September 23, 2002
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Jesus & Iraq
___In the current debate about our proper response to the situation in the Middle East, have you heard anyone, even conservative Christians, say we should ask, "What would Jesus do about Iraq?"
___"What would Jes
us do?" Not "What would Abraham do?" He fathered an illegitimate son resulting in--so tradition tells us--the current situation in the Middle East.
___Not "What would Moses do?" He struck first and apologized later and as a result was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.
___Not even "What would Joseph do?"
___No, we should ask, "What would Jesus do?"
___We seem to have more faith in the rules of Jehovah of the Old Testament than in the teachings of Jesus of the New Testament.
___What would Jesus do?
___Would he do what he asked his disciples to do in his Sermon on the Mount? Christians don't need the "Ten Commandants" posted in schools and courthouses; we need the "Sermon on the Mount" posted--and taught--in our homes and churches.
___Jesus taught things like turning the other cheek, going the extra mile and giving our shirts as well as our cloaks.
___We need to lift the sanctions against Iraq and flood them with aid. It would work like the Marshall Plan following World War II, and it might prevent World War III. The sanctions after World War I were a leading cause of the unrest that led to World War II.
___
James M. Skipper
___
Pearland
No place for neutrality
___As a Baptist minister and a Vietnam-era veteran, I am alarmed at our president's willingness to go to war with Iraq over the protests of so many nations and the criticisms of such people as Nelson Mandela.
___President Bush's decision has grave moral implications because of the possibility of the deaths of many thousands of civilian Iraqis and perhaps hundreds and thousands of our own men and women of the military. The world will not be a safer place if we go into Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein. The Saudis, French, Germans. Egyptians, Chinese and Russians have all voiced their vehement opposition to this decision to "go it alone against Iraq."
___It is an expression of witness to our faith in Jesus Christ and his call to be peacemakers that we are to voice our convictions against a pre-emptive strike against Iraq.
___There is much at stake in this issue, and there is no place under heaven for neutrality. History will inquire of us like the Germans of the 1930s and '40s: "What did we do in our time to speak out for good?"
___
Al Staggs
___
North Richland Hills
Real question
___In response to "A year after Sept. 11, some still wonder, 'Where was God?'" (Sept. 9), the real question should be, "Where have we been?"
___
Mary J. Blagg
___
Dublin
Utter disgust
___I am disgusted by recent letters in the Baptist Standard. Though they may speak to issues of relevance around the water cooler, they are not helping matters inside the church.
___It is sad that we as a church have become moaning, groaning and insignificant argument people.
___It would be incredible to open the Standard and see an article or an editorial that actually deals with important issues or maybe even Christ-centered living.
___How many times have we looked at our churches and said, "I wish I could figure out a way to stop all of this bickering and get people to the real points"? When we place our affections upon issues of no relevance and turn to a religious outlook on Christianity, we belittle God and definitely are not helping anything.
___Let's start looking at worship, relationships and our everyday walk with God, and we will become worshippers of God. Seeking his face and not just his blessing is the only thing God wants from us.
___
Eric Tipton
___
McKinney
Truth about women
___I just read the letter in from Burt Bull (Sept. 16). Wow! I did not realize women are more easily deceived than men! I went back and reread the account of the fall and missed that part again. Would someone please tell me which version of the Bible this "truth" comes from?
___And I am studying real hard to see where I have always been misled about Priscilla or Phoebe. I thought they did more than Bull says they did. I would like to thank him for correcting the error of my ways.
___No, my wife is not making me write this.
___
Roy J. Rodgers
___
Montalba
Associational polity
___Just a note of clarification about your recent article on the organization of the Texas Associational Directors of Missions Network (Sept. 16).
___You stated that missions directors from associations affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas created this organization. Associations are not affiliated with any state or national convention. They partner with, or cooperate with, state and national entities.
___James L. Sullivan in his book "Baptist Polity" states: "The Southern Baptist Convention is not over the state conventions or the associations. All are autonomous as are the churches. These three bodies are on the same level organizationally, and all are made up of the messengers sent directly by the churches."
___While associations understand and recognize the importance of state and national conventions, it is vital for the association to be seen as an equal partner in the agenda of kingdom advancement. As the conflict has been going on in state and national conventions, associations have been busy redefining themselves and attempting to be proactive rather than reactive to the changes that have taken place in Baptist life.
___Associations have become more and more purpose-driven. Those of us who are involved in the work of the association believe this is a great time to be a part of what God is doing.
___
Olin Boles
___
Angleton
What's wrong
___Richard Land's response to the mission study committee of the BGCT (Sept. 16) is a powerful, but honest, indicator of what's wrong among Baptists these days. He refers to an analogy of a farmer's wife who sits as far as possible from the farmer as they drive down the road. Of course, the farmer's only response is to blame the wife for the distance. "Who moved?" is the wrong question to ask.
___The relation of the farmer and his wife immediately calls to mind not a partnership but a controlling husband and a powerless wife whose only option is to keep her distance. Abusive relationships always are tilted toward the powerful and the abusive. In that relationship, the abused wife must choose either to leave the relationship or stay in it and receive her beating dutifully.
___The SBC has been all too overt in creating an abusive relationship that claims obedient submission or further abuse. What makes it sick is that it's done in the name of God. It's true in their contorted world of men and women, and it's true in their relationship with churches, ministers and the laity who resist them. Why does the abused woman stay in a relationship? Why do good Southern Baptists continue to support this hateful and arrogant new system of power and control?
___The BGCT has done a good thing in sitting close to the door. The question is, "How long can she continue sitting in the truck?"
___
Keith Herron
___
Kansas City, Mo.
Tithes & offerings
___Several weeks back, we went to our church's financial secretary and asked her to have our tithes and offerings directed to our local church and BGCT only. We do not wish to contribute to any other convention than the BGCT.
___We had wrestled many years with the pros and cons of the big question in our Baptist life. Certainly it is true that no man can serve two masters. We feel the BGCT best represents our beliefs and will best use our tithes and offerings to further these beliefs outside our local church.
___We believe we are not called to contribute blindly to our church but that we are also called to hold accountable those whom we elect to use our tithes and offerings to spread the gospel.
___
Jim & Helen Luscombe
___
Richardson
Ministering hymns
___Mike Farnell's article (Sept. 9) was exactly on target. Hymns learned in childhood are brought to mind in times of crisis, as are Scriptures. Many people pay more attention to the hymns instead of the preaching in a service. The well-written hymn teaches of salvation every bit as effectively as a good sermon.
___Notice in the same issue how Kurt Voss related his experience in terms of the hymn "The Ninety and Nine."
___The repetitiveness of many of the newer songs can quickly become annoying and boring so that one loses interest in the entire service. Especially if a church has more than one morning service, one of which is contemporary, there is no reason to have people in the "other" service suffer through choruses and other contemporary music.
___People who are ministered to by the great hymns are being done a disservice by having very little opportunity to sing them nowadays.
___
Karen Esberger
___
Midlothian
Music & selfishness
___Music shows how selfish or selfless people are. I never met people who were discipling others and leading people to Christ who made a major issue of music. Their concern is not for what goes on inside the building but what happens once the people leave. Mostly young people need to be reached. They will not be encouraged to attend a church service or any other function where they are not considered. Children, youth and young adults are reached and taught best by those who are a selfless example to them. A church's ability to win people is directly related to its capacity to love.
___I talked with a man who described a number of problems in his church. I asked him, "How many people are living for Jesus Christ as a result of your life?" There was no answer.
___I suspect if those who were doing most of the complaining in our churches were told to be silent unless they were discipling people, most of the critics would be silenced. Those who think their music is sacred must only go back a few hundred years, and then they would realize what was contemporary then would be considered quite unpopular even by the modern critic of today.
___Show me a church that refuses to change, and I will show you a church that is dying. Show me a selfish church, and I will show you a dead church.
___
Gerald Polmateer
___
Atascadero, Calif.
Sin gap
___How did the death and resurrection of Jesus bridge the sin gap?
___In Romans 3:23, we are told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So we all stand condemned before God. In Romans 6:23, we are told the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. But since Christ died in the place of believers, he fulfilled the requirements of the law by dying in our places. The resurrection was the proof that God the Father had accepted the death of his Son as full payment for the sin debt (Romans 4:25).
___Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us we are saved by grace and that faith is the means by which we recognize the truth of our redemption. So we recognize that we are justified and have access to God by his grace in which we stand (Romans 5:1-2). And we are further told we do not now stand under condemnation (Romans 8:1).
___Probably the greatest verse in the Bible is Romans 4:5, which shows that our works do not meet God's requirements, but faith in Christ does.
___
Dwayne Fitte
___
Marlin
Heart for people
___To God be the glory for the memory of Joe Brumbelow, who died Aug. 30 (Sept. 9).
___I remember hearing people refer to him as "Crying Joe Brumbelow" because he had such a heart and compassion for people.
___Years ago, he returned a second time to pastor Doverside Baptist Church in Houston, which by then was in a low-income neighborhood.
___"Bro. Joe, what made you feel led to go back to Doverside?" I asked him.
___"Oh, I kind of missed going into some of those little dirty houses, sitting in an old dirty couch, drinking out of an old dirty coffee cup and having little dirty kids come up and get in my lap," he said. "Those little kids need Jesus. I just went back where my heart was."
___Most people never will know the Joe Brumbelows of this life, but it is the Joe Brumbelows and their kind who will receive the greatest reward in heaven, simply because they went about doing good, serving Jesus in the place where God put them with a pure heart.
___
Billy Foote
___
Longview
Who moved?
___ I found Richard Land's story about the farmer and his wife interesting (Sept. 16).
___Unfortunately, he was wrong in comparing the Southern Baptist Convention to the farmer and the Baptist general Convention to the wife, for it is the SBC which has moved—moved away from hallmarks of Baptist belief—the priesthood of the believer and no creedal statements, which is what Baptist Faith & Message has become. By the same token, the BGCT has made errors as well.
___If leaders on both sides would spend more time preaching the gospel of Christ and less time fighting over who is more spiritual, perhaps many who leave because of this nonsense would return, and the world would take the gospel a little more seriously!
___Then and only then will either side be true to what we are called to be!
___Terry L Neel
___Perryton
Need straight talk from the Annuity Board
___ I agree wholeheartedly with Eddie Tubbs' view that the Annuity Board is less than forthcoming when they report that investment funds "met or beat their respective investment standards during the first half of this year." I, too, have been dumbfounded by these reports.
___ One other item is worth mentioning in this regard. The Annuity Board recently changed the name and structure of some of its investment funds. This allows them to not compare these newer funds with older funds (which were failing miserably in this economy). As a result, the "new" funds have been deemed as a success. Anyone who had money in either fund knows better.
___ No one holds the Annuity Board responsible for market conditions outside of their control. We appreciate their efforts in so many areas (health insurance, Adopt An Annuitant, etc.) We would, however, like straight talk when it comes to what we all know is true anyway.
___ Rick Lamb
___ Tonganoxie, Kan.
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