does not accomplish anything. If you do not feel you can adequately worship God because of the style of worship music in your church, (either traditional or contemporary), you have two choices:
___* Sing. Stop the incessant whining, read the words of the songs your church is singing and praise God. Find the true meaning of the words, open your heart and let those words speak to you. Find time during the week to listen to the type of music you really like.
___* Leave. Find a church in which you can enthusiastically worship our Lord. You may even have to change denominations. If the pastor was not speaking the truth, or seemed to lack godly inspiration, or was not behaving appropriately, you would consider moving your membership. The same standard can be applied to worship music style.
___Let us stop writing letters and start lifting up the name of Jesus together, no matter what style of worship music.
___ Denise Tidwell
___ Pflugerville
No to Wade
___Having grown up in Texas and still considering Texas Baptists my roots and my identity, I am disappointed with the election of Charles Wade as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___I have known of Dr. Wade for several years and have heard him speak several times. In fact, God has ministered to me through his messages.
___But his close affiliation with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and negative comments about the Southern Baptist Convention make him a controversial choice. God willing, I intend to return to Texas to pastor some day, and to date, I still see the BGCT more than Southern Baptists of Texas as my "group."
___Actions such as these, however, have left me bewildered and wondering just what the agenda is for the BGCT. As imperfect as they may be, I still believe the best organizations to work with are the BGCT and the SBC.
___ David Packer
___ Singapore
___ Republic of Singapore
Yes to Wade
___I am thrilled Charles Wade is coming to lead Texas Baptists. I believe Charles may be the one person who can lead Texas Baptists into the new millennium without self-destructing.
___I will pray for him and Texas 2000, that we will start more and more churches and win Texas to Christ.
___ Ben Smith
___ Lewisville
Bickering nonsense
___In answer to Jim Thompson's letter (Sept. 15), I think people of good faith who have been Baptists all their lives would take exception to the Paul Pressler/Paige Patterson situation.
___Surely Mr. Thompson realizes what has been done to Southern Baptists by those two men. Not my cup of tea, and I would bet not a lot of other Baptists' cups of tea. But after all these years, enough is enough of extolling virtues of certain individuals.
___We are here to win people to Christ, not put such people as these on a pedestal, for goodness' sakes.
___The Prince of Peace wore the crown of thorns because he was worthy. Any time any of us is worthy of his grace and his love, we are very blessed people indeed. God has blessed my life so many times, and I am so grateful for his love and his Son, Jesus Christ. I love him because he first loved me.
___All this bickering and fighting over who is right or wrong is nonsense.
___ Darlene Corbitt
___ Tomball
Praise for Patterson
___Paige Patterson? The name seems synonymous with "Baptist." But since I don't know the man, never heard him preach, never read his books, nor am I knowledgeable about his viewpoints in theology, I'm unsure which side of the Southern Baptist Convention fence he stands on.
___Recently, I heard Bill O'Reilly on "The O'Reilly Factor" announce a Baptist minister would defend a statement made from the previous program. A Baptist group had voiced its need to pray for Jews to come to know Christ.
___"Oh, no!" I thought. "Not another episode of Baptist arrogance, another cream puff trying to wiggle his way through some wild accusations made by a religious community." It was not to be so.
___I saw simple, Bible-based one-liners, given in lay terms and with heartfelt humility and respect. Once again, I heard Jesus say, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me. ... I am the Light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the Light of life."
___Thank you for a marvelous witness. It was a stately tribute to a majestic King.
___ Anne Dirlam
___ Blanco
Come and see
___I would like to respond to the letter from the reader who wants the Baptist Standard to "stop including so much propaganda about the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship" (Oct. 6).
___Should the person care to be informed, he might learn that the Baptist Standard is charged to print all newsworthy information about Baptists in Texas (and around the world for that matter). We Baptists need to be informed in order to make decisions "rightly dividing the word of truth."
___To say the Fellowship material is "propaganda" sends up a red flag that the writer does not know when facts/truths are covered.
___The Fellowship is an authentic Baptist fellowship with an outstanding missions ministry--one that operates with great Christian integrity and commitment.
___The Fellowship actually was formed by the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention. Grady Cothen's book "What Happened to the Southern Baptist Convention?" gives careful documentation that is not taken out of context.
___It is unfortunate that when "light and salt and joy" come forth, many try to label it "propaganda."
___Come and see for yourself.
___ C. R. Hurst
___ Tyler
Two prayer lists
___I second Nadene Moore's opinion (Oct. 13) of Marv Knox's editorial on prayer at football games (Sept. 15).
___Prayer should not be removed for fear of other gods being prayed to.
___Mr. Knox, think carefully and pray diligently before you write your editorials, for we have Americans who believe everything they read or hear in the news. Our forefathers paved the way for us; let's not destroy it one stone at a time.
___A prayer at ballgames may be the only time some people have an opportunity to share/experience talking with God, and we all need his protection.
___ Maurine Scott
___ Sweetwater
Placing blame
___I have just read Nadene Moore's criticism of the editorial concerning prayer before high school football games. I appreciate the editorial and agree.
___I am concerned many people are blaming what's happening in our country on the courts' decisions regarding public prayer. In so doing, we miss the point that it might just be the church has failed to share the message of the cross with others and this could be much of the problem. I am far more concerned that we put prayer back in our homes and in our churches than putting it back in our schools.
___Further, it really concerns me when I hear people say God has been kicked out of our schools. If they feel that way, I would like to introduce them to the God I know. He has not been kicked out of any place.
___It is like someone recently said, "As long as there are algebra tests, there will be prayer in our public schools." My teenage daughter knows she can pray any time she wants to at school. Prayer does not have to be prayed publicly before a microphone in order to be heard by God.
___ Johnny R. Mansell
___ Ennis
Disturbing trend
___Nadene Moore's letter expresses one of the most disturbing trends in our midst--the tendency to decide that a person with whom ones disagrees is not a Christian.
___While Ms. Moore's letter stops just short of actually saying Mr. Knox is not a Christian because of his views, she does indicate God is not "real and personal" to him. She assumes because he disagrees with her, he is the one who needs to "turn his face toward God."
___Surely Christians can have different viewpoints without one being considered not a Christian or right with the Lord or whatever. Any other position smacks of papacy--which is alien to our belief structure.
___I disagree with Ms. Moore's statements, but I certainly would not entertain the thought that she is not a Christian. I would hope she might grant the same concession to Mr. Knox or to anyone else who disagrees with her on such issues.
___ Barbara Kent
___ Fort Worth
Wanting to pray
___I am writing in reference to "The real issue" (Oct. 5). A statement was made: "Is the real issue about prayer at high school football games that we want to pray but cannot? Or isthe problem someone is trying to tell us what we can or cannot do?" He went on to tell about the poor attendance at "See You at the Pole" and on Wednesday night prayer meeting, and maybe this showed that people don't want to pray.
___I also live in a small town (about 1,100 residents), but at our "See You at the Pole" rally, we had 50 youth take part, and that night at First Baptist Church, we had 47 youth come back for a "Saw You at the Pole" rally. So I think this shows that our youth and their leaders do want to pray.
___ I am glad I am a member of a church that still does want to pray and does.
___ Connie Butler
___ Austin
Apology
___Alcides Guajardo questioned my attitude after reading my comments about my encounters with James Dunn (online letters, Sept. 29). He was right. I apologize. I am also
___ Mr. Guajardo has obviously seen a side of Mr. Dunn that I haven't. What is interesting is that the co-workers of the head of the counseling ministry I mentioned say the same thing about him. Perhaps both should be a little more grace-filled in their comments about those with whom they disagree. As I should have before writing the aforementioned letter.
___I still believe Mr. Dunn's comments about those who support vouchers were inexcusable. We should be able to discuss such issues without character assassination and name-calling. I will seek to do better at that.
___ Bob Stith
___ Southlake
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