INCOMING…..OUR MAIL BAG
Dear Staff of Christian Ethics Today,
It was probably twenty years ago when dad called and said he bought me a subscription to Christian Ethics Today. I loved the gift, but as we approach dad’s 90th birthday, I am reflecting on his other gifts to me. At 90, my dad, Billy Ables, is the poster man for a rural, conservative evangelical. He was raised Pentecostal, became a Baptist deacon and has never smoked or drank or cursed. He believes that God helps those who help themselves and whatever a man sows he shall also reap. Why would that man be sending me a subscription to Christian Ethics Today? The reason is because Dad has never been afraid to question and read and think. My guess is he doesn’t quite agree with a good bit of the CET articles, but I always love it when dad reads a controversial article and calls me and wants to know if I read the article. Our conversation always ends the same way. “I don’t know if I believe it, but it sure made me think.” Dad believes that God helps those who help themselves, but also believes we need to help those who can’t. He believes that we reap what we sow, but he also believes that God’s grace is sufficient for all. He also believes that God doesn’t mind our questions. I mentioned other gifts. The best gift my father has given me and his grandkids is the assurance that God can be challenged and questioned and that is no threat to faith. I can’t wait for my next call making sure I read some CET hot topic article and dad’s reassurance that it is OK because it made us think. To you folks at CET, thank you for your commitment to a big God. Writing this note makes me think of the Stuart Hamblyn lyric. “How big is God? He’s big enough to rule the mighty universe, but small enough to live within our hearts.”
God Bless,
Stephen B. Ables
Presiding Judge
Kerr County Courthouse
Kerrville, Texas
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The enclosed check is in memory of my parents, Danna and Preston Whorton, close friends of Foy Valentine.
Penny Whorton Wells
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Patrick,
Hope this bit will be of help. Thanks for what you do.
George A. Haile
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Dear Friends,
I have enjoyed reading Christian Ethics Today since I learned of you. I was a student of Dr. T.B. Maston at Southwestern in the late 50s and I have appreciated the directions that you have taken concerning today’s many ethical dilemmas.
Larry H. Austin
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