July 24, 2000

Texas Baptist Forum
Soul-deep grief
___The emotion that grips me over the looming separation between the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention is soul-deep grief.
___The real problem is lack of faith (God can't handle the problem, so I have to do it for him) rather than inerrancy or error or swaying from tradition, coupled with an appalling absence of godly love.
___If a Christian is in error, the only God-acceptable response is one of loving exhortation,

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compassion and heart-felt grief if they refuse to listen. Satan has found a gap in our spiritual armor and is using the situation to attempt to destroy what God hath wrought, and the nit-picking and vitriolic back-biting (heartily reported by Baptist media, using secular methods to both increase readership and promote their own agenda) from both sides is ample proof of it.
___The real tragedy is that the Baptists had one of the most promising opportunities in the history of the church to make a difference in the world for Christ, and we are missing it because we are so caught up with internal struggle, and our witness is so damaged by it.
___God wants and demands that we repent, settle our differences with his leadership and counsel and turn our focus back to reaching a world well on its way to hell, or we will face certain judgment for our apostasy.
___ Ron Walker
___ Mathis

Why wait?
___Baptists' hairsplitting theologizing gives me a headache and heartache as I am surrounded by good people who are losing their hair because of chemo-therapy treatments. This constant belittling and highlighting of faults and disagreements with others is tiresome in the midst of families struggling to stay together and work through disagreements and problems.
___I wonder what the next volley of words will be.
___I also wonder how the Baptist World Alliance will handle the influx of so many new Baptist groups that are the result of this ongoing fight. Maybe reconciliation will take place around that table.
___If the leaders of our splinter groups were to be thrown into a common prison because of their faith in Christ, they would find each other, pray together, sing together, share memory verses together and seek to minister and to lead the other prisoners to Christ--together. Why wait until we are thrown into prison?
___ Bubba Stahl
___ Boerne

Back to work
___With all the talk about the Baptist Faith & Message, please keep one thing in mind: Our neighbors are lost, and they are dying without Jesus.
___It's time to get back to work.
___ Kerry Sutton
___ Kerrville

Boys & barbarians
___In the beginning, there were The Good Old Boys. They took turns being president of the SBC. They were an eclectic group, with little attention given to theology.
___But along came The Barbarians, who really didn't belong, but wanted in.
___There was much at stake--power, prestige and money. So they went for the jugular and usurped the rightful place of The Good Old Boys. There was much screaming, and soon their constituents were broken into two camps.
___The Sadducees, who draw their backing from the affluent, are the elite minority. They are comfortable with contemporary culture and can be quite amiable with talk show hosts. They downplay the supernatural and rigid biblicalism in favor of a religion that is aesthetically pleasing and socially respectable. The Pharisees are the religious rednecks. They are biblical literalists and given to legalism. They are able to marshal the unwashed multitudes to have their way in any electoral showdowns, and they are poor winners.
___The two sides continue to scream at each other, never really hearing one another.
___And the hungry sheep look up and are unfed.
___ Richard Berry
___ Longview

No surprise
___Why does your editorial view not surprise many (June 19, 26, July 10)?
___Charles Wade made an idiot out of himself at the SBC and made the TBGC look just like its leadership. The TBGC may leave, but you might be surprised when many Texas churches do not follow.
___ Kenneth Carpenter
___ Waskom

Integrity lacking
___Cooperation among Baptists is successful in our diversity and commitment to missions. It works best with integrity. Today, a lack of integrity is threatening our cooperative process in Texas.
___Some pastors make the misleading claim of more dollars for missions and are leading their churches to withdraw support from the BGCT and fund the newly formed Southern Baptists of Texas. The SBT keeps one-half of its receipts yet offers little in-state ministries and missions. One-half is sent to a singularly political entity, not to the Cooperative Program.
___Some hypocritically ridicule the BGCT and advocate withdrawing support while seeking funds from the BGCT for their churches' missions or for student aid at BGCT-supported schools.
___Other pastors and directors of missions are leading their associations to change constitutions and policies removing the BGCT name. Associations have entered into cooperative agreements with the BGCT and enjoyed the support, funding and resources for years, and now the same beneficiaries unethically want to undermine BGCT support.
___Churches are free to choose a cooperative preference. Texas Baptists agree local church autonomy is a bedrock principle. While maintaining church autonomy, we must be accountable in our stewardship of cooperative funds. The time has come to require a relationship with the BGCT in order to participate in the resources of the BGCT. In other words, possess integrity in our cooperation.
___ George McCain
___ Royse City

Love one another
___I am the 17-year-old daughter of a Baptist minister in a West Texas town. There are always issues of the Baptist Standard at our house, and several months ago I began to read them. However, I now tell myself I should quit reading the Baptist Standard. It makes me sad.
___I grew up in a loving Christian home where I learned to trust Jesus and follow him alone. Why do so many Baptists follow the teachings of men under the guise of fundamentalism or moderatism? Read the Bible and seek God's guidance in your own life rather than aligning with a faction!
___Jesus taught that we should love God and love others. Why then do Baptists speak in scathing overtures about those who disagree with them?
___My heart aches for the people who are tearing the SBC apart and for those who will be hurt by it. I pray we would all follow Jesus' command to love one another some day. And I'm sorry to say it, but I'm going to have to stop reading the Baptist Standard. It makes me sad.
___ Holly McClung
___ Meadow

Others vs. 'rights'
___About the Supreme Court decision on prayer before football games, conservative Christian columnist Cal Thomas wrote: "Conservative Christians, especially, are fooling themselves when they think public prayers are a sign that all must be right with the world. Such prayers before football games do nothing for the quality of the game, and there is no evidence, nor could there be, of fewer injuries because God's name has been invoked over the loudspeaker. Furthermore, such prayers trivialize the act of prayer. ... Jesus had this advice on prayer: 'Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. ... But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen' (Matthew 6:1, 6). The Supreme Court said nothing at all about that far more powerful and effective type of prayer."
___If Baptists want to influence our society, let's behave as if we care as much about the freedom of others as we do about our own "rights." How about voluntary prayer groups (like See You at the Pole) before football games? Effective, life-changing prayer isn't dependent on taxpayer-provided loudspeakers or an audience compelled to hear it.
___Eugene Peterson's translation of Matthew 23:11 reads, "Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant." When Baptists believe we're not called to insist, but to serve, people will want to know more about the Lord who told us to do just that.
___ Marilyn Hillyer
___ Tyler

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