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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?

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