July 16, 2001

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Who knows?
___I remember well the impact of Hal Lindsey, et. al, in the late 1970s and am puzzled about his continued influence.
___Our pastor at that time had the USSR as the Gog of Ezekiel, the neutron bomb predicted by Zechariah, and the Afghan war as the beginning of an effort to surround Israel. He argued that the fig tree in Matthew 24 represented Israel, that its new blooming

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would be one generation ahead of Jesus' return, and he did the math. 1948 was the date of Israel's statehood; a generation in the Bible was 20-50 years; so, the Second Coming should be in the 1990s or at latest 2000.
___Being an impressionable teenager, I was scared stiff.
___Now I am a little older and wiser. The Soviet Union is gone. Afghanistan might long for the relative tolerance of a Soviet regime, and serious, but difficult talks about peace in the Middle East are commonplace. I've also read Matthew 24 a few more times on my own since then.
___Christ said only the Father knew the day. Are we to think that our Lord did not know the day of his return, but Hal Lindsey or a preacher can figure it out?
___ Ricky Dobbs
___ Commerce

Better dispensation
___Peter Chattaway's "What theology has been Left Behind?" promises to be a theological critique. Instead we get a sociological examination. Baptists often have described themselves as "people of the book." Chattaway appears more concerned with "people of the poll" in his criticism of Southern Baptist Tim LaHaye.
___I have had the privilege of working directly for and with Tim LaHaye in the field of eschatology for the last eight years. I can testify that his burning passion for ministry is still seeing the unsaved come to faith in Christ and building up believers in the faith.
___The novels teach items found in a significant number of the Anti-Nicene Fathers. We have found a pre-tribulation rapture statement dating back to the fourth century by one known as Pseudo-Ephraem. More significant for Texas Baptists is that a pre-tribulation rapture view was brought to the Colonies first by the father of American Baptist church history, Morgan Edwards, founder of Brown University. He taught a form of pre-tribulationism as early as 1744 and published his views in 1788. This is well before Darby.
___Apparently David Gushee believes it is a virtue to be pro-internationalism, pro-United Nations, pro-pacifism, pro-multilateral, pro-ecumenical and pro-Catholic. He is not reflective of biblical beliefs from any historical era.
___Dispensational beliefs have a better historical pedigree than is generally recognized by liberal scholarship. As people of the book, Texas Baptists would be better off focusing on what is biblically correct than upon left-wing religious correctness.
___ Thomas D. Ice
___ Pre-Trib Research Center
___ Arlington

New Dark Age
___On one hand, we affirm Jimmy Carter for being the kind of Baptist we all want to be on our best days. If this means a belief that Mormons are Christians and that homosexuals can be ordained under certain conditions, two of several suspect Carter endorsements, then we need more bad days. On the other hand, a thirst for theocratic power clearly defines many within the Southern Baptist Convention leadership. Reasoned voices are drowned out by the Richard Lands of the group.
___And thus we have the two flavors of today's Baptist.
___This is no surprise to the informed laity who watch and mourn the dark age that the church universal has entered. Expositional preaching and sound doctrine have been rejected in favor of subjective experience, practical sermons and inclusive tolerance. We conform God to the image of the sinner in many churches. We are worldly instead of holy. Sadly, we're too distracted to notice, seeking personal blessings and territorial enlargement through obscure, misinterpreted passages from 1 Chronicles.
___Francis Schaeffer, how we desperately need and miss your voice.
___We may be one generation away from having our candlestick removed. The Lord always brings judgment to reform his disobedient bride, and we may not be spared much longer. If not spared, then we'll gaze back at the smoking ruins of Baptist life as Lot's wife did when lamenting her former home. At least then we would become salt again.
___ David Sparks
___ Lewisville

Mercy or sacrifice?
___I am amazed that people throughout history used passages from the Bible to support the death penalty. If people let Jesus speak through their hearts, he speaks clearly!
___A life sentence without parole is the only possible answer. When we stand before Jesus on all issues, including this one, I can imagine Jesus asking us if we read the story of the time he knelt in the sand or if we remember how many times throughout the Old and New Testament we see the words, "I require mercy, not sacrifice."
___ Nancy Mixon
___ Bryan

'Hung up' on sin
___"Homosexuality is clearly condemned in the Bible." Why are we so "hung up" on this particular "sin" when the Old Testament clearly demanded the death penalty for adulterers, rebellious sons, unvirginal brides, blasphemers and desecraters of the Sabbath? What of the gospels? Jesus never mentions homosexuality--and yet he states that those who divorce and marry another are committing adultery. He also warned us of the difficulty of entering heaven if we are wealthy. However, in our own warped way we honor and admire the wealthy--not condemn them!
___We have become like the Pharisees--establishing "laws" dividing us into categories of acceptability by God! Jesus, who reached out to the outcasts of society, brought us grace--replacing the law. Who are we to judge others? What is there about human beings (Pharisees and Christians) that causes us to create a hierarchy among ourselves? Isn't it time for God's people to put aside their loathing and prejudice and reach out in love and acceptance to those who are different from them?
___Our religion has become so distorted that we are convinced our prejudice toward homosexuals is "a service to God." Love has taken second place in our hearts as we "stand for what's right." Recognize prejudice for what it is--prejudice. Begin combating it by fighting its causes--fear and ignorance. We are most afraid of what we don't understand. Ignorance, no matter how sanctified, is still ignorance.
___ Lou Anne Smoot
___ Tyler

Cross or coercion?
___Satan never ceased tempting Jesus to evade the cross. He never wavers in his effort to get us to repudiate the disciple's cross.
___Are we willing to exchange the cross for tax dollars for our churches? Will we cast the cross into the dump in order to lessen the cost of redemptive ministries? Are we willing to sacrifice religious liberty for government-coerced contributions? Do we prefer the regulatory power of government to the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit? Do we favor being coerced to support religious teachings we do not believe?
___Do we wish to repeat Constantine, tragedy and re-introduce the Dark Ages? Constantine may have been sincere in motive. Little did he dream that the church-state partnership would result in horrors far in excess of those practiced by any other entity of history.?
___Did not Jesus emphasize, "If anyone does not carry his cross and follow me, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27)? Didn't he shudder at the temptation to avoid the cross and exclaim, "Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and perish, it abides by itself, alone" (John 12:24)?
___Is it not true that Jesus "could have called 10,000 angels to set him free, but he died for you and me"?
___Will we pay the cost of discipleship or coerce all taxpayers to pay the cost of our obedience? What would Jesus do?
___ Joseph Underwood
___ Richmond, Va.

Thanks
___Thank you for your personal and professional integrity as an editor. You are doing a splendid job courageously reporting on Baptist life--both the good and the bad.
___Keep up the good work. There are thousands who support you and pray for you regularly.
___ Phil Lineberger
___ Sugar Land

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