August 14, 2000
Texas Baptist Forum
Servants, not CEOs
___Of late, I have re-read the Apostle Paul's greetings at the beginning of his epistles. In a single sentence, he calls himself both apostle and servant (bond-servant or bond-slave). In one epistle, he calls himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ. A Christian can and ought to be allthree.
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___It occurred to me that in our churches, and in our denominational offices, we need more Christian servants and fewer CEOs.
___Only God can work out the thorny problems in our denomination. Let us give him time to do so. In the meantime, may we be humble, prayerful Christian servants.
___ Meeler Markham
___ Kenedy
Sheep-scatterers
___Some say, "This (Baptist) argument is between the Pharisees and the liberals."
___But whom do you say? The Lord says, "Woe be unto those who scatter my sheep!"
___ Louis Gohmert
___ Mount Pleasant
Prestonwood praise
___Amen, Prestonwood Baptist Church, for threatening to leave the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Aug. 7). After reading Paul Pressler's book, it is all clear now.
___I also understand this left-leaning paper. Finally, we hear the truth. No thanks to the so-called Standard.
___ Bill English
___ Arlington
Selective quotes
___Since the Southern Baptist Convention ratified changes to the Baptist Faith & Message regarding women in ministry, I have been reading statements in other letters, such as, "The Bible says a pastor or deacon is to be the husband of one wife ..." from those in support of the changes.
___Hmmm. Strange how selectively some use the holy Scriptures. Let's pick them up in 1 Timothy 3:4-5: "One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)"
___If I'm reading this and taking it literally, it seems that the only ones biblically qualified to be pastors or deacons are men who are married with children living at home. Single men, married men who are childless, widowers and empty-nesters need not "desire the office."
___It seems the SBC has fixed something that wasn't broken.
___ Benny Bivins
___ Williamstown, Ky.
Exclusive club
___When can I expect to receive my membership card for Texas Baptists of America?
___After all, it seems to be becoming quite an exclusive club! Each time I read the Standard, I get my daily dose of why we should be a separate and distinct entity from the SBC. The latest suggestion is to rearrange the budget so that our people will be educated in our seminaries, or so that our ministries can get more funding (after all, they are more important than the ministries of other states and countries).
___I think it's time to remind everyone that it is God's money, God's seminaries, God's ministries, not the personal property of the BGCT. Shouldn't we be concerned about educating spiritual leaders and meeting the needs of the lost, no matter where they reside?
___ Megan Franks
___ Iowa Park
Bopping Bible
___The Bible is officially inerrant and states God's will in all situations. Now we need the men of the Southern Baptist Convention to decide which translation is the inerrant one.
___We have declared that women can have no spiritual authority over men. Now let's set an age when Baptist boys become men. That way we can stop women like my mom and Mrs. W.A. Criswell from teaching men in their Sunday School classes.
___Using his inerrant Bible, Chuck Colson took a stand calling for Charles Stanley's resignation. Stanley is divorced. According to the Bible, God can no longer use him. If we are going to stand on the word of God, we cannot use tripe such as, "I know him, and he is a wonderful Christian and has blessed many lives" to allow disobedience. That lame excuse could be used on anyone from women pastors to homosexuals who confess Christ.
___We have the Bible as our guide, brothers and sisters. And if you get a big enough one, you can bop the arrogant sinners like my mom, Mrs. Criswell and Charles Stanley right upside the head with it. That should put the fear of God in them. My husband uses one on me all the time and keeps me quite submissive.
___ Tressa Oswalt
___ Fort Worth
Doctrine for prayer
___I was raised by two parents who were seminary graduates. Also, during summers at Ridgecrest, I heard the greatest theologians of our day. Never did any of these Bible scholars suggest the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer had anything to do with a believer personally interpreting the holy Scriptures.
___The privilege of a believer's priesthood came into being when Christ was on the cross, and the hand of God split the veil of the holy of holies from top to bottom. No longer would we need a high priest to take our petitions to the Lord. On that day, we became a "kingdom of priests," able to enter into a personal relationship with the Lord through Jesus Christ.
___Today, however, in an effort to be "all inclusive," there are those who have expanded this doctrine pertaining to prayer, to declare that it means a believer may interpret the Scriptures as he or she "feels led."
___Even if you believe the book of Genesis is a symbolic myth, or the New Testament miracles are allegorical, or if you have "softened" God's rules of right and wrong to be more politically correct in our permissive society, you can still be counted as a Southern Baptist, and the expanded version of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer is the mandate by which we can be so inclusive.
___This is a manipulation of a precious doctrine that has to do with prayer and only prayer.
___ Joy Davis
___ Dallas
Required reading
___I often wish for closer unity for Baptists. We have a large body of knowledge/beliefs on which we agree and appear to disagree on points not essential to salvation, which tends to hinder our witness.
___I have read two volumes titled "With These Hands," a history of the first 25 years of the Texas Baptist River Ministry.
___In the first 25 years, the River Ministry started 500 new works, built 63 health care clinics, treated 500,000 people, involved 5,000 church groups and ministered to physical and spiritual needs of the people near the Rio Grande. How did they accomplish so much? They worked hard, loved each other, loved the folks they ministered to and looked to God for his care and direction. Central to every project was evangelism.
___River Ministry is a great example of what can be accomplished if the people involved don't care who gets the credit. Elmin Howell, director of River Ministry during this period, stated that God took ordinary people and accomplished extra-ordinary things!
___Maybe we could make "With These Hands" required reading for all Baptists to assist us in getting a better focus on what God would have each of us do toward accomplishing God's mission together.
___ Jesse W. Locke
___ Dallas
Turning a corner
___Reading Manual Martinez's comments regarding the problems that plague families (July 31) felt like seeing my own words in print. The inattention to family life and what's happening in homes is certainly a disease robbing the life and vitality of our nation.
___All kinds of reactive strategies and programs focusing on the symptoms, like drug use and violence, fall short of producing a cure, though such programs have been valuable to reduce the pain and damage.
___Hope is not only being offered to women in need of life skills, job skills and self-sufficiency by Woman's Missionary Union through Christian Women's Job Corps (July 31). Hope also is being offered to us through this program, because the health of families determines the strength of society and largely determines the health of our communities and churches. However, this assistance is being offered late, as these programs target individuals whose outward circumstances are reaching crisis proportions.
___When our religious institutions initiate the same kinds of instruction and learning groups as primary prevention programs rather than second- or third-tier treatments, we will turn a corner.
___ Suzanne Coffman
___ Early
Don't preach big words
___ Is it a prophecy of Charles Wade and other moderate Baptist that the SBC is moving to a creed?
___I just read the newly adopted Baptist Faith & Message, and I do not see it as creedal,but as a confirmation of what I already believed as a Baptist. Did they not read in the committee's report that it does not have any quality of finality or infallibility? Article VI, "The Church," also starts by saying, "A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers."
___ I personally believe the Bible is the infallible written word of God and that Jesus is the Word in the flesh and that you can't have one without the other. Therefore, the statement that the Bible is "still just a book" doesn't hold water in whatever context it is meant. The word doesn't point toward truth, but rather is the truth.
___ I just hope and pray that the moderate leadership will "preach the word" as commanded in II Timothy 4:2, rather than preaching their education and big words, which are just confusing to believers like myself. Even Jesus Christ quoted written Scripture as the answer to Satan's temptations, and not educated definitions of Scripture.
___ James Ellis
___ Canton
BF&M is man's interpretation
___ Each week I read the opinions in the Baptist Standard. I wonder how many of the laypeople in both the SBC and the BGCT really understand the differences of opinion regarding the Baptist Faith & Message. I know I don't.
___ I agree with the one writer about falling asleep reading the Baptist Faith & Message. I understand the majority of what I read in the Bible, but I can't plow through the Faith & Message--man's interpretation.
___ Robert McIver
___ Garland
Colson should offer support
___ I am amazed at Chuck Colson's harsh criticism of Charles Stanley (June 26). To compare Stanley to Bill Clinton or to a pedophile is to slander a man who has given his life to serve the Lord.
___ Let's not throw stones at our own. The world will do that for us often enough. Instead, lets realize the horrible sadness and loss when a marriage fails--and not attack an already hurt man or woman.
___ I don't know the details of Stanley's marriage and divorce, but God does. Unless Colson has biblical reasons why Stanley should step down, he should try offering support to him rather than taking a shot at him.
___ Deborah Sullivan
___ Granbury
It's not the Calvinist conspiracy
___Life is ironic. In hearing comments and reading materials dispensed by moderates, one might be led to believe that the fundamentalist takeover/conservative resurgence is in fact the Calvinist conspiracy.
___ May God be praised because he offers salvation freely to every human being on the face of the planet, not just the elect ("all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior"), and because salvation is given freely to all who trust Christ alone to save them.
___ The SBC would do well to heed the Synod of Dort, which asserted, "This promise (of the gospel), taken together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction." Life is ironic.
___ James W. Galyon
___ Cleburne
Don't buy lottery tickets
___ I'd like to thank Charles Wade for a powerful, succinct and scriptural view regarding
___ I especially agreed with his view that it is bad enough to make an evil thing legal, to promote it and entice others into participating in it. I encourage all Texas Baptists to not support it by refusing to buy even a single ticket!
___ Terry Horton
___ Hallettsville
Arguments over music useless
___ It seems useless to argue concerning music used by the churches. Since that is the
___ Charles Sparks
___ Fort Worth
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