Texas Baptist Forum
Looks familiar
___While watching politicians bang it out in Florida with threats, accusations and rumors, I thought, "Where have I heard this before?"
___Suddenly, it occurred to me that it is the same thing Baptists have been doing for the

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last several weeks, if not years. Everyone thinks they are right, but the reality is that we sound and look a whole lot like the world. We are a long way from the prayer of Jesus for his followers in John 17, and we are a long way from credibility!
___ Larry Venable
___ Garland

Two topics
___I would like to address two topics that are being discussed among Texas Baptists--creedalism and the priesthood of the believer.
___The Southern Baptist Convention's recent move to use the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message as a standard for doctrine and practice is not the first time central Baptist authorities have attempted a "top to bottom" use of power in making decisions for churches.
___English General Baptists of the 17th century built a relatively centralized associational structure based in London. When representatives from General Baptist churches met, they made decisions about doctrine and practice to which General Baptist churches affiliated with the central association had to conform. The idea that Baptists have always held to the strict autonomy of the local church is thus, though generally true, something of a myth.
___The other hot topic is the absence of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer in the 2000 BF&M. The ecclesiological aspect to the priesthood of believers usually is missing from presentations of the doctrine. The church is to be a gathered community called from the world in order spiritually to build up its members with Christ and with each other.
___Almost every moderate preacher or seminary president whom I have heard or read (I have only attended moderate churches) has largely ignored this essential element within this teaching, painting a false conception of Baptist thought on the subject.
___ Russell Campbell
___ Lewisville

Free to get on
___I read with interest comments about the Baptist General Convention of Texas in Corpus Christi. I have seen the calls for reconciliation, the grief over what has been lost and the pronouncement of the end of the Cooperative Program.
___I see things differently. What happened in Corpus marks a new day for Texas Baptists. For the first time in 20-plus years, we are free to get on with the business of the kingdom of God.
___I have been a Baptist pastor for 25 years. Of those years, 21 have been spent in the midst of Baptist wars. I have watched as Bold Mission Thrust died in the midst of bickering. I have watched as Christians acted in an un-Christian manner against other Christians. Finally, we can move beyond that. Now, for the first time in many years, we can get on with the work we were called to do.
___For some churches, it will be hard. Those are churches whose pastors have sought to "protect" them from the fray. Now, Baptists must be intentional in their giving. They must be informed so they can make their own decisions. That is one of the most "Baptist" things we can do.
___I suspect the division between the SBC and the BGCT will work the way of many church splits. Apart, we will both do better than we ever did together. God can use this for the glory of his kingdom.
___ Steve Vernon
___ Levelland

Shameful acts
___As I returned from the BGCT annual session and reflected on some of the events, two things stood out as shameful in my mind.
___First was the vote on the Seminary Study Committee's proposed changes. Yes, I believe Texas Baptist have the right to vote and make their own choices. What I don't believe is that the vote was "overwhelming." It looked to me that the vote would be much closer than that and that a secret ballot should have been called to get an accurate accounting of Texas Baptist desires.
___Convention leadership needed to step forward and call for the secret ballot rather than pushing through what was obviously a personal agenda.
___The second thing also deals with the Seminary Study Committee's report. It was interesting that one of the main complaints against the SBC seminaries was the signing of 2000 Baptist Faith & Message as an "instrument of doctrinal accountability" and that the chairman of the committee then complained that an SBC seminary would hire someone from another denomination that doesn't believe just like we do to serve as a professor.
___Sounded to me like there was a desire to hold the SBC accountable for who they hired, but that the SBC could not have any accountability standards for the hiring process.
___What a shame!
___ Jerry Bontrager
___ Cleveland

Scripture speaks
___Scripture has strong words which all of us in the SBC need to take seriously. I am ashamed of those who have used political methods to generate controversy in our body.
___Titus 3:9-11 tells us how to respond to the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message: "But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned."
___ William H. Osborne
___ Houston

Opting out
___Texas Baptists have been accused of "destroying the Cooperative Program."
___In actual fact, the fundamentalists destroyed the "cooperative" part, beginning with their takeover in 1979. Now the mainline leaders of the BGCT have at long last begun to opt out of the "program."
___ Dan Gentry Kent
___ Fort Worth

Good ol' boys
___Having come back from my first state convention, I was appalled at the way our so-called BGCT leadership treated those messengers who either had a question about certain issues or if they were against the issue.
___It smacked of nothing else but "good ol' boy" leadership. What is the BGCT leadership afraid of anyway? Probably, they realize that the laity are not in line with their leadership and will do anything to curtail this action. The way speakers described SBC leaders showed me what type of people they really are.
___Outside, they say we really want to work with the SBC, but inside these men seem to be more mean-spirited than anything else.
___ Keith Rogers
___ Saint Jo

Break immediately
___We know there were leaders who manipulated the hierarchy of the SBC to take control. We know that those same leaders are imposing their beliefs and restrictions on Texas Baptists.
___The Cooperative Program and the seminaries will not suffer if Texas Baptists continue their present course or leave the SBC altogether. Money abounds in our country, much of it available from Baptists.
___Reconciliation is a synonym for negotiation. Negotiation assumes that each individual or group in dissent will relinquish some vital aspect of its terms. Jesus did not negotiate. His terms were explicit and final.
___We know that the SBC is not about to relinquish anything. Texas Baptists will be the losers in any negotiation with the SBC. Realizing this will relieve conflict and speed Texas Baptists on their way toward their orignal purpose of commitment to evangelism.
___Make the break immediately and be done with this turmoil.
___ Don Phillips
___ Fort Worth

Choose sides
___For some time over 20 years, we have sought to reconcile the factions in our SBC--men and women of faith, people of the Bible, people who love Christ's church. For 20 years, these people have prayed for an end to controversy. And yet we are still split. Is God deaf? Does he not hear our prayers for healing?
___Both sides of the debate seek an answer from God. What is that answer? After 20 years of the fighting, God's answer is, "I can and will use both groups to do my will--to fulfill my ministry and mission."
___Let's choose up sides. Wish the other side well and assure each other of our prayers and support where we can support each other and get on with the mission and ministry of Jesus.
___ George Roach
___ Brownsville

Everyone suffers
___Upon reading the three articles (Oct, 2) on clergy sexual abuse, I was comforted to know that something is being done apart from "sweeping things under the rug."
___Our church and pastor suffer, as he has admitted openly to more than one incident.
___This disclosure has opened doors of other abuses in his leadership and relationships. The result has been quite damaging to this church and our witness in our community.
___We were not prepared for the firestorm that resulted as members polarized. Now, months later, most are no longer attending. The greatest tragedy has been with older members, who expected more from their pastor, and with our youth, who are so disillusioned that many have moved to other circles and churches.
___We needed a faithful model in an unfaithful world. Relationships between our pastor and members were not sufficient, on the whole, to sustain a blow like this.
___The reporting system set up by the BGCT minister/church relations office is a step in the right direction. Sister churches have a responsibility to report serious matters, especially where the character flaw has resurfaced in the pastor's life. Clergy sexual abuse could be symptomatic.
___Churches, encourage your staff to set up a functioning group that can keep your shepherds sincere and truthful, so he can remain fruitful and useful. Our pastor didn't have one, and everyone suffers.
___You owe it to him and to the Lord.
___ Name withheld by request

Men make errors
___I refer my fellow Baptists to 2 Kings 24:8, where it says Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he began to reign, and 24:17, where it says Mattaniah was Jehoiachin's uncle. Then turn over to 2 Chronicles 36:9, and it reads that Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he began to reign and 36:10, where is says that Zedekiah was his brother. Even a child can read this and see it is an error.
___God did not write the Bible and did not make these errors--men did. God does not make errors, but all men do.
___The leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention make errors when they fire fine Christian persons just because they do not believe exactly like they want them to. It is not Christian love but a form of Christian hate.
___We are to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.
___Think about it.
___ Earl Newland
___ Waco

Electoral College needed
___ Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin and other signers of the U.S. Constitution may have been wiser than some 21st-century Americans give them credit.
___ The electoral college (a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which each state is entitled in the U.S. Congress) gives each state representation in the vote for the U.S. president. Electoral representation reduces potential mob-ocracy by large population states and protects the rights and the representation of the smaller states.
___ For example, if a popular candidate from California drew 70 percent of the California vote, 70 percent of the New York vote and a high percentage of the vote in a few other states, the presidential candidate could win the popular U.S. vote even though the candidate may have lost in over 40 other U.S. states.
___ To protect the rights and the representation of the states, and the rights and the representation of the citizens within those states in the federal election process, the electoral college, though perhaps not in the best interest of each individual American citizen, is in the best interest of the states, and thereby is in the best interest of the nation as a whole which is comprised of those states.
___ Robert Franklin
___ Sulphur Springs

'Unwanted' children a testimony against the church
___ A recent letter showed clearly why misinformation is the real issue in discussions of abortion (Oct. 23). The letter had errors of theology, science and sociology.
___ The letter stated "I am not sure that ending a fetal life ... is a sin in God's sight." Exodus 21:22 gives the punishment of accidental harm to a fetus. Many other Scriptures clearly indicate God's attitude regarding the value of a fetus. The author of the letter is clearly misinformed on theology. The letter referenced the "sacredness of human life," but excluded the life of a fetus. To hold that a fetus has no life is to be medically misinformed. By every medical measure, a fetus is alive. Not even lawyers will debate fetal life; they only debate fetal rights and equal protection.
___ The worst misinformation of all is the reference to "an unwanted child." This is a fantasy in a world where people pay tens of thousands of dollars for a child. Mother Teresa told the Clintons that she had homes for as many children as they could find. The problem is not with finding homes but with redirecting money from killing to providing homes.
___ The letter states "If both are evil, the latter is the greater," referring to abortion and "bringing an unwanted child into this world." The Scriptures tell us "God is love." Any unwanted child is an atrocious testimony against God's church in whole and Christians as individuals.
___ The true "greater evil" is to fail to love.
___ Bob Graham
___ Richardson

Falwell, Bush and alcohol
___ Baptists have opposed the use of alcohol as a beverage for as long as I can remember. However, this seems to be changing.
___ In 1992, President Bush announced a "beer and burgers" campaign slogan as a "cornerstone" for his re-election campaign. I attempted to get Southern Baptist leaders to protest, but, instead, they invited him to speak at their annual meeting!
___ Recently, we were told Gov. George W. Bush was arrested 24 years ago for DUI. This wasn't a surprise or a shock. The disgusting thing was the way people tried to justify, rationalize and whitewash this crime.
___ Jerry Falwell said the arresting officer had stated that Bush was "a picture of integrity" when arrested. I have heard many officers comment about drunks operating motor vehicles, and have never heard such a description. Falwell added, "And, most importantly, he didn't drive off a bridge and kill anyone." The only difference between a drunk who drives and kills someone and one who drives and doesn't kill someone is the availability of a victim. The morality of the two is the same. Falwell also noted Bush had to surrender his Maine driver's license but continued to drive with a Texas license (which Falwell seems to think is OK).
___ Falwell has been embraced as a member of the SBC "inner circle." So long as the SBC leadership continues this relationship, it will be difficult for the SBC to have any credibility as a Christian organization.
___ Carl L. Hess
___ Ozark, Ala.

Profs should trade tenure for academic freedom
___ My wife and I have come up with a solution to the impasse over requiring professors at the seminaries to sign the Baptist Faith & Message.
___ There is a simple tradeoff: The professors don't sign the statement but do sign a statement acknowledging that they can be terminated at any time by the seminary board of trustees without recourse to an appeals process.
___ In other words, they trade their right to teach liberal heresy for the privilege of the protections afforded by having tenure. This would allow them to have the academic freedom they are so committed to without committing the seminary to pay them for it.
___ Any seminary professor who truly believes in their right to teach unfettered by a doctrinal statement should jump on this compromise as the solution to their problem.
___ Michael C. Phillips
___ Copperas Cove

The plot thickens
___ Today at church, a copy of "What's All the Fuss About?--Baptist Faith &
___ Message Analysis" was provided for me to take home and read. On page 10, there was a footnote stating that Gary E. Parker of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship had prepared the analysis. Then on the back cover there was a corporate logo--"A New Way to be Baptist, CBF, Atlanta."
___ Would it be possible the SBC knows that all the "facts" brought out by the CBF publication cannot be contested and are refusing to issue statements addressing the points of doctrine discussed by this CBF employee? Wow! On the basis of these allegations, all Texas Baptists must join the CBF group immediately.
___ To top this, the Baptist Standard's Managing Editor, Mark Wingfield, revealed the contents of a copy of the minutes to a 1995 meeting of some key SBC leaders who were identified by name (Oct. 30). From my interpretation of this article,"1995 memo notes concern about Texas," it seems that the discussion of the situation in Texas was by a group of "conservatives." Wow and double wow!
___ Now the sinister plot thickens!! Are we now saying that the "conservatives" among Baptists are "out to get" Texas Baptists? Are we talking about a conspiracy?
___ Carter Price
___ San Antonio






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