I am thrilled that the GCR report passed at the SBC Annual Meeting by a very strong majority. I guessed the vote to be about 75%-25%. Another blogger I ran into estimated things at 70%-30%. Someone else said it was 85%-15%. Hard to count. I could have wished that the vote was 95%-5% like the authorization vote last year, but the vote we had was a clear and convincing vote. The majority of the SBC was behind the GCR Report. But there were many bizarre things that happened today in Orlando - some personal and some political. On the positive side, almost every one of these trips into … [Read more...] about A Bizarre, but Blessed Day in Baptist World
SBC Issues
Will the Real SBC Majority Please Stand Up?
We are in Orlando determining the direction of the SBC for many years to come. We will elect a president who will guide us for the next couple of years. That may not be our most crucial decision, but it will reveal something about who we are. We will vote on several motions. I think that our response to Dwight McKissic's motion on racism will reveal how much progress we have made in racial issues. Of course, the GCR will be the al turning point. Will we embrace the vision the Task Force has put forward or will we turn back and hold onto the status quo? But there is another question behind … [Read more...] about Will the Real SBC Majority Please Stand Up?
A Tale of Two (GCR) Pleas
I witnessed two passionate pleas for the GCR report tonight. One offended me and the other moved me deeply. Ronnie Floyd took a few minutes to harangue us about the need to vote for the GCR. It was a full court press for votes that would have made Bobby Knight proud. He asserted that God's Spirit was behind the report and made it pretty much impossible to love the gospel and disapprove of the GCR. It was a prototypical, high-pressure emotional appeal. I hate emotional manipulation and pressure tactics. They should not be necessary to anyone who is doing the work of God. If God is … [Read more...] about A Tale of Two (GCR) Pleas
Tony Roma’s for Bloggers: Day One in Orlando
Sunday night in Orlando turned out to be a night of great fun and fellowship with bloggers I had never previously met. Let me share a few tidbits with you. Bloggers, evidently, attend the convention, but stand in the hallways chatting. On my way into the convention center, I saw a tall (I mean really tall) thin man I recognized as Micah Fries. Then, a few steps down the hallway I saw another tall man (not quite so thin) – Tim Rogers. He was standing there talking to Bart Barber, Wes Kenney and several others. As we were standing there, David Rogers walked by. It was a regular … [Read more...] about Tony Roma’s for Bloggers: Day One in Orlando
A Cry From The Little Church
When we gather next week in Orlando for the annual Convention of Southern Baptists, I will be enthusiastically voting to elect Dr. Ted Traylor as the new President of our great convention. I believe he is the best servant to lead our denomination during this critical time. I have had the great honor of knowing this man for most of my life. I have found him to be a man of tremendous courage, conviction, and consistency. In the past years Dr. Traylor has led his church into a new outreach called The Ministry Village. This endeavor has led his church to live out the commands of Scripture to … [Read more...] about A Cry From The Little Church
Why I Will Vote for Leo Endel for SBC President
My vote for SBC President is going to go to the least known of all the candidates. Leo Endel is the Executive Director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. After quite a bit of thought, I've decided to cast my vote for him. I'd like to tell you why. In the interests of full disclosure, I will tell you that Leo is a close friend of mine. We arrived in Iowa about the same time and spent a lot of quality time in the state office serving on the Iowa Executive Board. When Leo was elected president of the Baptist Convention of Iowa, I was elected first vice-president. Leo led … [Read more...] about Why I Will Vote for Leo Endel for SBC President
Dr. Morris Chapman weighs in on GCR Report
Over at Baptist Press, soon-to-retire SBC Executive Committee President and C.E.O. Dr. Morris Chapman has posted a lengthy almost 9,000 word response to the final report of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. I highly encourage people to read it as it provides the perspective of someone who knows the ins-and-outs of SBC convention life and politics, serving in this particular role since 1992. It does seem unfortunate that with the GCR discussion dominating the heading into the convention, the SBC will miss a chance, perhaps, to give thanks and celebrate the outgoing Executive … [Read more...] about Dr. Morris Chapman weighs in on GCR Report
A Word to Young Southern Baptist Pastors
This is part of a post by J.D. Greear. The entire post can be found here. I want to address those of you who, like me, have a Baptist past but have often found yourself wondering, regarding the Southern Baptist Convention, “What is the point? Aren’t denominations a thing of the past?” I want to try and persuade you that this movement, the Great Commission Resurgence, is something of God, is valuable for the Kingdom, and worth the investment of your time. I do so simply as a pastor of a young Southern Baptist church, not as an official spokesperson of the Great Commission Resurgence Task … [Read more...] about A Word to Young Southern Baptist Pastors
What’s In Store for Orlando and Beyond
I find so much of what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes as utterly profound. His writings do not seem sad to me like I've heard others say they are to them. It's brilliant. The wisest man in Old Testament history comes to the conclusion that life is futile; "all is vain". Life is a continual repetition of things. Indeed, "what has a man left of all his labor and the striving and vexation of his heart...all his days are but pain and sorrows, and his work is vexation and grief; his mind takes no rest even at night..."(2:22,23) The wisdom in this passage is that man has nothing left of all his … [Read more...] about What’s In Store for Orlando and Beyond
Why One State Convention President Supports the GCR
Why does the President of the West Virginia Baptist Convention support the GCR? 1) The GCR says out loud, what I have been thinking for a long time. The Southern Baptist Convention is losing ground in an increasingly lost culture. In the United States, we baptized 33,000 fewer people in 2008 than in 1950, and we have 17,000 more churches than we did then, while at the same time the population has effectively doubled. The demographics and population centers of North America have changed rapidly and we have not kept up. Two thirds of Cooperative Program dollars are remaining in states with … [Read more...] about Why One State Convention President Supports the GCR