Dream Realized

What a historic occasion. Two hundred years after the birth of the signer of the Emancipation Proclamation and 80 years after the birth of the leader of the civil rights movement, America has its first African-American president. Even though Barack Obama wasn’t my candidate, I join with millions of Americans to celebrate this amazing episode in the life of America.

Only in America could a member of a minority group be elected leader of the nation. Sure, India’s prime minister is a Sikh in a nation overwhelmingly Hindu, but Manmohan Singh is still an Indian.

President Obama’s election, on the other hand, is different. His election is the fulfillment of the ideals of America and the hope of the Christian faith.

As an American, I rejoice in the realization of the founding fathers’ declaration that “all men are created equal.” But as a Christian, I am even more thankful that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for (we) are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Together as Christians, we should raise our voices in prayer for our new leader that God would give him wisdom to lead us through a very turbulent period in our nation’s history.

J.M. Givens Jr.

Altus, Okla.

A ‘General’ name

Ken Camp’s excellent summary of the origin of Baptists (Jan. 12) evokes a couple of observations:

First, the Landmark movement, which traced the origin of Baptists back to John the Baptist, is a case of misplaced name association. John’s baptism of repentance and Jesus’ baptism, which was a statement of his mission, were two different things. We are baptized to show forth Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, even as he was at the onset of his earthly ministry.

The Landmarkists also gave us the term “alien immersion,” referring to those baptized by non-Baptists, leading to the conclusion that Baptists are the only Christians who practice scriptural baptism, a position which I find reprehensible, though many Baptist churches cling to this position today.

Second, Camp also pointed out Calvinism came to Baptist life through the Particular Baptists, who believed that “Christ died only for the elect,” whereas the General Baptists “believed Christ died for all.”

Assuming the word “general” identifies us with those who believe “Christ died for all,” then why are we trying to omit it from our name? Some Southern Baptist leaders are hyper-Calvinists, leaving me to wonder who or what is really motivating this name change. Before dropping the word “General” from our name, shouldn’t we know why it was included in the first place?

If the word bears such doctrinal significance, then we should be interpreting it for the current generation, rather than deleting it because it doesn’t speak to them.

Paul Kenley

Lampasas

History debated

Baptists love dissent as much as they love tolerance. They just can’t abide dissenters or the intolerant (Jan. 12). Baptists do love to fight, but they no longer are an unrespectable group of society’s misfits. Enjoying prestige as a force of worldly power in our culture requires the casting out of dissenters in order to maintain conformity. …

The perpetuation of the myth of Roger Williams as the first Baptist in America is on par with the myth of George Washington and the cherry tree. Never let the truth interfere with a good story. Williams (was a) Baptist …, but only for a short time. I guess if he still was on their roll, he still was a Baptist.

Finally, as long as our Anabaptist heritage is debatable, Baptists can plead ignorance on the New Testament command to love one’s enemies. Baptists remind me of the congregation in Mark Twain’s War Prayer that failed to understand praying for “our” victory included an unspoken prayer for the death and destruction of “our” enemies. For all of the understanding and application of overcoming evil with good, the New Testament could have been left untranslated in the Greek.

Ray Alger

Dallas

What do you think? We value hearing from our readers. Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Due to space, limit letters to 250 words, and only one letter per writer per quarter.

I agree we need a new name for our convention, but I disagree with the proposed name of Texas Baptist Convention. 

It is too vague and simple. Our new name needs to reflect a more global mission mindset.  How about Baptist Convention of the Americas? The current Baptist General Convention of Texas includes many cooperative churches and partnerships across North and South America, and the BGCT currently supports the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio.  Just a thought.

Blake O’Dell

Odessa

Long journey

The upside of the report that ministers are likely to dismiss or deny needs of the mentally ill (Nov. 17) is that 68 percent of ministers responded properly.

The article did not address the extreme difficulty in dealing with mentally ill people associated with our churches. A pastor or church or family can do very little if the mentally ill person will not cooperate. Our church has dealt directly with three diagnosed mentally ill people, and the results ranged from no effect to horrific.

The system of caring for the mentally ill in our nation now is flawed. It is difficult to get someone to seek care and take medication if they don’t want it. Our pastor and our members who were involved with trying to help these people have worked tirelessly to try to help them. About the only way this kind of impasse can be overcome is if the person overtly threatens someone or is perceived to be threatening harm to themselves. In the meantime, anguish, bizarre behavior and broken hearts prevail.

Thank God that nothing is impossible with him. That is the route to true healing in these cases, but it can be a long and arduous journey. We are aware of two cases of people previously associated with our church coming to healing in this area after much, much struggle and waiting.

Jerome Ellard

Big Sandy

Faithful to Scripture

“Graceless behavior” (Dec. 15) is an example of Baptists taking doctrine and theology into their own hands and making it not what God, through his written word, has determined it to be. Where does it say in Scripture women are to be bishops (pastors)?

It is dangerous to create Christian doctrine apart from the Bible or interpret Scripture to suit one’s preferences. The 2000 Baptist Faith & Message is a monument to faithful application of Scripture. 

The Georgia Baptist Convention likewise is faithful to God by rejecting a congregation’s mission offerings because, as in the case of First Baptist Church of Decatur, by calling a woman as pastor, the church violated a clear scriptural teaching. I am sure that church saw their action as a hospitable and accepting move in keeping with the loving spirit of Jesus. The Scripture warns against taking such liberties, to paraphrase, “there is a way that seemeth right unto man but the ends thereof are the ways of death.”

Royal E. Smith

Southlake

Hope & Christmas

During Advent, it is appropriate to use the fish symbol as a Chrismon on our church’s Chrismon tree, since the fish was one of the most important symbols of Christ to the early Christians. The birth and life of Jesus was the fulfillment of the hope the Old Testament prophets proclaimed hundreds of years before Christ’s birth. Jesus—Emmanuel—was born into a world in disarray, a world and its people in need of a Savior.

It probably is safe to say the world has always been, and is even to this day, in disarray. When our lives are burdened with heavy loads, sometimes all we have to cling to is hope. When Jesus paid the supreme sacrifice to save us from our sins, our Creator kept hope alive forever.

As long as we have hope, we have nothing to fear. For God is with us and will provide ways for our needs to be met. When it is time for us to depart God’s kingdom on earth, God has prepared a wonderful, eternal home for us. From cradle to grave and even beyond, Jesus is the Hope we can trust. 

Christ-like hope was born on Christmas Day about 2,000 years ago. Hope and love always trump fear. Two byproducts of hope and love are joy and peace. The fish Chrismon reminds us that hope is with us always.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.

Louisville, Ky.

New holy day

We need a new holy day that looks to the future and celebrates the Second Coming of Christ.

Present holidays are associated with pagan days or commercialized, leaving Christ out of the picture. 

A holiday that celebrates the Second Coming but reflects on the past events of Christ in the Bible would be specifically Christian. Who but Christians would celebrate the Second Coming of Christ?

Maybe the last day of the year, Dec. 31, would be appropriate, since we are in the last days. The state does not have to bless this holiday. Christians just need to rejoice in celebration of the future return of Christ. It also could add to a worldwide evangelism awareness.

Michael Corzine

Farmersville

First thought of the day

For nearly 23 years, I have served as a pastor of six churches, beginning in Oklahoma and now in Texas. For some time, I had developed a pattern in the ministry that kept me busy with “ministry-stuff.” Oh, to be sure, I remained quite busy doing this and that—this hospital visit and another one. I worked diligently in the office, preparing Sunday school lessons, Bible studies and sermons. I thought the amount of time was good and sufficient.

What I have realized, however, is through all of that, I was so busy I forgot to be God’s child. Over the past few months, God has refocused my heart and thoughts. I noticed what had been missing one morning while on the way home from taking my daughter to school. I suddenly caught myself excited about getting back home to spend my time with the Father in his word and in prayer. I soon began to make even better use of my time with the Father.

I have even been awakened with the first thought of the day, “Get up and spend time with your Father.”

I can’t recall the last time my first thought of the day was on the Father, and my time with him has enabled me to truly forgive others.

When was the last time you awoke with God being first on your mind? Do it because he is God.

Bill Adams

Temple

Chaplains & free speech

I have no idea what the Secular Coalition for America is on about with this commission on “religious accommodation” within the Defense Department. In 22 years in the Air Force, my husband and I have seen chaplains accommodate even the weirdest of “religions,” often upsetting the Christian community on base by sharing the chapel facilities with pagan groups.

My husband is serving in Afghanistan with NATO. He is the chaplain for the NATO compound.

The chapel has been turned over to the Muslims to use because it was not large enough for the Christian group, and the Muslims needed somewhere to worship. The Christians are using the theater, and it is a hassle to move the equipment in and out each week. I’m telling you, military chaplains care very much about accommodating people of different faith groups, and they are sensitive to those with no faith.

It will be a very bad day for our military and our nation if chaplains are not allowed free speech and free exercise because a few people don’t like the way the chaplains do their very difficult job of being soldiers and religious leaders.

Jean Whitmore

Okinawa, Japan

Graceless behavior

Georgia Southern Baptists revealed continuing and misplaced devotion to the Southern Baptist Convention’s camouflaged creed that attempts to hide behind something called the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message (Dec. 1). 

The abrupt dismissal of the First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., for having a woman pastor is yet another obvious illumination that doctrine—as devised, interpreted and administered by judgmental Christians—continues to be more important than grace and the obvious intent of Jesus as seen in his relationships with women.

The folly of pretended tenets that include priesthood of believers and independent churches is revealed as hypocrisy when state conventions, led by masculine devotees of self-importance, castigate a body of believers and find them guilty of negating the intended and forced coercion of all churches to the creed they continue to deny.

Southern Baptists have begun the slow decay of influence and effectiveness. For as long as this type of graceless behavior exists, the downward direction will continue.

Edward Clark

Danville, Ky.

What do you think? We value letters because we affirm the priesthood of all believers. Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Due to space considerations, limit letters to 250 words.

Name change

I suppose it was inevitable—changing the name of the Baptist General Convention of Texas to Texas Baptist Convention (Nov. 10). Yet the proposed name is so “generic,” no character at all.

What is alarming, however, is the rationale of the Future Focus Committee—“there’s no one alive who remembers the story” and “little, if any, awareness of that history” of the current name. This “history” is the glue that keeps us together and tells others who we are. Should we remove “Baptist” from our churches? “Christian” from our name?

The danger is that we are losing our identity. I hope this recommendation will be defeated.

Siegfried Enge

El Paso

Electoral motives

I question Trey Turner’s comments regarding the presidential election (Nov. 10). He isn’t alone in his view, and frankly, it irks my heart and spirit to hear this coming from someone who claims to be a Christian.

To Christians, the election of the highest office in America should never be about style, race, skin color or denominational affiliation, but about qualifications, leadership abilities and, above all, standing for traditional biblical morals. It sickens me to think of any Christian, regardless of race, voting for a candidate based solely because of race. I’m Anglo, but race has no bearing on who I vote for.

Our president-elect clearly supports homosexuality and abortion, both of which are biblically condemned. To elect someone who does not care about biblical values is nothing for a Christian to congratulate the nation over. Saul was crowned king when God told Israel they didn’t need a king. God gave them what they wanted to teach them a lesson. Saul was a terrible king. Perhaps God has given America what they wanted.

I agree with Turner that electing a black president will move America past some dark and lingering past, but that is a not a good motive for electing anyone.

I join Turner wishing Barack Obama well. I’ll pray for him as often as I can, and I, too, ask the Lord to guide and protect him and his family, but I’ll only support him on things that don’t conflict with God’s word.

Les Jacobson

Nome

Fitting tribute

Thanks for recognizing Catarino and Margarita Romero with such a fitting tribute (Nov. 3). And thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Romero for inspiring, well-lived lives. We are blessed by them.

Jim Brokenbek

Amarillo

Online-Only Letters:

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Like Ron Phillips (Nov. 3), I have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This experience was wonderful, and I can’t begin to tell of the deep joy and happiness the baptism of the Holy Spirit affords.

Doctrinally, you can prove its validity in Scriptures. Jesus said in Luke 24:48 to stay in Jerusalem until clothed with power from on high. They waited until the Holy Spirit and tongues of fire fell as seen in Acts 1 and 2. Afterward, they witnessed with power to Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.

Our Baptist churches have strong love, powerful preaching, enlightening Bible studies, evangelism, being missional and everywhere spreading Jesus love! At the same time, we need to look carefully into God’s word honoring the Trinity fully to receive the spiritual gifts God has for us.

1 Corinthians 13 is a chapter on love, warning those who think tongues are “top dog.”  Paul points out love ranks first! The baptism of the Holy Spirit isn’t a sign of maturity, but God wanting to bless us to be used by him. God’s word has much to say regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

I know we can be better equipped by discovering all he has for each of us!

Judy Berry

Kenedy

Earthly citizenship only temporary

I am writing in response to Charles Reed’s letter, “Immoral & Unnecessary” (Oct. 27).

As Christians, Jesus tells us: “If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  He didn’t tell us that we could necessarily discern truth from what the world tells us.

We are entitled to our opinions about politics and about how we feel about the war in Iraq and whether we see it as just or unjust. However, to call it illegal and to say that people lied about it, and then to espouse as truth a study that claims “more than a million civilians—mostly children” have died in the war all seems to be someone telling other Christians what the truth is.

Please do not assume that fellow Christians or that Baptists in general strongly support “one of the greatest evils in modern history” or that what one person believes is any more “true” than what others believe.  

We must all search the Scriptures and our own hearts to know how to live in and respond to this world and those who are in it.

Thanks to David Packer for his reminder in “How to bring change to America” that we have dual citizenship. Let us remember always that our earthly citizenship is only temporary, but that we can make a difference while we are here, no matter what else is going on around us.

Gayla Tekell

Denton

What do you think? Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Due to space limitations, maximum length is 250 words, and only one letter per writer is accepted per quarter.

West Texas missing

The list of nominees for Baptist General Convention of Texas trustees/directors (Oct. 27) is quite interesting. If you look at their hometowns and draw a line from Amarillo to Midland to San Angelo to San Antonio, you will find names from only three cities—Muleshoe, Odessa and Del Rio—west of that line.

I realize that segment of the state isn’t as heavily populated, but there are plenty of Baptists in this vast territory.

I’m hoping this isn’t a normal pattern of leadership for the Baptist General Convention of … Texas.

Don Henry

Ballinger

Russian encouragement

We know many of our friends in the United States are disappointed John McCain did not win the presidential election. Russian Baptists too are concerned the struggle for Christian values—for the family and against abortion—may have suffered a setback.

But we hope the victory of a Democratic president might lead to better relations between the USA and Russia. We hope the war in Iraq can end soon, and the USA might again become a part of the “concert” of European nations. May the USA see itself as a partner and not as a country apart and aloof from other nations. We do not want another Cold War.

We are happy Barack Obama is a member of a Protestant denomination and he has close ties to the Baptist community in Chicago.

We congratulate him on his victory, for it shows that even a person with a very modest background can achieve great things. That is a source of hope to all of us. His victory is an example of the great possibilities which democracy can bring.

We wish Barack Obama and our two countries God’s best.

Vitaly Vlasenko

Director for External Church Relations

Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists

Moscow, Russia

Denounce racism

The appalling activities that occurred on Baylor University’s campus on Election Day and since are despicable and should be repudiated by every one of us who holds a Baylor degree.

The Standard reported a noose was found hanging from a tree, and police had to be called to quell a politically inflamed shouting match in front of Penland Hall.

Several current students to whom I’ve spoken are aghast at the T-shirts and comments across campus that cast the results of the election in virulent and even apocalyptic terms.

At this moment, I am not “Baylor Proud.” How sad that, at a school which claims to maintain exceptional Christian values, students’ responses fall so far short of even the most basic civil behavior. What a contrast to John McCain’s concession speech and his eloquent plea for unity.

I’m grateful for Interim President David Garland’s strong denunciation of the events. Every alumnus should join him.

Robert Dilday

Richmond, Va.

Jimmy Carter's arrogance

It’s so comforting to know Jimmy Carter has the answers to all the problems that that could restore the U.S. standing abroad (Nov. 3). The arrogance of this man truly astounds me.

As the worst president this country has ever experienced, our media still grants him a forum to lecture us on how horrible America is and how his worldview is what will save us. When he had the chance, his policies did far more damage to America’s reputation than anything President Bush has done, by projecting the U.S. as a weakling nation that wasn’t interested in standing up to tyrannical dictators and godless communism. Not to mention his disastrous domestic policies that created record high inflation and unemployment as well as anti-family judicial appointments.

Steve Kent

Dallas

Congrats, America

I want to voice my congratulations to our great country.

As an Anglo and possibly because my generation and the one after mine has no memory of the Civil Rights Movement, I realize something happened Nov. 4 I do not fully grasp.

Television commentator Juan Williams and political activist Jessie Jackson both separately were moved beyond speech, as so many others were. Watching these two in those moments helped me realize we have a reason to stop and celebrate as Americans, no matter the political bent.

Now, what will this change in regard to the nature of political debate? Probably nothing, but we moved past some dark and lingering past. May we wish the president-elect well. May the Lord guide and protect the Obama family and bless this country. Amen.

Trey Turner

Temple

Christ’s ambassadors

Gabe Lyons is to be commended for stating the modern problem so clearly: Christianity isn’t known for Christ’s love, but for the stances against society (Oct. 27)

I agree that “present-day (popular) Christianity is no longer as Jesus intended.” Much of our oppositional behavior is the result of a system entrenched in our churches that fulfills a self-imposed commission to scowl at sin so that nobody “gets away” with thinking sin is OK.

We want to be God’s partners in pointing out the problems with the world. We fulfill this self-styled and self-serving commission to the detriment of Jesus’ true commission to make disciples.

We are the continuing presence of Christ, as Charles Wade wrote in his book, The Jesus Principle, and are ambassadors, whether we like it or not.

The question is: What is Jesus all about according to the message we communicate to the world? Our actions are the message we send and come directly from the thinking habits we’ve adopted for ourselves.

Make disciples. That’s the thinking habit we need to adopt.

Ben Macklin

Vernon

Sunday bailout

Recently, Coby Shorter III, pastor of Rosewood Avenue Baptist Church in Austin, updated the outdoor sign. It announced the topic of his next sermon: “Need A Bailout, Come Sunday.”

Jack Goodman

Austin

More on Good Friday

Steven Mathieson’s letter (Sept. 29) asserts the Hebrew word onah, a period of time, disproves Dan Keeney’s point (Aug. 18) that Matthew 12:40 requires a Thursday crucifixion. It does not; moreover, Christ’s prophesy of “three days and three nights” is supported by other scriptural evidence that he died Thursday afternoon.

The long tradition of a Friday crucifixion is based on the requirement that the crucified bodies had to be removed before the Sabbath (Mark 15:42). Christ’s death occurred on the 14th of Nissan in the Jewish calendar; the next day, Nissan 15, began the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a Sabbath according to Leviticus 23:6-7. The regular Sabbath followed on the 16th.

Using computers and orbital mechanics, scientists can recreate the lunar-based Jewish calendar for any given period. Such an analysis shows that Nissan 14 fell on Friday in only two years during that time, AD 26, which is too early for Jesus’ death, and AD 33, which is too late. Nissan 14 did, however, fall on Thursday in AD 30.

Thus, in AD 30 there were two Sabbaths, the Passover Sabbath (Friday) and the regular Sabbath (Saturday). This explains the plural “Sabbaths” used in Matthew 28:1, and testifies that while the Passover lambs were being killed in the Temple Thursday afternoon, God’s perfect Lamb was dying for us on Golgotha.

He would rise Sunday morning after three days and three nights in the grave, just as he prophesied in Matthew 12:40.

David Bradley

Winters

I totally agree with Val Borum that Jesus’ crucifixion took place on Thursday, Nisan 14, AD 30 (Nov. 3). 

To his reference to Jesus’ invoking the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:39-41), let me add the following:

• In Matthew 26:1-2, Jesus indicates his crucifixion is “two days away.”  The context for Jesus’ statement is Tuesday, so “two days away” is Thursday.

• The lambs to be sacrificed were selected four days before Passover (Nisan 10).  Four days before Thursday the 14th would be Sunday, the 10th, the day Jesus presented himself to Jerusalem as the sacrificial lamb.

• All the sacrificial lambs were killed on Thursday afternoon the 14th, and so was the sacrificial lamb.  I could go on, but that’s enough for now.

Larry Burner

McKinney

Appalling activities at Baylor

The appalling activities that occurred on Baylor University’s campus on Election Day and since are despicable and should be repudiated by every one of us who holds a Baylor degree.

The Standard has reported a noose was found hanging from a tree, Barack Obama signs were burned in a barbecue pit near Brooks Flats, and police actually had to be called to quell a politically inflamed shouting match in front of Penland Hall.

Several current students to whom I’ve spoken are aghast at the T-shirts and comments across campus that cast the results of the election in virulent and even apocalyptic terms.

At this moment, I am not “Baylor Proud.” How sad that, at a school which claims to maintain exceptional Christian values, students’ responses fall so far short of even the most basic civil behavior. What a contrast to John McCain’s concession speech and his eloquent plea for unity.

I’m grateful for Interim President David Garland’s strong denunciation of the events. Every alumnus should join him.

Robert Dilday

Richmond, Va.

What do you think? Because we affirm the Baptist principle of the priesthood of all believers, we value hearing from our readers. Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Due to space considerations, limit letters to 250 words, and only one letter per writer per quarter.

With regard to Chuck Mann’s letter, Jesus didn’t say anything against a woman becoming a bricklayer or a toolpusher, either, or a governor, or mayor or president (Oct. 13).

There are a lot of things he didn’t say. He didn’t say anything about abortion. But that is not a mandate to do those things.

The Apostle Paul did speak pretty clearly about women being silent in the church and about women not teaching men, etc., but those passages are passé in some Baptist theology. (We are far behind the Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.,  but maybe we will catch up and be as successful and forward thinking as they.)

I love women for their intellect, leadership and skills, and they can do a lot of things better than we men, but I really think Paul knew what he was talking about.

God bless us all as we seek to find what is his way.

Charles Downey

Conroe

Declare the ‘can’t do’s’

If there ever was any doubt as to whom I would be voting for in the general election, it’s letters from people like Charles Reed (Oct. 27) that convince me to vote Republican.

I agree with the author of “Christian ‘brand’ is turning off younger generation” (Oct. 27) that more love needs to be expressed. But to me, a clear indication the youth are not being reached is evidenced in the photo of the youth minister that accompanied the article. I get the message by his gestures and bare feet that “the way to reach the youth is to be like them.”

What youth need more now than ever is a mature adult figure to look up to. They already have “buddies and friends.” Along with love, they need to know that “the wages of sin is death,” and if they should die in their present spiritual condition, they will spend an eternity in hell. That’s reality. 

Maybe in the past we have put too much emphasis on the “thou shalt not’s,” but they do need to know there are some “can’t do’s.”  Unfortunately, we have become so fearful that if we offend one they won’t come back.

F.A. Taylor

Kempner

Good Thursday

It is untenable to say our Lord was crucified on a Friday (Aug. 18, Sept. 29).

“Good Friday,” a long-revered tradition, does not appear anywhere in the Bible. It is incorrect, and it accounts for only two days and two nights despite the explicit prediction by Jesus about his time in the tomb—“three days and three nights.” He invoked the sign of Jonah for emphasis, making it one of his most specific temporal utterances. The only day that precedes Sunday by three days and three nights is Thursday, and blessed be the words of our Lord! When an ancient rabbi or a modern scholar opines, “The portion of an Onah is as the whole of it,” that is erroneous. Three plus three does not equal two plus two.

The crucifixion preceded a sunset that began the first day of Passover. It was a “Special Sabbath” (see John 19:31). The Pharisees could not attend Jesus’ trial, not yet having attended Seder. Jewish scholars tell me the first day of Passover is and always has been observed exactly as any other Sabbath, and can be any day of the week. When it occurs on Friday, there is a “double Sabbath”—two Sabbaths back to back, sunset Thursday until sunset Saturday.

Ergo, behold Sunday morning, three days and three nights after redemption on Thursday! True today, just as during Jesus’ ministry. He was a Jew, a teacher in synagogue. This is simply the one and only way we can parse correctly this teaching of Jesus!

Val Borum

Fort Worth

What do you think? Because we believe in the priesthood of all believers, we value your opinions. Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Due to space considerations, letters must be no longer than 250 words, and only one letter per writer per quarter.

‘Immoral & unnecessary’

I am mystified by the recent discussion of torture in the Baptist Standard. I’m glad David Gushee and others now recognize that torture is unethical and anti-Christian (Sept. 29 ). They’re right, but since when is torture a greater crime than murder?

Our government’s invasion and occupation of Iraq was illegal, immoral and unnecessary. It was based on lies and deceit. It was conducted on the same moral and legal plane as the German invasion of Poland that began World War II. A Johns Hopkins University study indicates this war has caused more than a million civilian deaths—mostly children—plus more than 4,000 American servicemen.

We can’t blame our soldiers. They did what they were trained to do and what they were ordered to do. They were lied to, as well. But the generals, admirals and civilians above them are without excuse.

I and others warned the Baptist Standard about our government’s war plans eight months before the attack, in August 2002. Jimmy Carter warned this was not a just war.

Yet even now, six years later, Baptist ethicists appear to remain silent on one of the greatest evils in modern history—strongly supported by Baptists.

Charles Reed

Waco

International churches

Thanks for the article highlighting the work of Bethel International Baptist Church in Frankfurt, Germany (Sept. 15 ). Bethel is part of the International Baptist Convention.

The opportunity for reaching international English-speakers continues to grow. Expatriates continue to be mobilized by governments and international businesses.

I visited Prague, Czech Republic, a few weeks ago and was amazed at the number of university students from around the world in the IBC church there. Many students will return as business people, teachers, scientists and other influencers in their home countries. Many of those countries have laws prohibiting missionaries, but these Christ-followers will return as dynamic witnesses.

A group of Iranians came to Christ through an IBC church in Sofia, Bulgaria. They have now moved on to Athens, Greece, where they are reaching Farsi-speaking people not only from Iran, but also Afghanistan and other countries. Many would not be open to a gospel witness in their home countries. They are willing to listen to the gospel message, and are responding.

The common need for encouragement, vision, ministry and missions unites international churches. The IBC’s future lies in its ability to assist these churches.

Fifty years of history lie behind us; the next 50 years of opportunity, if the Lord tarries, lie before us. We are currently in 25 countries, and growing.

There is a great need for leaders who will risk all to serve Christ in reaching a mission field with global gospel potential.

Jimmy Martin, general secretary

International Baptist Convention

Frankfurt, Germany

Send letters to Editor Marv Knox: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; marvknox@baptiststandard.com.

Christians & torture

Regarding various articles on torture (Sept. 29), the majority of Europeans may have been bystanders, neither helping the Nazis nor the Jews, but I suspect most Germans, including Nazis, considered themselves good Christians, loyal and obedient to the government that God ordained (Romans 13:1).

Ethics professor Daniel Heimbach states, “Neither side in the torture debate is defending the immoral use of force.” Consider these facts: Presi-dent Bush states emphatically that America does not torture.

But government officials have admitted to at least two instances of waterboarding. After World War II, five Japanese officers were tried, convicted and sentenced to death for waterboarding. Therefore, America does participate in what they themselves consider to be the immoral use of force worthy of the death penalty.

In my experience, the overwhelming majority of Baptists consider it absurd that Jesus was serious about loving our enemies. This foundational principle of the gospel has been so compartmentalized that statements such as, “Just where in ‘love your enemies’ does it say not to kill them?” are a common response expressed by formally educated and mature readers.  

Rather than offering their lives as living sacrifices pleasing to God, blessing those who persecute them and never taking their own revenge (Romans 12:1, 14, 19) American Christians overwhelmingly support the shedding of blood to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

The gospel of reconciliation with God has been traded for a gospel of capitalism and democracy. 

What if Jesus was really serious about loving one’s enemies?

Randy Gallagher

Mabank

Torture should be condemned, rightly so. However the Baptist Standard articles on torture (Sept. 29) are more confusing that enlightening.

David Gushee speaks of “freezing people to death.” Did we freeze someone to death? Cathleen Kaveny says, “Every man who is subjected to extraordinary rendition is some mother’s son.” Exactly what I was thinking when I recently watched a video of Islamic terrorists cutting off the head of a man. His mother didn’t count. Who were the mothers of the five humans killed today, 32 injured by a car bomb in Lebanon?

“Torture fails to ensure national security, experts insist.” Experts are usually self-proclaimed. But what about the experts who insist much valuable intelligence has been gained from interrogations of detainees? 

“Interrogation” is a word carefully excluded from all the articles. Apparently, we don’t interrogate, we torture, like a female touching a Muslim, and please, do not desecrate the Koran. And there is Abu Ghraib. What happened in that prison under Sadam Hussein makes what happened there under the military look like a college fraternity hazing.

I have just read four pages by people who are living in a fantasy world, have no inkling of what’s happening in the world and really need to get out of their offices and off campus. They are not going to like what they see.

Fred Rosenbaum

Gainesville

Daniel Heimbach is way off base with his call for a moratorium on the word “torture.” How sad that a Christian ethicist muddies the waters of this crucial discussion this way.

There is no “graduated continuum that extends from mild discomfort to painful death,” as he asserts. There is an absolute gulf between clever interrogation that uses psychological pressure and infliction of physical pain and threats of death, or infliction of pain or death on a loved one.

If Christians cannot stand uniformly and in unison against torture and name it for what it is, Christianity is in sad shape.

So is our country. By using torture, we forfeit our right to accuse other countries of inhumanity when they torture their own people or ours. By using torture, we deny that the person being tortured is created in God’s image and likeness, and that’s heresy. By using torture, we reveal our own lack of imagination and cleverness; people being tortured will say whatever they think their tormenters want to hear.

Torture is absolutely, unconditionally wrong. If someone says it isn’t, I ask them if torturing a person’s child in front of them in order to extract information is wrong. Why not? This is a slippery slope. Defense of any kind of torture, including refusing to call it what it is, is situation ethics at its worst.

Roger Olson, professor of theology

George W. Truett Theological Seminary

Baylor University

Waco

You asked why Southern evangelicals did not protest the torture of terrorists (Sept. 29). It may be because Americans still had images in their heads of:

• Fire and smoke emerging from upper levels of the World Trade Center buildings.

• People jumping from the World Trade Center.

• Fire and smoke and the collapse of the World Trade Center.

• People covered with dust and soot fleeing from the vicinity of the World Trade Center.

• A gaping hole in the side of the Pentagon, with stories of deaths and destruction.

• Pictures of the crash site where the airliner went down with passengers and terrorists in the Pennsylvania countryside.

• Pictures of the American destroyer in port in Yemen with a big hole in the side.

• Wreckage of the American embassies in Africa.

Should I go on with the embassy in Beirut, the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the wreckage of the Pan Am plane near Lockerby, Scotland?

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Gene Elliott

Arlington

Baptist prophet

Thanks for the article on standing on holy ground during the presentation to Cecil Sherman in his Houston hospital room.

Sherman led our chaplains’ conference at Glorieta, N.M., in 1980. I sat under his teachings for five wonderful days. He and I went jogging through those holy hills one afternoon. We sat down, and he told me what would happen in the Southern Baptist Convention and how it would happen. I said that it couldn’t happen. What a prophet he was.

After the 1990 SBC, my beloved Trinity Baptist Church of Harker Heights sent us to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. I cherish the leadership and personally knowing Cecil Sherman. We need people of his quality in churches and politics, but not people trying to do both.

Jack Milligan

Highland Village

Women pastors

As someone who believes all adults should have the same rights, it bothers me that some conservative Christians—and some conservative Muslims and Jews—think women shouldn’t be allowed to become pastors.

I am not an expert on the sayings of Jesus, but I don’t think he ever said a woman can’t be a rabbi or priest. I know he said, “Whatever you do to the least among men, you also do to me.” Throughout history, many women have been treated worse than the least among men.

The bottom line is some conservative men don’t want women to have the same rights, chances and choices men have. Some white conservatives don’t want black people to have the same rights as white people. Some conservative Christians don’t want Jews, Muslims and atheists to have the same rights as Christians, and so on. 

We should practice what Jesus preached and try to do unto others what we would want them to do unto us.

Chuck Mann

Greensboro, N.C.

Value of music

I was reading the letter on joyless singing (Sept. 29), and I was aroused in my mind. I am 35 years old, and I love the old hymns. I also love some of the new songs being written today.

Music is now a dividing force in churches, and the majority of longstanding members know what they like. What resonated in their spirit when they were young provides part of the love of the hymns today.

However, the young feel those songs do not have such an impact today. The music coming out today, although sometimes repetitive, seems to get a bad rap. But there is great theology, doctrine and gospel in many of the new songs. Most of the Baptist Hymnal is full of songs with four verses and one chorus, similar to the songs of today, but the difference comes in how we perform the songs, repeating the choruses often three or four times.

What I am saying is: Listen to the words of the song, let your heart rejoice with the opportunity to praise God, thank God and show God our love in song. It doesn’t matter if it is a staple hymn written in the 1800s or the latest song of today. God is still inspiring song writers today as he did hundreds of years ago.

David Wingate

Beaumont

What do you think? Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com.

Regarding “Good Thursday?” (Aug. 18), kudos to Dan Keeney for reading his Bible from a literal standpoint. His closing sentence is 100 percent correct: “… it is important to know that Jesus’ prophecy of his time in the grave was precisely what he said it to be.” Having stated that, it can be scripturally demonstrated Jesus was crucified on Friday.

Thus, if Christ was crucified on Friday, how does one reconcile Jesus’ prophecy that he would be in the grave for three days and three nights (Matthew 12:38-40)? The answer is found when this prophecy is read in its historical context.

In approximately A.D. 100, Rabbi Eleazr Ben Azariah wrote: “A day and a night are an Onah (period of time) and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it.” Thus, according to Jewish thought from the time of Christ, any part of a day constituted a whole day.

Jesus did not have to be in the grave for three days and three nights, but for any part of three complete days. Jesus’ prophecy concerning the number of days that he would be in the tomb is as he said.

Keeney is right: “… it is important to know that Jesus’ prophecy of his time in the grave was precisely what he said it to be.”

Stephen Mathieson

Bardwell

Joyless singing

Two things contribute to the loss of joyful singing in churches.

• The high volume of the song leader overwhelms any singing of the congregation. Instead of a song leader, the person becomes a solo performer. If sound is a vibration touching the ear, then lip reading is the only way to hear the congregation sing. The shared experience of singing and worship are lost.

• Repetition empties the mind. Reminds me of “Rabbit Ain’t Got no Tail at All” for endless verses saying the same thing. “Tell me the story of Jesus” and “He bled and died for me” will touch and stay in hearts long after repetitive new songs are forgotten. 

I agree with Hulitt Gloer: Music is the main way the gospel gets into people’s hearts. Hymns not only teach theology, but also develop character. “Jesus loves the little children, all the children in the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight” shaped my views on race relations at an early age. Congregational singing penetrates the hearts of worshippers in ways sermons cannot.

In missing the old songs, I feel like the captured Jews being told to sing, but they could not. How sweet it is if the song leader steps back and there are voices. The Jews are no longer captives; they’re singing.

Why have we settled for second best?

Rex Ray

Bonham

What do you think? Write to Marv Knox, Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Length limit is 250 words.

God & politics

I would like to express my thanks and appreciation for the example Rick Warren (Sept. 1) has set during these pre-election campaigns.

E-mails now are being used like the swift boat ads of the past. Do you really believe this pleases God? Most of these are nothing but gossip and half-truths, and many are written by people who have given their lives to Jesus Christ.

I believe all should look at what each candidate brings to the table, bathed with prayer, and vote.

Any other way causes anger and separation from the very ones we are trying to witness to.

James Poage

Grand Prairie

I found the article about Christine Wicker (July 7) and progressives interesting. She is obviously campaigning for the candidate of color and trying to disguise her preference as the right way and the opposite view as racism. When half the population of the United States supports the candidate of color, there is no racial issue going on.

What is going on is the other half of the voters do not agree with his political views. They don’t want the most liberal senator in the Congress as their leader.

This is not racism.  Skin color is not the issue. Policy ideas are the issue.

This is the land of liberty and freedom, or did that change and no one told me?

Jean Whitmore

Okinawa, Japan

Women in leadership

Now that the fight is over in the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and the moderates have won, it will be business as usual. No women deacons and “senior pastors.”

We have a long way to go before we lose the “fundamentalist” label. At some point, the individual churches must stop acting like fundamentalists. If we drop the ball and do not allow women to become deacons and ministers, then the Southern Baptist Convention will have won.

Shirley Taylor

Willis

More Baylor

Well, it looks like the power of the pen—or editorial—worked (Aug. 25), and apparently from your editorial regarding the selection of David Garland as Baylor University’s interim president (Sept. 1), you are happy with the choice.

I think it quite ironic that the same accolades in your editorial about Garland were used for another Truett Seminary dean when chosen to lead Baylor University.

You see, the real problem is not the president but the people who select the president. The problem originates from the 1990 takeover of Baylor by an elitist group. As long as this elitist group controls Baylor, it can never reach its full potential.

Mac Galloway

Houston

Organ donations

The generosity of live organ donors like Hal Rowe (Aug. 18) is wonderful. It’s a shame we need so many live organ donors. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

There is another good way to put a big dent in the organ shortage: If you don’t agree to donate your organs when you die, you go to the back of the waiting list if you ever need an organ to live.

A policy of giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It also will make the organ allocation system fairer. About 50 percent of U.S. organ transplants go to people who haven’t agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

Anyone who wants to donate organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. It is a nonprofit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Visit www.lifesharers.com or call (888) ORGAN88.

There is no age limit. Parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. Life-Sharers has 11,621 members, including 905 members in Texas.

David Undis, executive director

LifeSharers

Nashville, Tenn.

Church & state

I am a big believer in the separation of church and state. Jesus once said: “Render unto Caesar (the government) what is Caesar’s (the government’s). Render unto God what is God’s.”   
                                                                                                                
I was bothered by the recent presidential forum with Barack Obama, John McCain and Rick Warren at the Saddleback Church. Two of these millionaires are running for president. By the way, there are other people—Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, etc.—running for president.

Why weren’t they invited? Are they not “Christian enough”? Are they not rich enough?   
                     
Churches shouldn’t be used for campaign stops, political fundraisers or propaganda events. Didn’t somebody in the Bible warn about a “den of thieves”?       
                    
Chuck Mann

Greensboro, N.C.

Religion is the warp and woof of America and has been from its beginning, regardless of efforts to discredit this truth. It is impossible to separate a people from what they are.

No effort was made by Rick Warren to make a law to be superimposed upon our nation. Separation of church and state was honored. It is impossible to separate church from state.

Ernest V. May Jr.

Livingston

What do you think? Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Maximum length is 250 words; only one letter per writer per quarter.