June 9, 1999
Texas Baptist Forum
Stand for ...
___Calvinism, female deacons, public schools, Muslims, abortion, homosexuality. ... The list of things we Baptists stand against is too long to publish!
___It's time we stopped looking for wrongs to stand against and started standing for what is right--the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ.
___If we adequately reached out to the world with the truth in love, we could stop worrying about the rest of this stuff. Instead, we argue about minutiae and see who can find the most things to condemn.
___Sometimes, folks, the devil really is in the details--and by focusing on those things about which even intelligent, caring, informed people can and will disagree, we fail to focus on what is most important--spreading the gospel.
___ Deborah Rather
___ Waxahachie
Poor & immature
___Of all the reasons, valid or invalid, to stop cooperating, the poorest and most immature are again (as they so often are) spoken by Marv Knox and Leroy Fenton in the article on the Cooperative Program fifth giving plan and the editorial regarding the same matter (May 26).
___Fenton says, "The SBC leadership continue a process of partisan appointment to boards and agencies, a misuse of power and a political exclusiveness."
___Knox states, "If key SBC leaders wish to restore relationships, they can start by including all Baptists in positions of leadership and service."
___Come on, guys, that sounds like the school-ground chant, "If I can't make the rules, I'll take my marbles and go home." If the game must be divided, let's do it because of something that really matters and doesn't smack of childishness.
___ Bill Weaver
___ North Richland Hills
Cooperative option
___We have yet another option for Cooperative Program giving.
___As a pastor, I would feel there was a lack of confidence in the leadership if our congregation felt the need to have a multiple choice for their giving.
___Is this an indication we cannot trust our state leaders in being good stewards of God's money? Or is this another way to manipulate and play politics with the offerings many churches so faithfully give?
___I have to read between the lines in this publication the same as I would any secular newspaper. I still believe "is" means "is," "yea" means "yea," and "nay" means "nay."
___I admonish our leaders to come out and tell us where you are going, let us know exactly what you think is so wrong with our national convention, and list them one by one, don't just pull out the same old "fundamentalist" branding iron.
___We are big people; we can handle straightforward facts. And besides, don't forget, we might want an option to eliminate your salary if you give us too many choices!
___ Danny Shearman
___ Dennis
Scholars missing
___As a Southern Baptist seminary ethics professor for 15 years who has studied gender issues, I was troubled by the LifeWay announcement about its new Bible translation.
___To claim "most conservative scholars in evangelical Christianity have strongly opposed this notion (inclusive language), insisting on retaining masculine references, especially to God" is just not accurate.
___I can easily name scores of scholars teaching at Baptist colleges and seminaries, as well as those at evangelical schools like Wheaton, Denver Conservative, Trinity Evangelical and Gordon-Conwell, who support inclusive versions that accurately translate the Scriptures.
___No reputable evangelical theologian believes God is male --a Mormon doctrine. God is the creator of sexuality, not a procreator fertility god!
___Perhaps this explains why "Texans on the team" of translators include no scholar from any SBC-related university or seminary. A retired Southwestern Seminary professor is included with three from Dallas Theological and three from Criswell College. Where have all the scholars gone?
___ Joe Trull
___ Wimberly
Stop pointing
___I agree with some of the newest letters concerning Calvinism. It is time to stop pointing fingers. As the gospel song "It's By Love" says, "They will never hear our preaching if we keep on disagreeing."
___It is all right to have different interpretations of Scripture if it doesn't affect our relationship with Christ. If the doctrine doesn't conflict with the gospel of Jesus Christ, it shouldn't bother us if somebody believes differently than we do.
___Jesus said we need to preach the kingdom of heaven is near. If we are arguing about minor topics, how do we have the time to preach the kingdom of heaven? I have been a Southern Baptist all my life, and I have always had the right to have different interpretations. Even as members of local churches, we all don't interpret Scripture the same.
___If we are focusing on God with 100 percent of who we are, then we won't have time to worry about anybody that interprets Scripture differently.
___We must worry about our relationship with the Creator and Savior before we worry about differences of interpretation. If we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he will take care of these other things.
___ Preston Tullos
___ Liverpool
Observant humor
___I have no problem with Baptist Standard cartoons. However, the editor should be diligent in assuring that the cartoons reflect humorously toward particular Baptist tenets and not reflect upon other denominations.
___I have "observed the Lord's Supper" in Southern Baptist churches many times since March 1950, but I have never "eaten communion" (May 12) in a Southern Baptist church.
___ James Richardson
___ Kilgore
Hallelujah Diet
___Thanks for the article on the Hallelujah Diet (May 26). I have followed a modified version for several years just for good health practice and to assist with an immune-suppressed condition called Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. MCS cannot be treated through traditional medicine, and I have found the diet and lifestyle outlined by George Malkmus to be very helpful.
___We have the finest emergency health care and medicine ever, but certain immune-suppressed chronic conditions and even cancer often cannot be healed through the traditional methods of drugs, surgery and chemicals. The Hallelujah Diet is one of many options that can be useful as a healing medium for these and for most other health conditions. It can be very effective at building the immune capacity to provide an internal environment for healing at the cell level.
___ Harold Harrison
___ Mesquite
Pray for Serbs
___The situation of Albanian refugees in Kosovo is horrifying. We pray for them and are glad for the help they receive.
___But few people acknowledge the other sufferers of NATO-- the people of Serbia. When bombs are dropped, even smart bombs, people die. Remember the carnage in Oklahoma City?
___These are not disposable people. They are men, women and children whom people love and for whom Christ died.
___There is also lingering suffering. NATO is destroying their infrastructure. They were a poor country before, and there were huge numbers of refugees who had been driven out of Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. Who will feed them now?
___Our government has distorted the truth about Serbia, but you can learn it all in any recent book of Balkan history.
___I have a loved one who asks me, "Why?" I can't explain.
___Milosevic is evil, and most Serbs oppose him. But how can even Christian writers show such hatred for Serbian people?
___Any war with a mostly Muslim people is a religious war. We have a commandment to "go and make disciples ..." Muslims have a command to make Muslims and kill Christians they can't convert.
___Let us pray for the Serbian people and prepare to aid them when this is over.
___ Bianca Hoffman
___ Cross Plains
Free is good
___Your decision to make the Standard available to folks per Internet for free is great.
___I'm hoping this availability will especially aid missionaries like myself who have Internet access all over the world. This will mean we can get up-to-date stories about Baptist life back home without having to wait on boat-mail deliveries, which are over one month old.
___Your change is a step in the direction of the media-driven future of our globe.
___ Jim Smith
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