Letters to the Editor
Published January 13, 2005
Letters to the Editor may not reflect the views or
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CALLING PASTORS
Age discrimination?
| A pastor friend, seeking a new church, was
recently told by a Baptist director of missions that it
would be difficult for him to find a church in which to
serve because he was 47 years old. My husband has also
been seeking a church. In two years, not one church has
contacted him to even talk about the possibility. One
sent a letter, saying they’d found a “more
qualified” candidate. Now we realize his “lack”
of qualification apparently consisted of the fact that he’d
reached the age of 54!
My husband has served in multiple ministry positions. He
has led hundreds of people to Christ. Together, we
authored a Bible study. He has taught seminars across the
globe. He has been faithful to the Lord and to me. He’s
an excellent preacher and dedicated servant of Christ.
Has “getting older” become an unforgivable sin
in the Baptist community? Why do churches discriminate
because of age? Have we forgotten Abraham and Sarah or
Zacharias and Elizabeth?
You might expect this discrimination in secular
workplaces, although it’s illegal and wrong, but in
the church, shouldn’t we be sensitive to God’s
leading, rather than be led by the world’s agenda?
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| NAME WITHHELD |
SEXUAL IMMORALITY
Not beyond repair
While I agree with his core premise, I
must take issue with Professor J. Budziszewski’s
analogy that sexuality is “like duct tape,” as
cited by Charles Colson (Dec. 16, 2004). While,
admittedly, I have not read Professor Budziszewski’s
book in which he may very well provide a justification
for this analogy, the problem with duct tape is that it
can never again be returned to even a fraction of its
previous adhesiveness. In other words, there is no means
of restoration in the analogy of duct tape. In real life,
however, sexuality can be restored, at least to a great
degree, through the forgiving grace of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps a better analogy might be that of a rechargeable
battery. With each use (or sexual encounter in our
analogy) the battery becomes less potent. However,
through the use of a battery charger (Jesus Christ in our
analogy), the battery may be recharged to its original
power level. True, it will never be a brand new battery
again, but it will work, act, and feel just as well. So,
too, the grace of Jesus Christ is available to all who
truly desire such restoration through confession,
repentance and forgiveness. Thanks for your time. Keep up
the good work. |
Frederick Key Smith
Gainesville |
MIGRANT MINISTRY
Free stories
What a blessing it is to my heart to see
from your Web site that you reach out to the migrant
children (Dec. 16). My husband and I went from camp to
camp each summer in Ohio, with the Gospel, games and
cookies seeing the Lord touch lives. Four years ago we
were transferred to the valley (McAllen, Texas) and
continue to serve the Lord in reaching boys and girls
with the Good News of salvation. We have put on the Web
free children’s Gospel stories in Spanish and
English for anyone who wants to copy and use them. The
stories were written and illustrated by myself with the
emphasis always on Jesus. There are nine stories in all.
The Web site is www.dhelpinghands.com |
De Dorman
McAllen, Texas |
PRESIDENTIAL MORALS
What about ‘torture’?
| I am one of the many whose presidential
vote was swayed by moral considerations. I think a leader
who claims to treat detainees humanely, but then is
exposed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
as systematically relying upon methods considered to be
“tantamount to torture,” to be deficient in
moral judgment. I think a leader who ignores such
warnings from the ICRC, and then continues to abuse
potentially innocent people, is not fit to be a leader. |
Don McAdam
Atlanta, GA |
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