May 6, 2002
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Church choices
___For years, I have been a church member, but today I don't know which church to attend. I thought about attending the Community Republican Church, but I lean toward some Democratic politicians. I don't like to be confined to the Democratic Community Church, either. My friend is a member of the Pro-Life Church, but I am uncomfortable there.
___Wherever I visit a church, so often my old friends don't seem to want my attendance because my views are different from their City Political Church viewpoints. Why should I support a church that is strongly against my political views?
___What happenedto my childhood church, where all that mattered was, "Are you a Christian because you believe in the sacrifice of Jesus for your sins?"
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
___Most churches want to keep old members and gain new ones. But when the church leaders state "how" and "for whom" the faithful should vote, some members and prospective members who are dedicated Christians yet believe differently end up with no other choice than to avoid this church.
___Some genuine Christians do not want to end up in the Robot Church of America, where every member must think alike. Some are like the foot, and others are like the hand in the body of Christ. And the Apostle Paul said this would be all right in Christ's kingdom. Or is it necessary for every member to be a foot if the loudest member is a foot?
___Where, oh where, has my Bible-centered, evangelistic church gone?
___ Gilbert Thornton
___ Longview
Different perspective
___Dale Hooper (April 29) is entitled to his own evaluation of the faculty at Southwestern Seminary, but I wish to offer a different perspective. It is rather elitist and intellectually lazy to attack the intelligence of those with whom one disagrees.
___I have found the Ph.D. program at Southwestern to be the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life--spiritually and intellectually. I'm a Baylor University Scholar honors graduate and a National Merit Scholar. One of my two professors this year is a Baylor graduate. I have several buddies in the program who are Baylor graduates, including one friend in the Ph.D. program who left Truett Seminary to come to Southwestern.
___I hope we all aren't a bunch of dummies, because if we are, it certainly reflects poorly on our Texas Baptist universities!
___ Bart Barber
___ Farmersville
Faith worth examining
___Our faith cannot be quantified, except by God alone.
___Indeed, if our faith is at all worth having, then our faith is worth examining. And through being exposed to different experiences and wrestling with different ideas, we will grow and mature, both in our personal beliefs and as a group of believers, always humbly trusting God to lead us to truth.
___It is not so much that we do not profess to a creed or a confession (at this point, semantics are the least of our worries), but that we allow for some fluidity of change in our beliefs as we continue on in our journey with Christ. Our creed tomorrow should be a little different from our creed today.
___As such, how can any document such as the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message be regarded as the final statement of a perfect faith? Surely we would not be so arrogant as to think that we have finally got God and the universe all figured out.
___And yet, if the BF&M is regarded as anything less than this, how can we justify going so far as to disrupt the lives of our professors and missionaries by forcing them to sign a declaration of acquiescence, leaving no room for disagreement, and thus no room for growth?
___Such inquisitorial action may in the short term create an illusion of unity and solidarity. In the long run, though, it only serves as a hurdle in our pursuit of intimacy with God.
___ Jason McCoy
___ Fort Worth
Bible vs. Jesus
___I taught the Bible for 35 years, and not once did I ever separate the written word of God from his human Word in importance.
___Without Jesus' human appearance on Earth, the Scriptures would be meaningless. Without the written word, we could not have known what he was, what he did or what he taught. No human memory or voice could have made this possible. To elevate one over the other is to discredit God's plan and purpose for each.
___In all fairness, I do not believe that this was the intention of any inerrantist who may have seemed so in his zeal to show his love for the Bible.
___To the critics, let me say: "Please, lighten up on him. Surely you have better things to do."
___ Joan Holt
___ Houston
___
Christians & Jews
___Thank you for printing the articles about Israel (April 15). Ed McAteer did a good job of expressing the views and opinions of many Southern Baptists.
___All real Christians love the Jew.
___Jesus is a Jew, was born a Jew, lived as a Torah-observing Jew before dying on the cross under a sign proclaiming him "King of the Jews."
___We look forward to the day when the church will obey God by expressing so much love toward God's first-born son, Israel, that the Jews, blood-brothers of God's first-begotten Son, Jesus, will be provoked to jealousy and receive Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah.
___"I ask then: did God reject his people? By no means! ... I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:1, 25).
___ Jack L. Hubbard
___ Odessa
Spirit of Truth
___Regarding the letter "Likeness of Jesus" (April 15), it is a terrible shame that this opinion has circulated in our Baptist fellowships.
___How can any true believer in our Lord Jesus Christ cast doubt on the holy word of God? Jesus himself testified of its truth, and the Bible speaks plainly, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).
___As for the Spirit of Truth mentioned in the letter, how can we know anything about the Holy Spirit without reading and believing the word he inspired down through the ages? 1 John 4:1 states that we are to be wary of the fact that all "spirits" are not of God.
___Jesus certainly is the Way, the Truth and the Life, but he gave us specific instructions on how to love him more and live for him through his holy word.
___ E. Feasler
___ Dickinson
Thanks to Hillcrest
___I am writing to say thanks to Hillcrest Hospice in Waco. My dad passed away March 19 at Hillcrest Hospital.
___The family of Henry McLearen wants to thank the nurses, and especially Charles, the nurse who bathed my dad and brought a smile to his face in time of need.
___All the nurses seemed a part of our family and told us what to do step by step. All my dad wanted was to go peacefully, and they saw to it that he did.
___We called them all hours of the night to get help on what to do, and there always was a nurse on duty to help and keep us calm. I have never seen such an organization as Hillcrest Hospice.
___They are genuinely concerned about the patient and the family. They were a godsend. Hospice is not given enough recognition. It wasn't just my daddy they took care of; it was the whole family.
___ Lela McLearen
___ Waco
Pagans mislabelled
___I take issue with the use of the word "pagan" in reference to unbaptized youth.
___An individual not baptized in your faith is not a pagan. The individual is quite simply not a baptized Baptist. There is a large difference. By your broad and incorrect definition, Catholics, Methodists, Latter-Day Saints, Jewish and Islamic individuals are pagan.
___A pagan by definition in the Oxford dictionary is an individual who does not acknowledge your Christ, Jehovah nor Allah.
___I am a pagan. I do not follow nor believe in the doctrines of the "Big 3"—Christianity, Judiasm and Islam. I certainly don't accept that a Christian is a pagan because they have not been baptized.
___Paganism is a spiritual path, not simply a label to be attached at random. Paganism, like any other spiritual journey, requires study, hard work and dedication. Simply not being baptized just isn't enough.
___Karen Rice
___Montreal, Quebec
What do you think? Submit letters for Texas Baptist Forum via e-mail to marvknox@baptiststandard.com or regular mail at Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
