A Hard-hitting Article

Russ Moore has published a must read article over at his blog called Southern Baptists, the Family, and the Rule of the Appetites. Check it out!

Dr. Mohler Interview

Pastor Les Puryear has posted a recent interview he conducted with Dr. Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Here are the 7 questions he asked to Mohler:

1. The past two presidents of the SBC have had certain emphases that distinguished their presidencies. Dr. Welch emphasized evangelism and Dr. Page has been emphasizing unity and praying for revival. What will be the main emphasis of your presidency?

2. In recent years there has been a resurgence of Reformed Theology in the SBC, mainly among young pastors. As a Reformed theologian, what do you think your election as the president of the SBC, if you are elected, will say about the impact of Reformed theology in the SBC?

3. In the SBC, 83% of our churches have an average attendance of less than 200 in Sunday morning worship, therefore the SBC is overwhelmingly a convention of small churches. What is your view of the role of the small church in the SBC?

4. Although we're a convention of small churches, it seems that the majority of SBC board and agency nominations seem to go to representatives of much larger churches. What do you propose to do to get more small church representation on our boards and agencies?

5. You were a member of the BFM2K committee that fashioned our confession of faith. Recently some have called for the BFM2K to be amended to address the issues of "tongues" and "alien immersion." What's your position on amending the confession of faith to address these or any other issues of theology?

6. What is your position on SBC boards and agencies developing doctrinal policy which goes beyond the agreed upon confession of faith?

7. Is there anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to say to the people of the SBC and to small church leaders as well?

Dr. Albert Mohler for SBC President

The Southern Baptist Texan is reporting that Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas will nominate Dr. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, for President at the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis in June.

If elected, Mohler would become only the fourth active Seminary President to serve simultaneously as Convention President and Seminary President according to the article, joining Paige Patterson, W. W. Hamilton, and L. R. Scarborough.

It will be interesting to see how it unfolds given that Mohler is a confessed Calvinist. However, I believe with all the negativity (mostly undue) surrounding Calvinism in Southern Baptist life, I believe Dr. Mohler is one Calvinist among a few who is electable.

There are many who believe it will be difficult for him to win given his theology. However remember that Dr. Mark Dever, in Greensboro 06, was only narrowly defeated by Jackson for one of the Vice President positions. And Mohler is significantly more well known than Dever.

Nevertheless, I am confident that whoever is elected President whether it is Dr. Mohler or not will be very capable of providing the necessary leadership the SBC needs at this hour. This is my prayer, anyway.

Gluttony and Southern Baptists

The issue of gluttony in Southern Baptist circles has been discussed by some of late. There has even been a resolution or two sent to the resolutions committee of the Southern Baptist Convention in the past two years addressing this particular issue. However, the resolutions have failed to make it to the floor of the Convention by recommendation of the committee.

Baptist Press released an article yesterday titled Prof tries to help Baptists improve health, touching upon the issue of gluttony and its severe prevalence among Southern Baptist pastors. Jim Florence, Professor of Public Health at East Tennessee State University (my alma mater), and member of Calvary Baptist Church, Erwin, is aware of the growing trend of growing waistlines of Southern Baptist pastors and is currently working in his own local association to educate and assist pastors with this issue. One of Florence's own motivations for going into public health was the death of his brother by heart attack at 37.

The article also reports that a Purdue University study released in 2006 found that Southern Baptists are 30 times more likely to be obese than non-Christians, and are more obese than any other Christian denomination.

For some helpful information about your personal health, the following websites may be referenced (these are listed through the Tennessee Baptist Convention):
www.michigan.gov/surgeongeneral
www.bariatricedge.com/dtcf/pages/bmi_calculator.htm?pgn=8

How though does a pastor address the issue of gluttony from the pulpit? When was the last time you heard a preacher address this issue on Sunday morning from a Southern Baptist church? Certainly much care needs to be used, but simply avoiding the issue because it will hurt peoples' feelings is not the proper choice either.

I recently listened to two messages on gluttony preached by Paul Matthies at The Village Church. You can find these two sermons in IPod by selecting Podcasts, Religion & Spirituality, The Village Church. They are sermons 37 and 38, Defeating Gluttony and Defining Gluttony. These sermons provide some clear thinking on gluttony, and may help you to think about the issue more comprehensively.

San Antonio Convention in Review Part 6

The most controversial aspect of this year's Convention was the debate and vote concerning the motion made by Rick Garner concerning the BF&M 2000. The motion reads:

I move that this convention adopts the statement of the Executive Committee issued in February of this year, and included in the Executive's report found in the 2007 Book of Reports, page 17, which reads 'The Baptist Faith and Message is neither a creed, nor a complete statement of our faith, nor final and infallible; nevertheless, we further acknowledge that it is the only consensus statement of doctrinal beliefs approved by the Southern Baptist Convention and such is sufficient in its current form to guide trustees in their establishment of policies and practices of entities of the Convention.'

The intent behind the motion was to prohibit trustees serving on SBC agencies from requiring additional theological agreements beyond those published and adopted in the BF&M 2000. The incident which started this protest/movement was first the adopting of two additional theological policies by the trustees of the International Mission Board (IMB).

The two additional policies prohibited from missionary service through the IMB anyone who practiced a Private Prayer Language, and anyone who did not meet four requirements concerning Baptism. Any potential IMB missionary had to meet the following criteria:

1. Baptism is for a believer.
2. Baptism is by immersion only.
3. Baptism is not regenerative.
4. Must have been baptized in a church which believes in eternal security.

The first three points are nearly universally agreed upon by all Southern Baptists today. However, the fourth point drew considerable protest.

In order for a Baptism to be legitimate does a local church have to be perfect in its theological views? If only on certain theological points, then who gets to decide which ones are necessary and which ones are not?

A considerable protest movement started due in no small part to one trustee of the IMB who protested the adoption of these policies. Skipping over a lot of incidents, the debate has turned into whether or not trustees ought to add additional theological positions which must be met and believed that go beyond the BF&M 2000 in order for a Southern Baptist to serve in any of the Southern Baptist Agencies?

There was not much time for debate on the motion due mostly to the way Convention politics and schedules work. So many people who wanted to speak to this motion were not able to be heard and a motion to extend the time of debate was defeated.

The motion passed with 2137 (57.7%) votes for and 1565 (42.2%) against. I voted against the motion for mainly one reason. I did not think this was the best way to correct the policies adopted by the IMB or guard against future policies which further restrict who can serve in our agencies.

As a few of the Presidents of our Seminaries pointed out, the BF&M 2000 is not a sufficient document in and of itself to govern exhaustively the process of hiring a potential professor. There are abundant issues which should be asked of potential teachers on issues of theology and ethics which are not addressed in the BF&M 2000. So in my interpretation of the motion made by Rick Garner, I believed we would have been putting the trustees in a impossible situation of hiring the best teachers without the necessary tools because we would be limiting what must be agreed upon by a potential employee to such an extent that it certainly would endanger them because of a higher risk of selecting someone who may disagree with most Baptists on ethical issues not addressed specifically in the BF&M 2000.

My thinking is this: The best way to combat particular policies is to address them each specifically. If one does not agree with the IMB policy prohibiting a Southern Baptist from serving through the IMB if he or she has a PPL then, put that issue alone to a Convention vote.
IF one does not like the baptism/eternal security issue, then change it by bringin it for a vote at the Convention.

Had each issue (PPL and Baptism/eternal security) been addressed specifically, then I would have been more inclined to vote against the IMB policies.

In light of the adoption of the motion, the leading figure in the protest has made it clear that his view is if Seminaries want to ask for further agreement on other issues when hiring new professors then let the Seminaries bring it before the Convention. However, this seems unfeasible to me. The Convention was not designed so that Seminaries could bring every potential hire before it and get permission for every single issue not addressed in the BF&M 2000.

However, some have pointed out that the motion could be interpreted in at least two ways. The protest movement inteprets the motion to say that the BF&M 2000 alone should be the trustees' guide, but others have pointed out that the motion does not state say the BF&M 2000 is the only guide for trustees.

So what now? What will come of this motion? I do not think anything really has changed. It seems clear from the messages of some of the presidents of the seminaries that they are going to continue to ask questions on more theological issues than just contained in the BF&M 2000, and will be looking for some type of agreement on those questions, which to some would be a violation of the motion adopted in San Antonio, but to others would be completely in harmony with the same motion adopted in San Antonio.

San Antonio Convention in Review Part 5

Here are some of my thoughts on my second Convention:

1. I thought the turnout was small. I believe Greensboro, North Carolina had a little less than 12,000 messengers. The 2007 San Antonio had fewer than 9,000. I figured since "everything is bigger in Texas," there would be a significant turnout. I believe those who organized the Convention thought so as well. I heard early on from one person who said they were expecting around 14,000 messengers. I am not sure what to think about next year's Convention in Indianapolis. One side of me thinks if significant debate continues then the turnout might be high because of the Presidential vote. However, Indiana is not the South. The state of Indiana tallied 73 messengers in San Antonio.

2. There was early debate over a definition recommended titled Definition of the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. The recommended definition reads: The Cooperative Program is a Southern Baptists' unified plan of giving through which cooperating Southern Baptist churches give a percentage of their undesignated receipts in support of their respective state convention and the Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministries. After some debate, the motion passed.

Many have asked the question that if we give directly to the National Convention entities such as the Seminaries, IMB, and NAMB through designated receipts instead of giving it through our state convention, then why can it not be counted as CP contributions? Many churches are unsatisfied with state conventions taking a majority share of the CP, and sending a lesser share to the National Convention.

Currently, our church gives 10% of its undesignated yearly receipts to the Cooperative Program through the South Carolina Baptist Convention. We also give an additional 1.5% to both the IMB and NAMB. However, since this money is designated, it does not count towards Cooperative Program contributions. Jon Akin has written a good article addressing this issue, titled Defining, Defending, or De-funding the CP.

3. While 8,618 messengers registered in San Antonio, only a small percentage voted in the elections. During the 1st Vice Presidential vote, only 3143 voted. Likewise during the 2nd Vice Presidential vote, only 2841 voted. Perhaps the most telling vote was over the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 vote (which I'll address later). For as much controversy and debate it received, only 3702 messengers voted. It certainly does not appear that many people even cared enough to show up for votes.

San Antonio Convention in Review Part 4

The first SBC event I attended was the Pastor's Conference on Monday night to listen Albert Mohler, Jimmy Draper, James Merritt, and Johnny Hunt.

Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, gave a testimoney about his recent health crises with respect to his eye surgery and his even more recent crisis with blood clots in his lungs. Dr. Mohler recently posted an article about his recent trials on his website. You can find the article here.

James Draper, Jr., former President of Lifeway, gave us a personal testimony about temptation when a young woman tried to initiate an affair in his days in the pastorate. Draper believed he was impervious to the temptation of an affair, but found himself excited that another woman would find him desirable, so he did not decisively deal with the situation and drew it out.

James Merritt, Pastor of Cross Pointe, the Church at Gwinneth Center and Johnny Hunt, Pastor of Woodstock Baptist Church, both preached excellent sermons on holiness and humility. I did not know what to expect from Dr. Hunt. I wondered if Calvinism would come up in his talk. It did not. Surprisingly, if any controversy arose it came from Dr. Merritt when he seemed to give full permission to pastors to use his father's day sermon on Pastorsedge.com word for word if they so desired. This took me back somewhat. It also seemed that Hunt addressed this offer in his sermon when he spoke of the pastor's need to be led by the Spirit to write and preach the Lord's message for the church he pastors.

All in all, I believe Hunt's sermon was the best of the sermon's I had the priviledge to hear while in San Antonio.

San Antonio Convention in Review Part 3

Here are some day and night pics of the river which cuts through San Antonio. Mostly restaurants and a few stores line the Riverwalk. There was a CVS store on the Riverwalk. We frequented this establishment to purchase our drinks since they were excessively priced in our hotel (2.25 for a soft drink and 4.00 bottle water in the room).

The Riverboat tours were nice, but I would suggest that you either take the tour in the morning or in the late evening because the the 90+ temperatures.

San Antonio Convention in Review Part 2

Since this trip was also our vacation, we did not attend much of the Pastor's Conference on Monday. Instead, we took in many of the sights and sounds of San Antonio. Above, Naomi and I toured the Alamo which fortunately was directly across from our hotel.

San Antonio Convention in Review Part 1

My journey to the San Antonio Convention began with a trip to the Atlanta Airport where yours truly boarded an airplane for the first time. It was a pleasant experience and I am glad to have the flight as a part of my overall experience. However, getting to the airport 3 hours before departure (as the airlines suggest) translated for us into much time sitting around waiting for our flight to leave. This is the post 9-11 world in which we live, and security is well worth the wait.

Despite the largeness of the Atlanta Airport, I recognized two families there. I never cease to be amazed how in the midst of so many people how we can run into people we know who also do not live in Atlanta. We saw the Idell family from our home church in Tennessee who were on their way back from San Diego. Also, we flew on the same flight to San Antonio with the Moody's from 1st Baptist, Honea Path.

When we arrived in San Antonio, we were instructed by our Hotel staff to take a taxi because it was cheaper than the shuttles. So taking a taxi was another first for me. When we got into the taxi, the driver was playing rap music. He soon found out that we were in San Antonio for the Baptist Convention, he changed the station to classical music. I thought that was funny. Rap and classical are far from our preferences of music, but I did appreciate his consideration in changing the station.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency. The hotel was excellent. Our room was excellent and the lobby led right onto the Riverwalk, where we spent considerable time walking and eating. At the top of the page is the view from the top of our hotel of San Antonio.

Local Associations and State Conventions

Many Southern Baptist bloggers have recently attended, listened to, commented upon, and reflected on the recent Baptist Identity II Conference held at Union University in Jackson, TN. The most thorough commentator that I have found on the conference was Timmy Brister.

The topic which most peaked my interest was presented by Mike Day entitled, The Future of Baptist Associations and State Conventions. As a young pastor, one of my goals has been to become active in participation on all levels of Baptist life including the local, state, and national levels. I attended my first national convention in Greensboro, NC and will also be attending this year's national convention in San Antonio, TX. I have not made the state convention yet, but plan on attending this year's conference. I also have attended many of our local associational meetings.

One of the main reasons I have made this a goal pertains to the issue of stewardship. As the Pastor of a local church, it is partly my responsibility to lead the church I pastor to be fiscally wise in the way we spend money. My desire is to maximize our church expenditures towards the goal of making the maximum impact for the kingdom of God.

So I am in the process of evaluating how the money we contribute to the Local Association, the SC State Convention, and SBC is being used. Understanding where the SBC money is being used is pretty simple. The official breakdown can be found here at sbc.net. The bulk of the money sent to the SBC goes to support the work of the IMB, NAMB, and the six Southern Baptist seminaries.

However, deciphering just where and on what money is spent for in the State Convention is more difficult. I have looked through the state annual information, but there is little detail, so the end result is that you know a category of where money is spent, but you have little idea on what it is being spent.

Local Association expenditures are more easily assessed because of my more direct role in the process.

Day's address is timely for Southern Baptists. There needs to be much thought put into
the future operations of both the local association and state convention. First let me say, there is quality work being done on both levels. Gary Horton, who works at the South Carolina Baptist Convention, provided for me and the church I pastor valuable guidance on how to properly set up a minister's compensation. He has continued to be helpful whenever we have needed assistance on a financial issues. And recently our local association began to financially support of church planter in the Northeast.

However I have often wondered why local associations and state conventions do so many ministries which could and maybe should derive from local churches. For example, why is it necessary for any church to send money to the association only to have the association send that same money to a church planter when the church could in the first place send the money directly to the church planter? The benefits of the church sending it directly outweigh the benefit of it being sent by the local association. One benefit to the church is the relationship it fosters between a congregation and the church planter and his family; missions becomes more personal. However, when the Association sends the money, it tends to only affect a small number of pastors, as pastors generally are the ones who attend these meetings.

Mike Day addressed some of the problems we currently have in regards to the ministry of local associations and state conventions. One specific issue is the problem of redundancy. We have churches, associations, and conventions all doing the same work. Money is being spent on all three levels to fund the same ministries. Moreover, why are associations and state conventions implementing so many ministries anyway? The goal should be that the churches within the local associations and state conventions take the lead in Christian ministry.

Like Mike Day, I do not have all the answers. I am also not educated enough on my own local association and state convention to make a final judgment about its effectiveness in regards to my own church's financial stewardship. But I do know that young pastors are far and few between. Our local association, while not attended well overall, is poorly attended by young ministers and young laity. My prayer is that God will give myself and the other participants of the association and convention the wisdom and boldness to move forward on how churches can best cooperate in the work of God's kingdom.

A Special Wednesday Night Service

Tonight, Little River BC cancelled its own services in order that we may travel up to Spartanburg, SC where 89 Southern Baptist families are being commissioned as International Missionaries. No doubt, this will be one of the most special worship services I have ever attended.

The services begin at 6:30 PM at First Baptist Church, North Spartanburg. Use this post as a reminder to pray for our missionaries who are serving the Lord around the world. I am reminded now of a question asked by Dr. Tom Nettles, who teaches at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, when he said to a Baptist History class. He asked us, "What could be more exciting than going to another country obeying the Lord's Great Commission and founding a Christian Church where one never existed among a people who have never heard the gospel?"

This is exactly what many of the missionaries who will be appointed tonight will be laboring to achieve for the duration of their earthly lives. Let us pray for them.

Regenerate Church Membership

Dr. Mark Dever, pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, has contributed his thoughts concerning the failed resolution at the Southern Baptist Convention pertaining to regenerate church membership. The failed resolution encouraged Southern Baptist Churches to exercise integrity in maintaining accurate and responsible membership rolls.

One member from the resolution committee suggested that churches should not remove members from our rolls because these particular inactive members are prospects for the church.

Members should not be prospects. Members by definition are active, but Southern Baptists, by in large, are presently unwilling to remove these members from their rolls.

I think we should all work towards maintaining accurate and honest membership rolls.

Reflections from my 1st Convention

One of the more important events at the Convention is the election of the President because of his appointment powers. Going into the Convention I was unsure whether I would cast my vote for either Frank Page or Jerry Sutton. In fact I had not made up my mind until after the nomination speeches were finished. I voted for Frank Page, and to my surprise (as well as many others) he won on the first ballot. While I have theological differences with him, in the spirit of cooperation I felt he best demonstrated in the events leading up to the convention the kind of spirit I wanted for representing the Convention. Only time will tell, but I urge Southern Baptists to pray for him, as I believe this may be a difficult and busy year for him.

I was hoping to see during this convention a spirit of cooperation around the gospel. I believe, after reading many summaries of the talk by Patterson and Mohler, there was demonstrated the basic kind of spirit needed for cooperation between parties who disagree on the intricacies of the gospel. However, it was evident to me that tension was in the air. Even when platform speakers were trying to focus us on the essentials, they spoke carelessly. One speaker spoke of Calvinism and Plurality of Elders as being distractions. One need not think long on how this would make Calvinists feel. And to say to those Southern Baptists who care passionately about how a local church should be properly ordered that debating "the elder issue" is distracting certainly disheartens many Southern Baptists.

In many ways, what this convention will be remembered by besides the Page victory will be the spirited debate on the resolution pertaining to alcohol consumption. It seems to me to be a sad day when alcohol consumption gets so much attention when so many people in our Southern Baptist churches cannot articulate the gospel. Personally, I think there are always better options for most of us to choose some other choice of beverage than one which contains alcohol, but biblically for one Christian to say to another Christian, "You must abstain," is close to legalism. There are many issues which the Convention needed to address, and alcohol consumption was not one of them.

Meanwhile, a resolution on Integrity in Church Membership was declined both by the committee and by the convention as a whole. As I pointed out on a recent post, it continues to be grievous point when we are referred to as the 16,000,000 plus Protestant denomination, when we are only this on paper. If membership meant anything besides some card we sign, then our membership would be more accurately reported somewhere around 6,000,000.

Definite high points of the trip were spending time with family and friends. I spent around three hours with my Grandmother, aunt and two cousins. I stayed with Seth and his wife for two nights (thanks again). I enjoyed watching Brent play golf. And one of the highs had to be the time spent talking theology with pastors.

One of the major issues to be addressed was recent IMB developments. However, not much came of it; accept that it will be referred back to the IMB trustees for study. Hopefully when we gather in San Antonio next year, the Baptism policy will be rescinded or revised.

Brent and Seth, what say you?

Off to Greensboro

Well, really I will be heading through Greensboro Sunday afternoon on my way to Raleigh to visit with my fellow (non)-bloggers Seth and Brent. Instead of heading over to the breakout sessions of the Pastor's conference (which can be purchased later) we will be spending some time together. In addition to this, I'll visit with some of my family from that area. Early Tuesday morning we will drive up to Greensboro for the Southern Baptist Convention.

My mom grew up Southern Baptist, she even worked at Southeastern Seminary for a short season. My father grew up Methodist, so I spent time in both a Southern Baptist and Methodist church growing up. Eventually, as a teenager I repented of my sins and received Christ through faith for the forgiveness of my sins. After my conversion, I joined Towering Oaks Baptist Church. My family did also join around this time as well.

As a teenager, I was not really interested in the SBC. When I was in seminary, I did not have the money or time to attend, so this will be my first annual convention. If I am not mistaken this will also be the first convention for Seth as well. I have read as many as 15,000-20,000 messengers may attend this year, which would far exceed the previous years' attendance. Personally I hope to see the new IMB policies addressed, especially regarding Baptism. As it stands, if any potential missionary desires to be sent through the International Mission Board (the primary international missionary agency of Southern Baptist Churches), and was baptized in a church which did not endorse the doctrine of eternal security, they will be disqualified unless they are willing to be re-baptized (I know there is no such thing) in a church which does endorse the eternal security of the believer.

I would estimate a significant number of present day Southern Baptists were baptized in Free Will Baptist Churches or other churches where the doctrine of eternal security is not endorsed. Many of these members now believe in the doctrine of eternal security (I call this doctrine, The Perseverance of the Saints) and would endorse the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, but would still be disqualified from serving as a missionary from the very agency they likely support through the Cooperative Program.

I hope to see this addressed somehow. I will post on the convention when I return later next week.

Church Membership Rolls

An article published by Baptist Press illustrates the problem Southern Baptist Churches have when it comes to the accuracy of church membership rolls. Many churches have memberships which greatly exceed average attendance for the primary worship gathering. Many churches have members on their rolls who have not attended the church at which they are members for years. What does this say about church membership? What does this say about the integrity of the SBC when it reports that it has 16 million plus members? Unfortunately, it says that in many churches, an individual can can join a church one Sunday, and never return for the rest of his life, yet be considered a member.

Currently, I am having to deal with this issue in the church I pastor. Brent, you will probably face this situation in the near future as a Senior Pastor, and Seth you may have the opportunity from both the classroom and perhaps serving in a local church to address this issue. What basic steps would you guys take to correct this problem, and how slowly should a new pastor take on this problem?

Recently, a resolution was sent to the resolution committee of the Southern Baptist Convention regarding this very issue. It can be found here. Do you think this is a good start from a convention standpoint?