November 6, 2000
___We have observed that each time our leaders try to "save us," matters become worse. More ridicule in newspapers and on bumper stickers. More grief among you who are members of the "quiet majority." ___If political power cannot save us, who can save Southern Baptists from ourselves? ___Maybe not our leaders! Is it possible that once people become known as political leaders they lose their spiritual influence? God disarms them. ___They have tried with all their strength for some time now, ... all with the divine purpose of saving the gospel, purifying the convention, rescuing the churches. ___Why do Baptists need saving? Because our unique message is that spiritual freedom deserves freedom from control. If we can identify this as our real friend, then we can save ourselves from ourselves. ___ Todd and Doris Hamilton ___ League City Final meeting ___I have read with great dismay the reports from the "final" meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas that I have faithfully served for over 25 years. As far as I am concerned, the convention is no longer recognizable as my family. ___I was reading the convention bulletin and noticed something that produced tremendous fear in my heart. Doesn't it seem foreboding that the number of messengers reported in the convention bulletin was 6,664. It makes you wonder if this should tell us something--666 for. ___ A. G. Faulkner ___ Carrollton ___Editor's note: The final registration total was 6,713. Faith of fathers ___Texas Baptists exhibit the faith of their fathers! Amen! ___ Bud Strawn ___ St. Petersburg, Fla. No clothes ___I am a Southern, Texas and Golden Triangle Baptist. Since coming to Texas this June, I've been a fish out of water seeking my place. Though concerned about controversies in all of my associations, my most recent pursuit is discovering what it means to be a Texas Baptist. ___Experiencing multimedia presentations of Texas Baptist successes was exciting. But like a beautiful woman spitting Skoal, a single smudge stands out like a sore thumb. Why, if my soul was competent to hear from God when living in Florida, must I be told with flyers, letters and videos what I was to believe as a Texas Baptist? ___Constantly polarizing from the SBC with the word "they," the BGCT 2000 began. Charles Wade, using his executive director's report, spoke for upcoming motions, telling us what to vote. He told me to not align with "idolators" of the SBC. He told me my conscience was violated. And he called me and all Southern Baptists who respect democratic process "creedal" (the BGCT buzzword counterpart to "inerrant"). ___I am a Texas Baptist, but I am amazed how so many in this great state arbitrarily follow charismatic creeds of a political machine that spent so much time, money and effort to tell Texas Baptists what they believed. As a child among my seasoned elders, I am ashamed to say, "The emperor has no clothes." ___ Don Shirley ___ Lumberton Sick of fighting ___I know that this will not be printed, because your publication is controlled by the BGCT. ___I am sick to the point of physical nausea over the infighting that is happening between the BGCT and the SBC. Not only is it casting all Baptists in a bad light, but it is also dividing churches. ___The hypocritical stuffed-shirt "leaders" of the BGCT need to examine their motives. If they want to rewrite the Bible to fit their own lifestyles, so be it, but they should not call themselves Baptists! I implore leaders of both factions of this debate to stop wallowing in philosophical minutia and get back to doing what they were called to do, follow Christ in all things. ___Jesus should be their guide in all things, not some dogma that is voted on by a bunch of old, selfish men. Like it or not, God speaks to us through the Bible, and what is contained in the Bible is just as relevant today as it was when it was written. God doesn't change; we do. ___ Chris Cook ___ Round Rock God's blessings ___God bless Texas Baptists! ___ Paula Settle ___ Raleigh, N.C. Naive thought ___This year was my first to represent my church, Southcrest Baptist in Lubbock, at the BGCT annual session. I have, in the past, always believed that even though there have been significant differences concerning peripheral issues, there would always be a spirit of unity and fairness in the process of making solid decisions. I just naively thought we were all Christians first and that fairness would prevail. ___I was dismayed to see my pastor, David Wilson, utterly humiliated on the television screen for all the messengers to see. He attempted to ask a clarifying question regarding the motion to deny previous funding to SBC seminaries, but ruled "out of order" since the parliamentarian(s) thought his question was supposed to be about a "point of order." My pastor never got to ask his question. I also was amazed when the vote for this motion on the seminaries was finally taken, it was taken by a show of hands rather than secret ballot. ___It appears the agenda is now the SBC has their seminaries and the BGCT has theirs. I wonder what the "creedal" test will be to teach at Logsdon or Truett? Next convention, we may find that the International Mission Board is not accepting sufficient numbers from the BGCT seminaries as missionaries. It will be time to inaugurate and fund the BGCT mission board. I sure will be surprised. ___ David Rosenthal ___ Lubbock Cut off at knees ___How pathetic that the BGCT's God is capable only of providing for Texas. When churches I have served over the years have decided to move forward, it's not once been at the expense of another area of ministry within that local body. That, of course, would be completely contrary to the power of the God of the Bible who "provides all our needs according to his riches ..." ___To the lost, we have become a tremendous model of pride, selfishness and spiritual nearsightedness. The $17 million still going to the SBC International and North American mission boards looks really bold on paper. But in light of the recent decision in Corpus Christi, it is a giant step, biblically, backward. ___After Russell Dilday was fired as president of Southwestern Seminary--which I vehemently disagreed with--a local Dallas news personality told a group I was in, "To a lost world, Christians have gone in and mercilessly cut a man off at the knees." ___That, my friends, is exactly what we've done to our other seminaries. ___ Nick Watts ___ Lubbock Standing for Hobbs ___I first met Herschel Hobbs when I moved to Ada, Okla., in 1949 to become pastor of First Baptist Church. We were close friends until the day he died. He was a great man, dedicated servant of God and outstanding Bible scholar. No one today can begin to measure up to him. How he is missed! ___If you knew Herschel Hobbs, one thing you knew for sure was he could not be "duped" by anyone. To have his character reflected on in such a way (by current leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention) is very disappointing, and, I feel, un-Christian. ___In my 85 years, I have witnessed many things, but nothing compares to what is now taking place in the SBC. I have not involved myself in the controversy but have tried to be faithful in praying for all my friends and that "God's will be done." ___However, reading the statement that "Hobbs was duped by neo-orthodox individuals who heavily influenced the 1963 document" made my blood boil. He is not here to defend himself, and I proudly stand up for him. ___ Paul M. Stevens ___ Former president ___ Radio & Television Commission ___ Fort Worth Moderates close-minded ___It is a depressing day to see the Baptist General Convention of Texas cave in to the closed-minded attitude of the moderates. ___ Consequently, the progressive Baptists of Texas, for integrity's sake, had no choice but to form another union. I have personally experienced the wrath of the moderates, and they have no mercy, openness or progressive thinking. As a Mission Service Corp volunteer, I was all but crucified by the moderates because "we have never done it this way before." ___ The moderates could not tolerate new ideas in worship, giving or ministry. In comparison, the fundamentalists were always progressive and supportive. The moderates cannot share leadership, except among their own. It is a sad day for Baptists and even a sadder day for the kingdom of God. ___ Lee Brown ___Fort Worth Need proof ___The Standard ran a story where the pastor of First Baptist Church in Pampa said, "There are many BGCT leaders who do not hold a position of inerrancy of the Scriptures" (Aug. 21). ___ I e-mailed him and asked him: Did you say that? If you said it, do you really believe it? If you believe it, who are these "leaders"? ___ No response has come, and so I must conclude it is much easier to make these statements than it is to prove them. it is time for people to stand up, and when these kind of statements are made to ask the people who make them to prove them. ___ James E. Garrett ___Arlington Is Christ divided? ___If as Baptists we take the word of God as our guide, let us read the book of Jude and take our place on one side of the fence or the other. ___If not surely being lukewarm, the Lord will spit us out. How can such pride enter into the kingdom of heaven. Try Mark 4:17-19. ___ What will come of Christians who embrace worldly views? Maybe even Mark 7:7-9. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13. Is Christ divided? ___Jim Garrison ___ Augusta, Ga. Admire Jimmy Carter ___ Having long admired and respected President Jimmy Carter but never able to adequately express my appreciation, I find myself indebted to M. Tahaney (online letters, Oct. 30) because of the wonderful comparison he drew between the president and my Lord. ___ Contemporary religious leaders of Jesus also found it difficult to take seriously anything he said because he ate with tax collectors and sinners. ___ Ronald Jackson ___ El Paso Goodbye, Jimmy Carter ___ Goodbye, Jimmy Carter, I'll miss you. You are the kind of Southern Baptist this country loves. ___ You are an enthusiastic supporter of Habitat for Humanity, but your voice is muted in attacking Planned Parenthood and other baby murderers. You send a letter out condemning the Southern Baptist Convention but were strangely silent when that other Southern Baptist, Bill Clinton, had sex with an intern and then lied about it. You've decried the fundamentalist drift of the SBC while overlooking the liberal drift of the Democratic party. ___ Yes, you are a great Southern Baptist--pious, blind and ineffectual. Goodbye! ___Michael C. Phillips ___Copperas Cove Come out from among them... ___Jimmy Carter has joined those that the Apostle Paul spoke of in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The falling away doesn't mean they quit going to church, they just quit believing the Bible. And all those will be dealt with by God as he said in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. ___ When you believe that a homosexual can be saved without changing and being delivered from that sin, then you are calling God a liar and you take sides with Satan. Let's have more conservatives if it means people who will stand on the word of God and not compromise convictions. ___Jesus said he is the fulfillment of the law. He said, "If you love me, keep my commands." Moderates don't keep his commands. If you love him, you will want to be like him, not the world. ___ Come out from among them and "be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing." ___ John Vandenberg ___ Brazoria More debate time needed ___ As a messenger at the BGCT in Corpus Christi, I was saddened at the orchestration involved with the defunding debate. There should have been at least an hour set aside to debate the original motion after all amendments were settled. ___ I timed the process carefully. Including the amendments, the total time used was 31 minutes. The chair-stated 45-minute allotment was not honored. ___ Mark Wingfield and Marv Knox reported in the online Baptist Standard that the vote was "... 75 percent to 80 percent of messengers voting in favor ..." Later in the same article, they noted that the second vote, the funding vote, was taken by ballot with the results being "74 percent (4,194) affirmative and 26 percent (1,426) negative." Were Knox and Wingfield were present at the end of the first vote and observed the mass exit of messengers? Logic would dictate that it was not the "winners" of the first vote who left. Therefore, the first vote could have been nowhere even close to 80-20 in favor of defunding. It was more like 60-40, maybe 65-35. I hope that this is only a math error on their part and not further evidence of the questionable orchestration observed. ___ Art Williams ___ Boerne ___ Editor's Note: The 45-minute period for considering the Seminary Study Committee recommendations included the presentation of the report.
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