February 10, 2003
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Death deserved
___The report by the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission calling for a moratorium on the death penalty (Jan. 20) is biblically incorrect. It is not what you, I or any person
___thinks and believes on this issue, but what God says in his holy writ.
___"For he (government) is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword (judicial punishment) in vain; for he is God's minister as avenger to wrath on him who practices evil" (Romans 13:4).
___So, what did God sanction to governments to do to people who murder in cold blood, whether for robbery, passion, vengeance, etc.? Execute them, plain and simple.
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
___"Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed" (Genesis 9:6).
___Toby Druin and Richard Land have their biblical understanding correct.
___I was given a life sentence for habitual burglary of habitation in March 1997. I have sincerely requested a lethal injection rather than live in this hellish environment for the rest of my life with full-blown AIDS. I would gladly take the place of any death-row inmate in a heartbeat.
___Why? "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).
___When inmates sit on death row, don't you think they have heard the gospel and had time to repent and plead for mercy from God? They either reject or accept Jesus Christ when the gospel is clearly presented.
___ William Henderson
___ Angleton
Questions for IMB
___In "More missionaries getting 'the call'" (Jan. 27), missionary Leon Johnson made a statement in which Avery Willis appears to be suggesting the International Mission Board will lose support from the Southern Baptist Convention if the missionaries do not affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. The story noted it is necessary for missionaries to affirm in order "to dispel charges of heretical teaching launched by unnamed accusers."
___Just who are these unnamed accusers who are threatening to pull Southern Baptist support from the IMB? Why are they not required to reveal themselves? Are they so afraid that if they do, they will have to face thousands of Southern Baptists who do not agree with their plan to pull support from our missionaries just because some do not sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message? Or is that just a threat? I really would like to know.
___ Evelyn McAnelly
___ Hondo
New directions
___Is "the call" by Avery Willis (Jan. 27) part of the IMB's "new directions"?
___In his call to Leon and Kathy Johnson, Willis stated missionaries must affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message in order to avoid loss of support for the IMB from the SBC.
___Is that what this is about? Did the SBC threaten the IMB with loss of funds? If so, isn't it a shame the IMB didn't have the backbone to stand up to the SBC!
___What a difference it would have made if Jerry Rankin had kept his word that no missionary would be required to sign a man-made document that is placed above the Bible and God's revelation in Christ.
___Perhaps the IMB saw no need to be concerned because of their new directions, in their words, "to disengage from institutional ministry worldwide."
___The same new directions that caused them to give up the hospital in Yemen to Muslims where Southern Baptist have treated 40,000 patients a year for 35 years has led them to cancel a continental annual camp for missionary kids that has supported them with rich spiritual leadership and fellowship.
___I suppose it is this same new direction that forces MKs to be educated in public schools or boarding schools even if missionaries can themselves fund a better education. It appears to me that the IMB's new direction is to not support the missionaries left on the field, much less the ones they have betrayed.
___ Suzy Fuller
___ Tyler
Halt to creedality
___Don't get me wrong. I went to seminary with Leon Johnson; Kathy and I are both from Hawaii; Avery Willis discipled me in the first MasterLife workshop (Jan. 27).
___But from all appearances, the Cooperative Program support of missionaries is about to die. The required affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message by missionaries--or they will not be allowed to return to their fields of assignment--will mean that many won't return because in good conscience they won't sign it.
___So, how will they get to the place of service and ministry they've had for many good years (like the Johnsons to Mozambique)? They'll start making deputation visits to churches for individual commitments of support like so many other missionary organizations do. And once they have enough support, they'll return to their fields. And the strength and difference of the Cooperative Program will erode.
___Is this what we Southern Baptists want? It's going to happen, because godly people will have no other option in pursuing their God-called work but to raise their own support to continue their ministries abroad, and perhaps even in North America.
___Let's call a halt to this creedality. Internatonal Mission Board trustees should stop the hysteria. They should not kill the Cooperative Program in the name of conformity.
___ Bob Gillchrest
___ San Diego
Read for yourself
___Bible-believing Baptists who desire to understand why many of our Southern Baptist missionaries refuse to affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message would do well to secure a copy of the entire 4,034-word document.
___I went to the Internet for a copy, compared it to the entire Bible and found some very good reasons not to affirm the 2000 BF&M.
___We claim "they will know we are Christians by our love," but the word "love" appears only six times in the 2000 BF&M, and one time it is conditional. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us we can have all other features of a godly life, but without love, it means nothing. Incidentally, 1 Corinthians 13 is not among more than 600 Bible references cited in the 2000 BF&M.
___Jesus taught us how to understand Scripture as recorded in Matthew 23:13-23. That passage is not referenced in the 2000 BF&M except in regard to giving money. Those hearing Jesus expressing those woes revered the sovereignty of God just as much as the crafters of the 2000 BF&M.
___As Christians, we are to follow the Scriptures referenced in the 2000 BF&M, but woe to us if we neglect the weightier Bible instruction to love justice, mercy and faithfulness. I believe many Baptists have spoken in error, as I have, by speaking about the 2000 BF&M without reading the entire document and comparing it to all of God's word.
___ William H. Osborne
___ Houston
Koran vs. Bible
___The report of Joshua del Risco's seminar on Islam at the Texas Evangelism Conference (Feb. 3) is interesting.
___More features of Islam as reflected in the Koran need to be known. Here is a short summary of other Islamic teachings:
___The Koran declares itself to be God's "infallible Word." The beginning words in chapter one read, "This Book (Koran) is not to be doubted."
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___N.J. Dawood's translation of the Koran is easy to read. The Koran and the Bible are "worlds apart."
___ Pat Taylor
___ Mirando City
Congratulations to Jimmy Carter
___Regarding "Baptists worldwide congratulate Carter on Nobel, but SBC is silent" (Dec. 30), I agree with Robert Parham that the lack of attention from Southern Baptist leaders to former President Jimmy Carter's accomplishment is a "shameful É failure."
___Our local association did not let the opportunity to congratulate President Carter pass us by. On Oct. 15, during Friendship Baptist Association's 144th annual meeting, we unanimously passed a resolution honoring President Carter, and we dedicatedthe minutes from this meeting in honor of him.
___As the director of missions for our association, I had the privilege of presenting these to President Carter Jan. 12 in his home church, Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. President Carter very graciously accepted this recognition of his outstanding accomplishment. It was my honor to be a part of congratulating him on behalf of 50 Friendship Baptist churches across our five-county area.
___David C. Barnett
___Americus, Ga.
Pre-emptive attack would be a bad precedent
___Former President Jimmy Carter is constantly vilified by this country's right-wingers, but I am glad he courageously speaks out opposing how President Bush is handling the Iraq situation. Sincere, intelligent dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Bad things often happen when good people fail to speak out, or do nothing.
___President Bush wants to embark on a venture which could take the world to the brink of self-destruction. All summer and to this day Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have promoted going to war with Iraq. I don't think the Bush administration is prepared to
___Bush talks a lot about his personal relationship with Jesus Christ and about faith-based initiatives. What is his faith-based rationale for going to war with Iraq? After all, this is God's world we are taking to the brink, not America's or George W. Bush's. Since Iraq is not an imminent threat to us, one has to wonder if Bush's brinksmanship is motivated by his political survival and hope of reelection in 2004.
___Waging war is not the path to peace; it only creates fear, hate and more war.
___Paul L. Whiteley Sr.
___Louisville, Ky.
___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. Letters must be no longer than 250 words. They may be edited to accommodate space.
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