October 14, 2002

'Come together,' Baker urges
___By Orville Scott
___Texas Baptist Communications
___GLORIETA, N.M.--Baptists must cease religious bickering, heal their broken fellowship and get on with missions, BO Baker told about 400 retired church and denominational leaders at the Retiree Ministries Retreat at Glorieta Conference Center.
___Retirees from 14 states, including missionaries, pastors, church staff, and institutional and denominational leaders, attended the

RETIRED Texas Baptist Pastor A.W. Blaine (left), 95, of Collinsville, oldest person attending the Retiree Ministries Retreat, greets Mayola Feather, 90, of San Angelo, retired BGCT Executive Director Bill Pinson and Dick Baker of Plano.

fall retreat sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___Baker, former pastor of Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving, shared the podium with his brother, Dick Baker, former minister of music at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.
___Decrying the "struggle for fellowship" among Baptists, Baker said: "I don't like this thing of 'Whose side are you on?' It does not please God."
___Baptists must cease criticizing one another, he pleaded. "We need each other more than we ever needed in our lives. It is time for us to cry out to heaven, 'Let the fire fall.' We need to get our hearts back where they need to be. I want to get on with our main program."
___Surrounded by a climate of worldliness and immorality, Baptists face the trend to conform, Baker observed.
___"We have left the field in the battle for denominational singleness and are learning to co-exist with religious bickering. Missionaries are wondering, 'Where to from here?'"
___Calling for a return to sound, strong faith, Baker said, "We appear more concerned about the packaging of the food than the food in the packaging."
___In a message on "The High Cost of Baptist Faith," Baker said, "Look for a place where committed Christians are dying for their faith, and you will find Baptists."
___The emphasis on Christian martyrs also was cited by Bill Pinson, the BGCT's executive director emeritus, who led Bible study each morning.
___He urged retirees never to take the Bible for granted.
___"It's brought to us by the blood and sacrifice of a multitude of people who loved it more than life itself," he said.
___Leading Bible study on Jesus' Model Prayer, Pinson emphasized the petition to "lead us not into temptation."
___"Like a moth, we have a tendency to get as close to the flame as possible, but as we follow him, he leads us away from temptation. Jesus knew the devil couldn't take away our salvation, but Satan could take away the joy of our salvation by leading us, for example, to covetousness."
___When Christians pray, attitude--not posture, place and time--is important to Jesus, Pinson said.
___"When we pray the way Jesus did in Gethsemane, it opens the gate to the best God has for us," he promised.
___He also reminded Christians of the admonition to "pray without ceasing."
___"Jesus taught us we're part of the family of faith," he said. "When we pray, millions of people are praying at the same time, in hundreds of voices."
___

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