Texas Baptist Forum

Posted: 11/11/05

Texas Baptist Forum

Interesting omission

I found it interesting looking at the list of exhibitors for the upcoming Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

What I found even more interesting is who was not listed.

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

"Jesus tells us not to fear those who can destroy the body, but those who can destroy body and soul. And part of the sickness of spirit we feel when confronted with terrorism is that we face people whose souls are damaged, almost destroyed." Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury (RNS) "You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose. … Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny." Rick Warren Pastor and best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life, quoted on a Starbucks coffee cup (RNS/ USA Today) "Ooh, it was so much fun. I think I'm alive." Thomas Rice Pastor of First Baptist Church in Agawam, Mass., after skydiving to illustrate a sermon on trusting God and overcoming fear (RNS) "We actually went through two cloud layers. He was closer to God than ever before." Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays Email Address David Strickland Rice's skydiving instructor (RNS)

Under the listing for schools, universities and seminaries, Baptist University of the Americas was listed, Baylor University and Truett Seminary were listed, Logsdon School of Theology was listed, but Southwestern Baptist Theo-logical Seminary was noticeably absent, not to mention their new The College at Southwestern was missing too.

Why is that?

Isn't Southwestern one of the pre-eminent theological seminaries in the United States and Texas? As a Southwestern alum (class of 2001) and as a pastor of a Texas Baptist church, it is shocking to see that my alma mater, and the alma mater of many Texas pastors and BGCT leadership, was left out of the loop.

It is discouraging to see other SBC entities included as exhibitors to the convention but Southwestern Semi-nary excluded because of a so-called lack of contribution to Texas Baptist work.

I think that the contribution of training pastors, student ministers, education ministers, music ministers and others who serve on church staffs in Texas is contribution enough. I guess there is always next year.

Troy Allen

Florence

Disingenuous request

I applaud the decision to not allow Southwestern Seminary space at the BGCT annual meeting to set up their exhibit. It was the absolute right thing to do.

It is disingenuous for Southwestern Seminary to act like they have no clue why the committee took the steps they took by not allowing them space in Austin this year.

If Southwestern where really interested in mending fences and moving on, then the very first thing that (President) Paige Patterson should do is on behalf of Southwestern Seminary publicly apologize to Russell Dilday, (the president who was fired by fundamentalist trustees in 1994).

One scholarship and a couple of invitations to speak during a chapel service do not begin to address the difficulties Southwestern has created between themselves and the BGCT. It is unfortunate that Southwestern and the BGCT don't have a better working relationship, but lest we forget, it is Southwestern and not the BGCT who has changed who they are and what they stand for.

So, spare us all the hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth over not being able to pass out pens and notepads at this year's annual meeting. It's childish and only breeds further discord among Texas Baptists.

Gerald Bastin

Tilden

Sin selection

If you live in Texas, you were bombarded with appeals to vote for a constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage. And while I so voted, I am alarmed that many Christians came out of the voting booth feeling very righteous.

It amazes me how so many Christians can focus on so few sins–the ones they would never be guilty of–and ignore other sins they commit regularly.

Consider Jesus' words in Matthew 7: “How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?”

One of the “planks” in Christian eyes is divorce. The divorce rate among Christians matches or even exceeds that of nonbelievers. Are Christians really concerned about protecting marriage? Or are we just concerned about judging others and making ourselves feel righteous?

Consider these words of Jesus: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1).

I'm concerned that a lot of Christians today are turning into modern-day Pharisees. Jesus didn't have very many nice things to say about them. If we are to win the world to Christ, we need to be more Christ-like, and less Pharisee-like.

Larry Burner

McKinney

What do you think? The Baptist Standard values letters to the editor, for they reflect Baptists' traditional affirmation of the priesthood of believers. Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Letters are limited to 250 words.