TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Half-baked worship
___I take exception to contemporary Christian music executives who say things like, "Do contemporary worship, and your church will grow; resist and die, or at least stagnate" (Aug. 13).
___Besides being erroneous, such statements are self-serving for the CCM industry.
___I do not dispute the fact many churches have changed their worship styles; many have been effective. However, not all have benefited. Not all churches that "go contemporary"
have grown. In fact, some worship changes dissatisfy church members who go along for the sake of harmony in the church.
___Additionally, claims about benefits of CCM have brought schism within many churches. Music and worship are personal, emotional subjects. Together, they are a kindling box. They should be treated carefully. Sadly, people often spout half-baked opinions about worship music. I would encourage us to think carefully through such statements.
___Serious church members will do anything to prevent their church's death. They can be convinced against their better judgment to go along with ideas couched in doomsday rhetoric. Worship is too important to fall for such tactics. We can debate worship styles, but let's not be duped by half-baked concepts nor by CCM executives who need growth of their own--on the bottom line.
___ Mike Farnell
___ Fort Worth
Middle ground
___I clipped the item concerning old-style preaching with Christian rock (July 9). Finding a middle ground that suits most people is very difficult. Change must be slow. Our church has added a service for the traditional music devotees.
___I am a senior citizen with four children and nine grandchildren. They are not comfortable with the music they experienced growing up in traditional Baptist churches. Most of the music they listen to, secular and Christian, is not my favorite. However, I would not go so far as to call Christian rock evil.
___God intends for Christians to worship him, but more importantly, he expects us to draw others unto him. We cannot accomplish that as individuals, churches or denominations as long as there is infighting and name-calling.
___I tell seniors in our church it is not about us, but the young families struggling in our neighborhoods who go to bed not knowing there is a better way.
___I can worship with any kind of music that names Christ as Lord. Please, can we just get along?
___ Betty Westbrook
___ Plano
Pleasing God
___When discussing types of worship, almost without exception each of us is concerned with what pleases oneself, not what is pleasing to God.
___Far too often, we confuse praise with worship and create uneasiness within our churches by a lack of understanding. In reality, a steel guitar or piano matters little.
___For worship to be acceptable, it must be spiritual, and this necessitates the spirituality of the worshipper. The believer must resolutely and intensively discipline himself, so as to cultivate his spiritual life on a high plane. The flesh, with all its evil desires, must constantly be denied. Thus the Christian must rule himself with an iron hand, say "no" to self in all its many forms and "yes" to God in all he demands. The result of this will be spirituality, in the atmosphere of which he can worship God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
___Carnality would counterfeit spirituality by substituting artificial enthusiasm for holy zeal, fleshly emotionalism for the joy of the Lord and external religion for inward reality. The best preventative against artificiality is spirituality.
___There will be no need to pump up worship when the soul is in communion with God and enjoying spiritual realities. There will be no call to force oneself to worship. It will rise spontaneously from the soul.
___ Paul Appleby
___ Paris
Acceptable use
___Thank you for your editorial exploring ethical issues presented by stem-cell research (July 23). Perhaps I missed it, but I have not seen any pundit compare stem-cell harvesting with organ donation.
___Organ donation is acceptable to many, if not most, Christians. Harvesting a part from a corpse, to be used to ease another's suffering, is done with the sense of pride that comes with doing a good deed. I also assume the majority of Christians agree we are to tolerate neither the killing nor the "farming" of humans merely for organ donations.
___Stem-cell harvesting appears to be no different. Begin with the conviction that an embryo comprised of human cells is indeed human life (it's alive and it's human; it's not the cellular life of a pig, horse or rose). If that human life dies by accident, evil act of another or disease and a part can be harvested to be used to ease another's suffering (directly or via research), then it should be allowed.
___Of course, we should tolerate neither the killing or farming of human embryos merely for stem-cell donations.
___I won't be surprised if someone wiser than I finds fault with this comparison. My point is we must strive for consistency in our views of all human life--from the womb to the tomb--including acceptable use of a corpse, no matter how small.
___ Marcus W. Norris
___ Amarillo
On target
___Charles Foster Johnson was on target (July 30): Those who believe the Bible as I do do not need to spend one dime or waste one moment "telling the world how much more we believe the Bible than the fundamentalists." It is reactionary and shows the ardent fundamentalists are setting our agenda.
___One can never win such an argumentative war unless one becomes better at using fundamentalist tactics than the fundamentalists. A great lesson of history is that when you fight an enemy you become like him in order to win, unless you are very careful.
___I don't want to believe the Bible more than anybody. I want to practice its godly teachings all that I can in practical, social good works of love that help improve the social condition and satisfy hungering hearts with the uplifting water of salvation.
___Johnson's comments are exactly what we need. Proving our orthodoxy will help no one, not even ourselves. But living faithfully, sacrificing to practice the love and teachings of Jesus, will help everyone.
___ Alvin Petty
___ Friona
Children's eyes
___My grandsons, ages 5 and 6, were baptized at Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving.
___While the pastor was preparing them for the baptismal service, he told them he would baptize a little girl first, and then Jacob and Joshua could stand in the baptistry together while the other one was being baptized.
___Jacob, the 5-year-old, spoke up and said, "That is exactly what I was thinking of doing."
___They sat through the morning service, and at the end of the service were presented to the congregation to be greeted. After a long line of people going by and saying their greetings, Joshua, the 6-year-old, said, "Mommy, why did everybody say, "God bless you" and we hadn't even sneezed?"
___Children are happy because they take everything so literally.
___ Eva Crowder
___ Irving
Community effort
___The article about the ministries of Freeman Heights Baptist Church (Aug. 13) was really good. We thank Freeman Heights for the opportunity they have given Arapaho Road Baptist Church to participate in various ministries at the recreational outreach center.
___However, I wish you had mentioned there are other churches that help them minister. We have a great group of volunteers from Arapaho Road who sponsor the English as a second language program as well as participate with them in the ROC boxes at Christmas, donating food to the food pantry and various other activities. Some of our ESL students have even brought canned goods for the food panty.
___It's truly a community effort.
___ Sandi Whisenant
___ Garland
Punishment inferred
___Regarding "God and death" (July 23): I, too, believe in capital punishment.
___The Israelites stoned people to death for many infractions. God laid down the rules through Moses.
___I have never seen in the New Testament where Christ said, "Bring all those who did not want me to rule over them, and kill them in front of me." He does not say it in the New Testament, but it is inferred.
___ Raymond Wise
___ Dallas
I'll take my chances with the old hymns
___I write in response to John Styll’s remarks at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, reported in "Contemporary music impacts church" (Aug. 13).
___His historical synopsis of church music is misinformed. I mention this because as a church music graduate of a Southern Baptist seminary, it saddens me to see such inadequate and inaccurate information now being presented as a part of a "worship and music lectureship" series at Golden Gate. Unfortunately, space does not allow a rebuttal to those remarks.
___He says: "Do contemporary worship, and your church will grow; resist and die, or at least stagnate." I must counter his formula for success with one that is more sound: Do the will of God, and your church will be what he wants it to be.
___ Regarding the contemporary "flavor" of worship, churches should seek what is God-honoring, biblical, prayerful, nurturing, enduring, thoughtful, edifying and appropriate. That may include some so-called contemporary music, but it may just involve some forms, acts and music that have been around a bit longer.
___As for fearing to die, "All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name" has been sung by Christians for over 220 years; most contemporary choruses do not last two. I’ll take my chances.
___ Wayne Barrett
___ Huntsville
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