Mailbag

'Rooted in Christ'

June 30 My family and I have been subscribers to WORLD for several years. We enjoy the news and reviews from a Christian worldview, most recently the reports on the 2012 Hope Award winners and runners-up. It is refreshing to hear about these programs and the positive effect they have on their communities. -Cassie Rummel, 16, Ligonier, Pa.

'Help for the hurting'

June 30 Dan Allender taught me that no matter how horrific my childhood sexual abuse was, my chosen style of relating because of it was worse. That truth freed me from the isolated cellblock of victimhood. I'll never be able to thank enough this wonderful surgeon of the soul for taking me on. -Judith Ellis, Houston, Texas

It saddens me to see such a positive review of Allender's psychotherapy with just one muted paragraph for balance. The church ministers to hurting souls through the sufficiency of Scripture, intercessory prayer, and the power of the Holy Spirit. What was so inadequate about these that so many in the church turned to modern psychotherapy? -Larry Minter, Milwaukie, Ore.

Allender does something few individuals can: He sits with those who desperately want Jesus to rescue them. When Jesus touches their deep, wounded parts, it is a beautiful thing. Not so beautiful is questioning Allender's focus on Christ. When I have heard him speak I have been led to the feet of Jesus. -Lisa Francis, Tucson, Ariz.

'Love and wrath'

June 30 Thanks to Janie B. Cheaney for making theology accessible. What a wonderful, succinct description of the relationship between man and the God of the Bible. -Mike Carlson, Weeki Wachee, Fla.

People have a difficult time today dealing with "God's wrath," and in our touchy-feely world He seems more of a mystery than ever. This column did a great job of showing why there needs to be two sides of the coin: love and wrath. -Debra Monterosso, Naples, Fla.

'Prison drama'

June 30 There always seems to be at least one story in WORLD that brings tears to my eyes. "Prison drama" did it this time. It's sad to think what it took for those inmates to find God's love, but wonderful to see how they are redeeming the time. -David McMillan, Pembroke, Ill.

'Reform and reaction'

June 30 I am saddened to hear of more arguing over Calvinism and free will. The Southern Baptists should know better, as should we all. As a young believer involved in a church split over this issue in 1979, I know the anger and grief that incomplete doctrinal understanding can cause. -Rich Thorne, Bettles, Alaska

'Perhapses and maybes'

June 30 Thank you for that fascinating column about Darwinism. I am all too familiar with those qualifiers concerning evolution. We are made in the image and likeness of God, not that of an ape. -Amber Kiilehua, Tucson, Ariz.

'Seeds of hope'

June 30 Thank you for keeping us informed about the progress in Myanmar. Recently I traveled to the northern part of the country and spent time with pastors in the Kachin state, where the new leadership and reforms are having a positive impact. -Daniel L. Taylor, Lafayette, Ind.

'The poor in mind'

June 16 Great column. We've had people stay with us as God led. One, who really was the lowest of the low, caused other Christians to question what we were doing. We are willing to help, but Jesus told us to make disciples. We don't do God any favors by ignoring what it takes to make disciples. -Marshall Tompkins, Kingsley, Mich.

Cheaney's comment that "we just need to be wiser" in how we help the poor reminds me of a quotation from Aristotle that I have had glued to the cover of my checkbook for 40 years. He wrote that giving money away is easy, but "to decide to whom to give it, and how large and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man's power nor an easy matter." -Don Fairburn, Wilmington, N.C.

'Kid-glove treatment'

June 16 This column is excellent, the best I have read on Mitt Romney's faith and politics, especially the section on his works vs. Christ's work. -David Junker, Mitoyo, Japan

Quotables

June 16 Wildlife biologist Jim Wiegand said wind turbines kill indigenous birds and that "there is no escape." Methodical studies by other wildlife organizations show that the number of birds killed by cars, windows, and cats is far higher than by wind turbines. My vacation home has been powered by a wind turbine since 2008 and I have yet to find any evidence of even one bird kill, although my cat averages one per month. -Randy Richmond, Woodinville, Wash.

'Politicized pulpit'

June 16 Right on! Pastors from the pulpit should deliver law and gospel. The left seems to apply a double standard to people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. The vocation of those who sit in the pew is to witness to our Lord and Savior, first and foremost, but also to be good, knowledgeable, voting citizens. -Kirby Spevacek, Avondale, Ariz.

'Fact or fiction'

June 16 You wrote that during "fracking" to extract oil and gas, operators inject a mixture of "fresh water and sand into a well at very high volumes and pressures," but the fluids also include chemicals that some believe are hazardous. We live in central Pennsylvania and see and hear the local impact. Our forests are gouged and our winding, twisty mountain roads are now dangerously overloaded with speeding frac trucks. The list of dangerous negatives is long. -Barbara Perkons, State College, Pa.

'Experts needed'

June 2 Who would have ever thought that understanding what it means to be male and female would be in such a confused state? It is really simple, yet this issue is central to so much turmoil all over the world. -Bev Roe, Hamilton, Ohio

'God's chickens'

May 19 It is so good to hear evangelicals taking up the cause for God's creation. Usually we are trying to push back against people who are making creation their god, making it seem as though we don't care about the environment. -Betsy Nesbitt, Asheville, N.C.

'Cheer of the crowd'

May 19 After the closing of our small church, which had a significant portion of international students from Asia and Africa, we looked for another church that "looked like the world" but did not act like the world. J.C. Watts said it best: "I'm not looking for a church that looks like me. I'm looking for a church that looks like heaven: red, yellow, brown, black, and white." We are thankful that the church we found is developing more of a heart for the world, and is starting to look a wee bit more like heaven. -Lois Snyder, Wichita, Kan.

Notable CDs

May 19 I always read the reviews and have found them helpful, but Mr. Orteza missed on his review of Lionel Richie's Tuskegee. It was unkind to call it "the latest example of an over-the-hill performer squeezing a million or two more dollars" from his back catalog. I purchased the album and love it. -Earlene Barling, Merced, Calif.

Corrections

For the first time since 1989 Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi traveled outside her country's borders on May 29 (Looking Ahead, June 16, p. 12).

The author of Piercing the Night is H. Eberhard Roell ("Niche nook," July 14, p. 51).

WORLD around the world

Owerri, Nigeria Submitted by Robert Stegemann

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