Racism still a serious problem in America

From 1619 to 2026, white racism has been one of America’s worst transgressions.

President Donald Trump should tell our nation how he worked out the issue of race in his life. How did he come to the conclusion the white race is inherently superior to the races of color?

Why do Trump and his Republican Party want America to be white again? A loving Creator God (Jesus) would neither create one particular race superior nor inferior to the other races.

President Trump should be a president for all our people, not just wealthy white people. His words and actions (policies) show Trump’s anti-Afro-American mindset.

He puts down the many outstanding contributions Blacks made over the years in building a better America. He sees no value in teaching Black history in our schools.

If we are going to be a great nation, we the people, must never elect a racist president again.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.
Louisville, Ky.

RE: Voices: The light through Christmas depression

Ruth Cook asked an interesting question about depression that carries implications for how Christians respond to a highly psychologized culture.

She pondered, “I wonder if people in Jesus’s day experienced depression?”

The first pages of the Bible answer that question in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve hid from God after their sin, isolated themselves, and withdrew from life. The first case of depression [was] six millennia before Freud claimed conquest of the psyche like Sir Edmund planting a flag on Everest.

So, yes, people in every age are depressed because of sin.

“How can you say people doing the Lord’s work are sinning?”

I’m not.

But have we considered sin can dress itself in the crisp suit of an over-busy pastor as easily as the torn jeans of a drunk in a gutter, that it wears the frazzled wings of an overworked Christmas play as easily as the skimpy skirt of a Tik-Tok video?

One of the mystiques of modern psychology is it alone possesses knowledge to unravel emotional complexities too sophisticated for the scribblings of prophets. Yet, depression is as old as an apple in a garden.

If our first response to the couple sitting at opposite ends of the couch is always, “You need to be in counseling,” aren’t we saying by default the Bible has no wisdom?

Perhaps it’s time to shoo the skit team off the stage and bring the bread and cup back to the center of the church, where Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians there is a real spiritual feeding on Jesus at the table.

Perhaps it’s time to pull the plug on the Sunday morning monologue about raising kids and return to the fervent preaching of John or Genesis.

Aren’t words of life more life-giving than Prozac?

Ben Mullen
The Colony, Texas

Letter: Editorial: What is the BGCT? Show up to shape it

I would like to offer a clear and gracious clarification in response to how my intentions were presented in this editorial. The article places the presidential nominations within the broader conversations surrounding women in ministry, ordination and pastoral titles.

While I recognize these ongoing discussions within Baptist life, I want to be clear that at no point have I ever made Dr. Potter’s gender, her ordination or the title she carries in her ministry role a factor in allowing my name to be put forth as a nominee.

As a committed Texas Baptist, I wholeheartedly affirm the autonomy of every local church to seek the Lord’s direction and govern themselves accordingly.

From the very beginning, my desire—even in considering allowing my name to be put forth—has been and continues to be to emphasize the importance of corporate prayer among Texas Baptists.

The Baptist Standard’s publication of my nomination, as well as my subsequent article “Voices: Pastoring through corporate prayer” clearly articulate what has motivated me to allow my name to be placed in nomination: a deep desire to call our churches back to the power and unity of corporate prayer. This has been—and remains—my sole purpose for allowing my name to be considered.

I am thankful for Eric’s wise words that once the annual meeting wraps up, we will all continue working together as Texas Baptists to reach our great state with the gospel.

Kevin Burrow, pastor
First Baptist Church, Eastland

Kevin, you are correct. I do not believe you or Debbie Potter have women in ministry as a main concern in accepting nominations for president of the BGCT. Both of you deserve consideration for the leadership you would bring to that role. I apologize to you and to Debbie for not taking additional space in the editorial to make that clear.

Thank you, Kevin, for correcting the record.

It will be a huge mistake if Florida state lawmakers pass a bill requiring all of Florida’s public state universities and colleges to rename one roadway on their campuses after the assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The party of Trump and Turning Point USA are portraying Kirk as a righteous martyr. From 2015 to 2024, Kirk used God (Jesus) and Holy Scripture to win votes for an immoral, greedy, autocratic politician, Donald Trump.

God is not fooled when we use God (Jesus) to promote our selfish pursuits of taking our country down the wide road of white Christian nationalism. God doesn’t choose our political leaders. In a democracy, we the people elect them.

It is wrong to lionize Charlie Kirk. Kirk should not have been assassinated. It was an evil act that took his life. No one should celebrate his death. Everyone can pray for and empathize with Kirk’s wife and two young children. May we do so.

Paul Whiteley Sr.
Louisville, Ky.

Letter: Faith misused in Gaza’s destruction

Whose God do you look to when you seek to justify starvation and mass slaughter?

Watching Gaza’s devastation, many have appealed to religion or history to rationalize what cannot be defended. Some cite ancient suffering to excuse new atrocities, as if pain sanctifies more pain.

In Peter Beinart’s powerful 2025 book Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, he observes that sacred texts and memories of persecution have been weaponized to legitimize the destruction of another people.

It is not only some Jewish voices doing this. Many American politicians have invoked faith and moral duty while supporting policies that have starved children and flattened homes.

If your faith demands silence before injustice or obedience to cruelty, perhaps it is not God you are following, but power cloaked in holiness. If your God blesses hunger and rubble, then your prayers rise only to human authority, not to heaven.

Terry Hansen
Milwaukee, Wisc.

RE: Only two-thirds of U.S. Christians believe all have sinned

Barna’s poll that only 66 percent of U.S. Christians believe all have sinned shows a sad lack of the gospel in many churches. Verses like Romans 3:23 and 5:12, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Galatians 3:22 and 1 John 1:10 teach this doctrine.

Those who deny universal sin don’t understand what sin is. It isn’t just theft and murder. It’s anything short of God’s perfect law.

When a scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is, Jesus started with who God is. There is one God; therefore, we must love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30). To fall short of this is to sin.

The gospel begins with one God, who is perfect in all attributes. God is three co-equal, co-eternal persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son who took on a human nature (Philippians 2:6-7; Hebrews 2:10-18).

He is one person who is fully God and fully man. He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, born, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, died, was buried, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and will return to judge the living and the dead.

In his death on the cross, he bore the penalty of the sins of those who would be redeemed.

To understand sin is to know who Jesus is and why he came. It’s to realize his death and what it did. It’s to know the power of his resurrection.

Sin isn’t a “social justice” problem. The church isn’t a therapy club for social miscreants. The gospel isn’t an Alcoholics Anonymous plan only some people need.

The gospel is an essential doctrine for all. We must live it and preach it to all. Churches need to stop letting the world dictate what Christianity is.

Daniel Mynyk
Castle Rock, Colo.

A call to heed Paul’s instruction on vengeance

Prolific, revenge-minded President Donald Trump uses his power to get even with his critics by punishing them in some way. Trump and his evangelical supporters should read a chapter from Holy Scripture’s New Testament.

From the book of Romans, read Romans 12, the whole chapter.

Verse 19: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

Verse 20: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”

Verse 21: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

I pray President Trump and I will leave vengeance to God. If we do, love wins.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.
Louisville, Ky.

RE: Voices: Sad for Texas Baptists

I am shocked and saddened by the publication of Voices: Sad for Texas Baptists in the Baptist Standard. I am troubled both by the harsh accusations Mr. Currie makes in his article and by the decision to publish such a minority‑opinion piece. The carelessness on display is astonishing—especially in light of the fact that the BGCT, and the institutions historically tied to them, have for decades publicly affirmed a biblically faithful view of sexuality.

I believe most Texas Baptist churches, including mine, disagree with Currie’s opinions. I am particularly appalled by his suggestion that those who maintain the biblical definition of marriage and sexuality are not “truly Baptist.” Labeling anyone holding historic Christian convictions as “fundamentalists” is a weak ad hominem attack, seemingly intended more to provoke controversy than foster honest dialogue.

Commitment to the authority of Scripture has long been one of the defining marks of Baptists. While we also affirm the priesthood of all believers and the autonomy of the local church, manipulating these convictions to justify accepting unbiblical positions is a grave misuse—one that is both disingenuous and dangerous to our witness and unity. There are clear doctrinal boundaries within our Baptist heritage, and to suggest otherwise misunderstands our historic commitment to the authority of Scripture.

This goes beyond differences in biblical interpretation—at its heart, it is about faithfulness to what Scripture clearly teaches. It is not a secondary matter on which we can simply “agree to disagree.” Scripture is clear in its opposition to all sin, including sexual immorality. Overlooking or excusing sinful behavior in any capacity is an offense to God. As the Apostle Paul writes, “May it never be!”

Mr. Currie—and anyone else—has the right to his opinions; I understand that. I also understand public criticism of those who stand for biblical fidelity is persistent and nothing new. What makes this most disheartening is that it comes from within our own tent. This was not a call for dialogue—it was a javelin thrown at anyone who disagrees. It is divisive, manipulative and unnecessary—and that truly makes this a sad day for Texas Baptists.

Cameron Strange, lead pastor

Impact Church, Schertz

RE: Lawmaker calls redistricting exodus an act of faith

Redrawing boundaries for the purpose of representative districts has been a contested affair for the history of our republic. This human affair is broken, as is every other human affair.

I am not ambivalent to the injustices political parties perpetrate against the opposing party, but the most alarming and terrifying thing in the article “Lawmaker calls redistricting exodus an act of faith” was the idolatrous prayer: “But we joined together hand in hand and said a prayer to the power of love and its ability to give us strength and peace and comfort as we embark on this journey on behalf of our constituents and the people of Texas.”

Do we see this statement for the idolatry it is? We are to worship God alone, the one true creator God. We are also to worship him rightly. The second commandment is not a repeat of the first. The second commandment warns us to worship God correctly and to not create some image or idea to represent him.

To pray to the “power of love” is blasphemy. Praying to the “power of love” to give strength to withstand criticism and opposition is no different than praying to Ba’al.

Brothers and sisters, we may have differing opinions about taxes, immigration, property rights and other matters, but we worship God alone and he demands that we do so rightly. The direst spiritual struggle I see represented in this article is praying to the idol of the “power of love.”

If my representation in congress is magnified or diluted, God is still the one to whom I pray and the one who redeemed my lost soul. This ambiguous “power of love” god may sound acceptable to the world but is an abomination to God.

Mathew St. John, pastor

First Baptist Church, Anson

RE: Sad for Texas Baptists

In response to David Currie’s Voices article, Sad for Texas Baptists, I disagree with the premise of his argument. The hermeneutical gymnastics undertaken by the generation of one’s great-grandfather to justify devaluing a people group to the point of making them property is not the same as refusing to do flips to appease the culture. The gymnasts in this ongoing culture war are those who are trying to convince us that the plain teaching of Scripture is anything but.

So, to Mr. Currie’s point, if the cost of widening the Texas Baptist tent comes at the expense of acceptance of a liberal theology so liberal that it balks at the established order set forth by our Creator. then it’s time to decide that the tent stakes move no further or admit the tent is not for revival but the circus and forget staking the tent down at all.

The Texas Baptist tent is either a tabernacle where we meet our One God in three persons who has made clear his perfect will on human sexuality and relationships, or we admit we want it to be large enough to fit three rings instead, and we call in the clowns.

Truth divides, and right truth divides rightly. I cannot perceive the hearts of men as Mr. Currie evidently can, but I know that for most of us, we don’t fear or hate the LGBTQ+ community. We love God, and so we love them enough to say that to enter into his tent, one must love him more than one’s sin.

To mix analogies, the gardener rips and keeps out weeds from the garden, not because of hatred of weeds, but out of love for the roses. We, too, must choose what grows or goes.

Nathan Feinberg, pastor

Adamsville Baptist Church, Lampasas

RE: Baylor Rejection of LGBTQ+ Grant

President Livingstone and Regents,

As Baptist pastors in Texas, many of us with connections to Baylor (University) as graduates and/or supporters, we want to clearly and publicly thank President (Linda) Livingstone and Baylor’s leadership for the wise return of the Baugh grant.

We fully agree that any grant that advocates for perspectives on human sexuality that are counter to biblical sexual ethics should be declined or returned. Right decisions are usually easy; righteous decisions are usually costly. We applaud this decision that Baylor has made and stand beside President Livingstone’s leadership and wisdom in this matter.

Sincerely,

Pastor Duane Brooks, Tallowood Baptist Church, Houston

Pastor Jonathan Pokluda, Harris Creek Baptist Church, Waco

Pastor Jeff Warren, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas

Pastor Jim Heiligman, First Baptist Church, Bryan

Pastor Chris Johnson, First Baptist Church, San Antonio

Pastor Michael Criner,  First Baptist Church,  Rockwall

Pastor Miguel Lopez, First Baptist Church, Duncanville

Pastor Nika Davis, Second Missionary Baptist Church, Waco

Pastor Brian Haynes, Bay Area Church, League City

Pastor Ramiro Pena, Christ the King Baptist Church, Waco

Pastor Ron Durham, Shiloh Baptist Church, Crawford

Pastor Lance Shumake, Crosspoint Community, Rockwall

Pastor Tom Gutierrez, Viento Fuerte, Waco

Pastor Chris Sammons, First Baptist Church, Hewitt

Pastor Drake Osborn, Grace Church, Waco

Pastor Mike Lumpkin, Temple Baptist Church, Gainesville

Pastor Matt Henslee, Plymouth Park Baptist Church, Irving

Pastor Michael Visy, Grace Church, Hewitt

Pastor Blair Robinson, First Baptist Church,  Irving

Pastor Billy Edwards, Brazos Meadows Baptist Church, Waco

Pastor Jordan McKinney, Hillcrest Baptist Church, Cedar Hill

Pastor Ben Faus, First Baptist Church, Crawford

Pastor Mike McGown, Parkway Fellowship, Katy

Pastor Jeff Humphrey, Parkside Baptist Church, Denison

Pastor John Durham, Highland Baptist Church, Waco