May 15, 2000
Texas Baptist Forum
Medical impact
___Southern Baptist mission hospitals are making a difference in our world. As hospitals are turned over to nationals, they still are effective in Christian evangelistic ministry.
___Bangalore Baptist Hospital in India is faithfully continuing its mission. Dr. Rebekah Naylor of Texas still is on the staff, but the administration is under leadership of Indian nationals.
___We recently spent five weeks at the hospital as consultants. I saw much more than a health care facility.
___Four recently graduated medical doctors spent a month observing medical care in India. Each doctor experienced growth in Christian faith observing the Christian staff.
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___Nurses and chaplains are being trained. A health program for children and pregnant women is provided. U.S. doctors train resident physicians in the latest technology. A doctor, a nurse and a social worker provide a caring hospice service. Bible study, prayer and worship are part of scheduled activities.
___Dr. Ellen Palmer from the University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing and three other nurses spent one week teaching at the hospital. Newspapers wrote about Bangalore students receiving technical degrees from U.S. institutions via the Internet. Ellen asked an obvious question: Why not an Internet link with the UTA School of Nursing and the Bangalore Hospital, making UTA degrees available to Bangalore nurses?
___ Bill Osborne
___ Houston
Book of Life
___I love the article "Texas churches with increased baptisms" (April 24). However, it doesn't show the whole picture. Baptisms are wonderful, but that is not what salvation is all about. It is about accepting Jesus as your Savior.
___The number of baptisms is not the number of those who accepted Christ.
___We should sometimes ask the question, "How many people came to know Jesus as their Savior?" and not "How many were baptized?" We may record baptisms in our church record book, but what really matters is if their names are written in God's Book of Life.
___Let us focus on that book and not the book of man. Baptisms are wonderful; salvation is heavenly.
___ Richard Ray
___ Centerville
The Baptist way
___Thanks for the articles on E.Y. Mullins (April 17). If readers are encouraged to (re)read what Mullins and other Baptist theologians have written, it will have been a conversation worth having. However, the article may have left the impression I am as negative about the Mullins legacy as the Founders' movement is.
___The question of what is and is not worth keeping from the theological heritage of previous generations is an important question.
___Mullins retained the conversionist conviction that previous generations of Baptists had lived out, as well as the evangelical doctrines his predecessors like J.P. Boyce had thought out. By adapting these convictions and doctrines to modern psychology and theology, Mullins believed he was protecting Christianity from the onslaughts of rationalistic philosophy and skeptical science. His aim was to move Baptists faithfully and effectively into the 20th century. In many ways, he succeeded.
___As we enter a new millennium, we may rediscover in our heritage others who can help us to revision the Baptist way for the next generation. We may find that some of the most important voices for the future will not be familiar North American ones, but those from the Southern Hemisphere: Latin America, Africa and East Asia.
___If we listen closely to them, we may well stumble onto viable models for relating the gospel to our post-Christendom culture.
___ Curtis W. Freeman
___ Houston
Alarming number
___I just received my 1999 Baptist General Convention of Texas Annual. As I looked through the statistical information, I was alarmed about the small number of messengers making decisions for Texas Baptists.
___Of the 4,872 churches, only 750 churches (15 percent) were represented by messengers at the 1999 BGCT annual meeting. This translated to 2,299 messengers.
___The top five associations were Dallas, 253; Tarrant, 184; El Paso, 157; Union, 106; and Waco, 87. I hope these meager numbers say something to us.
___Although it may be a simplistic formula, if the 4,872 churches would send three messengers each (based on last years' 2,299 divided by 750 and not nearly the maximum number allowed), it would total 14,616 messengers. I'm not sure the convention city or center could accommodate such a number, but perhaps it would speak clearly on what and how Texas Baptists really think.
___I will be encouraging our three associations in the Sabine Neches Baptist Area to be better represented this year. Hope to see at least 14,615 of you joining me at Corpus Christi Oct. 30-31.
___ Jerry Redkey
___ Kirbyville
Little progress
___I am saddened by how little progress we Southern Baptists have made in so many areas.
___People still divide believers into categories, pinning labels on "those who follow Scripture" and "those who follow experience." It is especially disturbing when our so-called leaders are the ones heading the charge to "burn the heretics" of the false religion of experience.
___The problem is this is a case of the infamous "either-or" fallacy. Life is never as simple as "either-or," and neither is this issue. We all come to Scripture with our own experiences, and we all must interpret Scripture as best as we know how.
___Some of our theology is set in stone, and yet there is a great amount of freedom in Scripture for various interpretations of many, many issues and ideas. If we truly believe God is behind Scripture, and Scripture contains certain ambiguities, shouldn't we have learned by now the importance of humility? Shouldn't we allow others to come to God through Scripture by their own convictions and with their own responsibility to God? Why are we trying to control everyone's thoughts and beliefs?
___Until we can admit that all of us choose certain portions of Scripture to read literally and yet all of us disregard other portions which we feel are not applicable to our times, we will forever be mired in the dismal swamp of bickering, hypocrisy and Pharisaism.
___ James Moore
___ Houston
Pure hearts
___I found "Singing and sin" (April 3) confusing. Is Craig McCloy proposing a select few styles--or a style--of music are acceptable to God? If so, I'd like to know where those can be found in the Bible.
___The use of contemporary music for worship is not primarily to "get people in the door," but to speak to today's culture in a language they understand and relate to. That's why the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible were translated into English. That's why we don't sing in Latin.
___It's sad the use of different styles of music in worship is considered "lowering our standards." Should we go back to when music had no harmony or rhythm? Would that please God? God has gifted many musicians and desires they use the gifts he's given them for his glory.
___McCloy and I find common ground on this point: God is holy. Now, that's scriptural. Everything else is preference. God wants our hearts to be pure and holy as we worship him; regardless of the style.
___ David Earnest
___ Jacksonville, Fla.
Blessed moment
___It has been interesting and exciting to read of the Texas Baptist Family Reunion at Glorieta. For all my life, our family has participated in an annual Texas Baptist family reunion the last week of July in the cool Davis Mountains at Paisano.
___My parents first took me to Paisano in 1956, when I was six weeks old. My children, ages 15 and 12, have been to Paisano every summer of their lives and would sacrifice just about any other trip or opportunity in order not to miss Paisano.
___There, too, we enjoy the fellowship with Baptist Christian friends from every corner of Texas and beyond. There is unparalleled Bible study led by great Baptist leaders, inspirational singing and a tradition of Spirit-led preaching begun with a cowboy camp meeting led by George W. Truett.
___Three summers ago, our son was baptized on a hillside at Paisano while our "family" sang "Shall We Gather at the River." What a blessed moment and one he will cherish until the days he takes his children and grandchildren to that special place God has given us called Paisano.
___ Barry Moak
___ Abilene
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