January 29, 2001
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM
Just leave
___As I read the left-wing, mainstream propaganda in the Slanderer week after week, I often ask, "If you're not happy with the Baptist Reformation and the leadership that God has placed in charge of the Southern Baptist Convention, why don't you leave?"
___Go and be a Cooperative Baptist or a Mainstream Baptist or whatever else you want to be. Texas Baptists who need Committed aren't interested in cooperating; they are interested in creating an organization in which it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you give. I am proud to be a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and to be a Southern Baptist in Texas.
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
___If I were invited to a gathering where I did not fit in or felt uncomfortable, I would leave.
___ Russell Hale
___ Moffat
Unjust attacks
___Whatever his merits or deficiencies, the attacks on John Ashcroft as unfit to serve as attorney general because of his religious convictions are appalling.
___These same groups critical of Ashcroft's faith were a few months ago praising vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman's staunch orthodoxy and would become apoplectic at the notion popular in 1960 that Kennedy as president would be heavily influenced by the pope.
___Two of their charges are particularly egregious: First, the guilt-by-association argument that Ashcroft's speaking at Bob Jones University implies he endorses their ban on interracial dating. Second, that his out-of-context sound bite that America has "no king but Jesus" compromises his patriotism.
___While SBC leaders are certainly equally appalled at such shabby treatment of a fellow Christian, they should reflect on the fact that they have used precisely the same type of arguments to discredit fellow Baptists for political purposes (the polemics of Roger Moran and the attacks on Anthony Sisemore after the SBC convention).
___Jesus warned us that we would be persecuted for our faith, but he must be particularly grieved when believers are subject to unjust attacks by fellow Christians that are as cynical and unloving as any dished out by the world.
___ Dolan McKnight
___ Richardson
Dangerous days
___Whether Richard Land, executive director of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, believes John Ashcroft should be this nation's attorney general is his prerogative. But what is not Richard Land's prerogative is to use his religious office to endorse a political appointee (Jan. 22). It especially is not his prerogative to speak on behalf of anyone but himself to the U.S. government.
___These are ever more dangerous days. SBC officers not only continue to wield their influence in the political world in ways that increasingly blur the line that separates church from state, but also in ways that indicate they have forgotten that, in Baptist life, authority works from the bottom up, not the other way around.
___ Glen Schmucker
___ Rockwall
Polar extremes
___The editorial "Test 'political philosophy' of Jesus" (Jan. 15) somewhat misses the point. It focuses on America's being "split down the middle," citing the numerical results of the election. The numbers actually conceal a lot of voter indecision in the political center.
___The issue in America is not the even split but the extreme polarization. The left and right are so far apart at times that cooperation can't occur--even when their goals are not diametrically opposed. Don't be concerned over an even split, but over a polarization such that extremists feel a need to step outside the political process.
___What Christians need to be on their knees about is a country where the rule of law is labeled an "extreme agenda." If righteousness is to be a practice of our government, don't leave the job to a single elected official. Christians must actively promote a righteous government--in our votes, our activism, our prayers and our ministry to the world.
___ William Robert Johnston
___ Brownsville
Drop the walls
___There is a powerful spirit of division among Southern Baptists. Are we not all brothers and sisters in Christ? I thought love was the only debt we are commanded to pay one-another.
___This problem is similar to something that happened at our church. One Wednesday evening after church, everyone was visiting, and a small dog appeared. She didn't belong to any of the members. After everyone had gone home except the dog, the pastor was left with the unwanted and unwarranted responsibility of taking the dog to the pound.
___What is going to happen to our outreach and missions programs when we begin to break fellowship with churches in our associations as well as individual church members?
___Why do we feel we have to make everybody else in our image? It is God's image that the Father has in mind. Why can't we mind what he minds and drop the walls between us?
___That's my prayer and my heart's desire.
___ Bob A. Reid
___ Purdon
Follow James
___It just occurred to me that since we--Baptist General Convention of Texas/Baptist Standard--are seceding from the SBC, possibly we should produce a revised edition of the New Testament. We could omit those teachings of Paul that we dislike regarding women's role in church and the husband and wife's roles in the family. In that way, we would have a legitimate objection to the new Baptist Faith & Message.
___Of course, I am being facetious. What we really need to do is to follow James' advice: "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
___If all parties who support Nashville and Dallas would follow James' advice, we could put away all animosity and vanity and return to focusing on the Great Commission within the confines of the SBC, the greatest protestant denomination ever created.
___ Ross Reding
___ Denton
Giving option
___Getting church members to be regular, faithful, habitual givers is the ultimate challenge. Faithful attendance would be a great start.
___Beyond that, too many believe the lie from the depths of hell that says God can't use the small gift. Just one extra dollar from everybody in worship on a given Sunday in our church would pay that week's salary for one of our associate pastors. Just one additional cent from everyone present every Sunday for a whole year would pay our winter water bill for two months with change left over.
___My faith mentors told me years ago to write the check to the Lord first after receiving every paycheck. It was good advice then, and it still is.
___For computer users, there is an option within Quicken to set up scheduled payments along with their frequency. Once each week, just like my wife and high school-age son who stand there with their hands out for their share, on my computer screen the Lord figuratively stands there reminding me to be a good steward. I have to do something with that request. I can enter it and print the check, or I can alter, ignore or delete it. Those last three options become almost impossible to do when you imagine looking into the face of Jesus. Therefore, I gladly click on "enter."
___This computer option has done more to make me a faithful, regular, habitual giver than any quiet or public resolve.
___ Gerald Aalbers
___ Claude
Baptist lifeblood
___While I was reading about Phil Roberts being selected to head Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Jan.15), I was disturbed by his quote addressing the "lifeblood of the denomination"!
___Seminaries are important, but they are far from being the "lifeblood of the denomination."
___If our denominational leaders would leave their "ivory towers" and go out to the fields, they would see the "lifeblood of the denomination": Christian people giving and serving sacrificially every day in rural areas, small towns and cities, sharing the love of Jesus Christ with a hurting world!
___"In the final analysis," our denominational problems might be overcome if our leaders, who have "risen to the surface," would humble themselves and learn from some of those bivocational and lay pastors who themselves have learned what it means to be a true leader.
___"The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:11,12).
___ John Curry
___ Blackwell
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