February 24, 1999

Texas Baptist Forum

Teletubbies
___Jerry Falwell has gone too far, deciding there is a homosexual Teletubby. If he had done his research, he would understand the symbol on Tinky-Winky's head is nothing more than an antenna. And children who watch this program think a purse is like a backpack, a place to carry things.
___Thanks to Mr. Falwell, parents now have 3- and 4-year-olds asking,

___

e-mail marvknox@flash.net

"What is a homosexual?" My husband and I watch our children's programming with them to check it out. Lately, the main thing I find tasteless is Jerry Falwell, who doesn't think before he speaks.
___ Stephanie Kidd
___ Shamrock

Who's Antichrist?
___Jerry Falwell has spoken, saying the Antichrist is probably among us. My reaction is full-fledged skepticism.
___The first five years of my Christian life were among the Pentecostals, where I heard that Joseph Stalin was the Antichrist and the Soviet Union was the "Gog/Magog" to be feared.
___Stalin died, the Soviet Union collapsed, and we're still here.
___In the 60 years meantime as a Baptist, I've learned this kind of thing has been around since Jesus' time.
___God doesn't keep a calendar, and he has seen many millennia come and go.
___ Avery Lee
___ New Orleans

Watershed issue
___Having ministered to homosexuals for three years, as well as being involved in forums attempting to establish dialogue across the divide between gays and ex-gays, I find myself somewhere between letters from Mr. Harkins and Mr. Victor (Feb. 17).
___I don't see one Sunday school lesson--and it being the first so far as I know--as being a crusade. Indeed, it is far past the time when we addressed this issue.
___It has been my experience that the church is either silent or it vilifies the person as well as the sin.
___This will be a watershed issue for the church. I long for the day when we will address the issue with openness, honesty, compassion and redemptiveness. We already are years behind, and we need help desperately.
___ Bob Stith
___ Southlake

Maddening
___We Baptists have offended some homosexual groups by one of our Sunday school lessons (Feb. 17).
___Good! It is time that someone got unhappy about our teachings. Until we make some groups mad, we are not doing very much for our faith. I am offended by many of the teachings of groups that dislike Christians but have not seen any change in their policy. Why should we care what they think of our beliefs?
___ Felton Martin
___ Santa Anna

Rural training
___I enjoyed your articles concerning ministering in a rural setting (Feb. 3). It is great to see Truett Theological Seminary and Logsdon School of Theology offering classes to meet needs that often go unmentioned.
___Unfortunately, you accidentally failed to mention a wonderful class being offered at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Paul Stevens has taught this class, "Ministering in Rural America," for four years.
___Stevens takes his students to settings where they can see first hand the structure and operation of a rural church. The students meet with the local pastor, school administrators, business owners and church members. They dialogue with these people about what it takes to minister effectively in the rural setting.
___This class has proved to be very effective. The only way it would be more beneficial is if it were made a requirement for all seminary students.
___ Gary Nunn
___ Santo

Bible's value
___The lawyer who purchased the Bible owned by Madalyn Murray O'Hair (Feb. 3) demonstrated how our value system is pointed in the wrong direction. The value of a Bible does not come from who owned it but from the One who wrote it.
___I am sure the Bible is similar to the message presented in the article titled "IMB appoints 54 in Houston service." Rather than selling that Bible to a museum, give it to one of the International Mission Board missionaries. They know what the true value of it is. They will use it to impact humanity, not to satisfy curiosity.
___ Ernie Montoya
___ Bryan

No spokesman
___Who told (BGCT President) Russell Dilday to represent me and my family? (Jan. 27, Feb. 3) I am a Texas Baptist, and he is not a spokesman for me. I do not, have not and probably will not agree with most of his positions, and I am certainly opposed to his latest "thing" against the Southern Baptists.
___Dividing churches is a thing of the past. Let's grow in a unified, cooperative fashion that emphasizes reaching the lost in our world. Let's not make the Southern Baptist Church a political platform for particular leanings. We've just got too much to do and not enough time to do it to bog down with vendettas.
___ Ron Largent
___ Rains County

Divert funds
___I must have missed something. I didn't know Texas Baptists felt a need to "pack a pistol to the preaching." Otherwise, why would the Christian Life Commission make that an issue for this legislative session?
___I've been helping count attendance at our church for years, and the only folks we see packing heat are police officers. I guess that's why it is called a "concealed carry" permit. If the pistol is not concealed, the owner is violating the law.
___Two of the five issues important to the CLC are trivial--guns in church, video gambling. School vouchers should have our support, if only to force the public school system into accountability. I am not so much in favor of vouchers as I am in favor of accountability, which is non-existent.
___If this is the best it can do, we need to eliminate the CLC and divert its funds to missions.
___ Mike Phillips
___ Copperas Cove

WWJD?
___As a Texas Baptist pastor for over 20 years and a seminary ethics teacher for the last 15 years, I am not surprised by what issues disturb Baptists. Three recent letters reacted to the legal prohibition of concealed weapons in churches.
___Without arguing the merits of the case--pastors who deserve to be shot, deacons who need more power and business meeting standoffs--I would like to ask: WWJD?
___We applaud young people for wearing bracelets that remind them to ask the pivotal question, "What would Jesus do?" Is that too idealistic for adults? Can you imagine Jesus toting a 9-mm pistol? Did Jesus call disciples to resort to violence or to be peacemakers?
___A better question is, "What would Jesus have me do?"
___ Joe Trull
___ Wimberly

Empower parents
___The U.S. Supreme Court let stand the Milwaukee, Wis., education-voucher program.
___The attorney who argued the case said, "The contention that school-choice plans violate separation of church and state is refuted by 50 years of Supreme Court jurisprudence."
___In tracing Supreme Court decisions, the Wisconsin Court found two key criteria--"neutrality" and "indirection." The Milwaukee program was found to be neutral because all low-income parents were eligible and all private-sector schools were eligible. The second criterion was met because tax monies reach religious schools indirectly because it is solely parental decisions that channel the monies, not the decree of the government. The program was held not to create an excessive church/state entanglement because the existing state monitoring of parochial schools was not changed.
___It is depressing to find the Christian Life Commission on the side of the state and its education monopoly, rather than the people, in this issue. It's time to empower parents, not the state, in the education of our children.
___ Tom Dodson
___ Arlington

No promise
___The "festering racism" letter (Feb. 3) reminded me that those suffering from this "rotten disease" have no promise of an eternal existence. Biblically speaking, there will be no divisions in heaven for racists, bigots, cliques, in-groups. Even the corners will be filled with those who love others as God so loved us.
___ Dorothy Taylor
___ Lockhart

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