letters_51903

Posted: 5/19/03

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Focus on family issues

I am writing in response to Ben Macklin's letter (May 12) expressing concerns about non-Southern Baptists preaching at the Pastors' Conference, June 15-16 in Phoenix.

He states, “Our Cooperative Program dollars given to the SBC should not fund a single non-Baptist. Period!” He has nothing to worry about. The Pastors' Confe

E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

rence is funded solely through the offerings collected at the conference, product sales of recorded sermons, and the hosting church, in this case, First Baptist in Dallas.

I encourage Texas Baptists to attend. This year's conference will focus on family issues, particularly ministering to ministers' families.

My pastor, Mac Brunson, is serving as president of the Pastors' Conference. He has a compassionate heart for hurting families and a passion to see our families become the place where missions and ministry take root and then flourish.

Free counseling sessions will even be available to individuals or families who wish to speak with a Christian counselor. This service is being donated by counselors from First Baptist in Dallas, Hope for the Heart Ministries and Focus on the Family.

The outstanding speakers will address this critical issue, and the vast majority of them are Southern Baptists. And we are working and praying that the music will honor the Lord Jesus Christ and minister to the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Christ with a sense of refreshing and renewal.

Keith Ferguson

Dallas

Consciences not for sale

I am somewhat befuddled by the recent refusal of the North American Mission Board to ratify the cooperative agreement with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (May 12).

The BGCT Executive Board went to extraordinary lengths to accommodate the desire by NAMB to include a requirement that jointly funded missionaries “conform” to the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Many of us felt we were bending over backward to make the agreement acceptable. All we wanted was a brief disclaimer that clarified the fact the BGCT does not endorse the 2000 BF&M. Now NAMB is jeopardizing the work by claiming we have come to an impasse.

NAMB seems determined to separate themselves even further from cooperative work with the BGCT, no matter how much we try to accommodate their concerns.

I am willing to continue working with NAMB to help us have a mutually beneficial cooperative agreement. This should be a simple thing to do.

But we will not be coerced to sell our consciences. Nor will we allow ourselves to be forced to bow down to a man-made “instrument of doctrinal accountability” for the sake of a few dollars from Atlanta.

Wesley Shotwell

Azle

Defense of Calvinism

A recent letter referred to the SBC as a “16-million-member juggernaut” which grew to such proportions during “the low-water mark of Baptist Calvinism” (May 5). It claimed this is evidence the 20th century was “quality time” for the SBC.

The writer failed to note that of the SBC's 16 million members, less than half will be in church on any given Sunday morning. Cut that number by two-thirds, and we get the Sunday night and Wednesday night attendance. Many SBC churches have scores on the roll and only a handful in the pew.

Though lots have “prayed the prayer” and “walked the aisle” and been told they are Christians, for the majority, old things have not really passed away, and, as a result, all things have not become new. Sadly, the most prominent category of Southern Baptists may be the “non-resident” or “non-active” variety. This is what 20th century Baptist Arminianism and pragmatism produced.

The writer admitted, as many will not, “the earliest Southern Baptists were strong Calvinists.” The average SBC church has strayed from the biblical gospel of sovereign grace, the gospel our early SBC leaders preached, and has made salvation the result of human decision rather than divine power.

God bless those who are calling us back to our original doctrinal moorings.

Michael Williams

La Marque

'Other' gospel

When does “the commitment to reporting the news that impacts Baptists and the kingdom of God” (May 5), cease to be an objective coverage of news? The bold placement of “Deep-fried gospel” on page 1, followed by extensive coverage and production information comes across not only as free advertising but, in addition, endorsement.

Such phrases in the article as “telling the gospel in a fresh way” and “the scandalous nature of the gospel in a new way” bring to mind the Apostle Paul's words of warning to the Galatians: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned” (Galatians 1:8).

Aubrey Richardson

Blum

Best-kept secret

Texas Baptists' best-kept secret is the youth Bible drill and speakers' tournament.

Dedicated young people from all over the state recently competed in the finals for this year's tournament in Fort Worth.

Church leaders, write the Baptist General Convention of Texas now to get information on next year's tournament. This year, we had our first round, the local church tournament, on Sunday morning. Outside of being put to shame by two speakers who, in four to six minutes, did a better job than I did behind the pulpit, I was pleased.

Our little rural church has sent finalists to Fort Worth for the past three years, and I am truly grateful for the dedicated workers that prepare our young people for the tournament.

At the least, it will be a shot in the arm to your Discipleship Training program. It also sows permanent seeds of God's word in their lives. The whole church is blessed.

I would like to thank Texas Baptist universities, who award scholarships to the speakers' tournament finalists, and a special thanks to Sweetwater Baptist Association for supporting this event annually.

Spread the word. This is one of the best things going on among Texas Baptists, and everyone needs to know about it!

Bruce Parsons

Roscoe

Removing evil

“Religious leaders and churchgoers singing from different book on war” (April 28) espouses the theory that Protestant leaders should be concerned that their members are significantly to the right of themselves on the question of war with Iraq. I find this thesis troubling.

We who supported President Bush and the U.S.-led invasion are not warmongers. Neither are we mindless automatons waiting for religious leaders to tell us what to believe. We read the same Bible and pray to the same God as they do, and God speaks to us too. We love and respect our pastors but do not look upon them as prophets.

George W. Bush, a godly man, is a strong leader who feels a responsibility for making the world a safer place by eliminating the regime of the most evil man to lead a country since Hitler.

We now have seen the rape rooms, mass graves of people who were executed and other atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein. He destroyed hundreds of villages and gassed his own people, including children. Surely the world is safer without him in power.

It was fitting that this article appeared in the same issue as a piece on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who, finding Christian solutions had seemed to become meaningless in such utter evil, chose other ways to express his faith in a time of terrorism and crisis. Who knows how different the world might have been if strong world leaders before World War II had followed the example of Bonhoeffer?

Jean Vaughn

Deer Park

What do you think? Submit letters to marvknox@baptiststandard.com or Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267.

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