This article probably will not matter much to readers who are not Southern Baptists.  For those of you who are Southern Baptists, the actions of the Daviess-McLean Baptist Association in Western Kentucky should disappoint you.  According to the Western Recorder (the news magazine of Kentucky Baptists), this association recently denied membership to another Baptist church.  Pleasant Valley Community Church had applied for membership to join the work of Baptists in their geographical area.

Baptist entities, including associations, have the right to admit or deny any church so choose.  However, having the right to do something does not make it wise.  In this case I believe the exclusion is extremely unwise.

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The Economist has published an article on Calvinism and Southern Baptists.  From the title, Southern Baptists – The New Calvins: Tensions inside one of America’s most successful churches to the content, it is clear that the writer of this article is not a very savvy theology writer.

Putting that aside, the article does quote Southern Baptists Wade Burleson and Richard Land.  I am hoping that the writer did not accurately portray Land’s sentiments.  If the article is accurate, then Land is guilty of two offenses.

1.  Land is directly quoted with a statement that is a classic example of building a straw man only to knock him over.

People try to argue that Southern Baptists have always been Calvinist and we’ve departed from the way in the past 80 years.  That is demonstrably false.

I know of nobody who has either argued or tried to argue that Southern Baptists have always been Calvinists.  Historian Tom Nettles was one of the first in our times to present the case that in Southern Baptist history, there was a strong Calvinist segment from the beginning.  That is vastly different from saying that Southern Baptists have always been Calvinist.

Did you see what Land did in his statement?  He presented an argument which does not exist, and then declared that the argument is false.

2.  Land is indirectly quoted with a statement that assassinates the character of Calvinist pastors.

He says Calvinist seminary graduates keep their beliefs below the radar when they’re out applying for work, only to uncover them once safe in a job.

Wow!  I hope this is not what Land intended to communicate.  I am pretty sure he did not use the terminology “applying for work.”  Baptists churches usually have what is called a pulpit committee that looks for and interviews candidates for the pastoral position in that church.  In the past, I interviewed with several of these committees.  Not once did anybody ever ask me about being a Calvinist.  I was never evasive in my answers to their questions nor did I try to keep any beliefs below the radar. I spelled out my core beliefs and my philosophies of ministry.  During those years, I experienced wonderful relationships with the churches I served. In fact, Richard Land preached for me in my absence in one of those churches.

Perhaps somebody has been guilty of what Land asserts, but it would certainly be the exception and not the rule.  I think he knows that.  If he does, then why is he the head of the Southern Baptist agency that deals with ethics?  If he does not know, then he should not be speaking about it.  Either way, Land needs to clarify his comments.

My pastor, Jimmy Scroggins, has penned an excellent article on the Cooperative Program and how churches spend their missions dollars.

Point of View – Pastoral Economics: Compelling vision, not guilt will build Cooperative Program – Florida Baptist Witness.

This is the kind of wisdom that I have grown accustomed to from this godly man.  It is such a joy to be a part of First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach for the second time under his leadership.  My hope is that SBC leaders will take to heart what he has written.

For too long Southern Baptists have operated like givers to the United Way or to the IRS.  We like some of the things are money does.  We are neutral about others.  We may even disagree over some expenditures.  Yet all the while we keep giving (or having it taken from us by the government).

Today, we have options when it comes to our giving.  Churches should be wise about these options.

Each year in June the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) convenes for a meeting of business and inspiration.  The Pastors Conference kicks off the major events with what is usually great preaching on Sunday and Monday.  On Tuesday and Wednesdays the business of the SBC is conducted with some preaching mixed in.  In 2010 the meetings were held in Orlando.  Like thousands of others, I watched the sessions on-line for free.  I was even able to use Twitter to interact with others around the country.  (See The Good, The Bad, The Ugly & The Funny at SBC Pastors Conference via Stream and Twitter.)

micahfries – don’t know what’s crazier – that we can’t get copies of SBC sermons online for free or that the place to purchase them is known as SBCtapes?

Southern Baptists often discuss whether our organizations are stuck in the 1950′s.  Fries’ tweet does seem to suggest that we have made it out of the 50′s…but only to the 70′s.  SBC Tapes???  The name of the distribution company conjures up turning over cassette tape to hear the remainder of its contents.

To their credit SBC Tapes does provide the sermons in CD audio and DVD video formats.  So, even though it makes me chuckle I could live with this.  What does trouble me is that the pricing and other constraints make it appear that the content of these sermons is a closely guarded secret.  We can’t possibly want people to hear again what was preached or have anybody accessing them without paying a stiff price.  Consider these things that I learned from the website distributing the sermons:

1.  To listen again to Matt Chandler’s sermon, I would have to pay $9 for a CD or $17 for a DVD.  That’s for 1 sermon.  Through such modern contraptions like internet websites or iTunes, I can listen to hundreds of Chandler’s other sermons for free.

2.  To get the package of all 14 Pastors Conference CDs, I would have to pay $106.  The DVDs – $210.  Seriously, I’m not making this up.

3.  Shipping adds another $2 per CD/DVD (max $10).

4.  The website indicates that this is a private ministry.  Ministry???  It does indicate that over 50% of the money for Pastors Conference sermons goes back to the Pastors Conference.  No such statement exists for the SBC session.

5.  Anybody interested in hearing the Executive Committee report again?  I seriously doubt it, but if you did you could get part 1 for the $9 or $17.  Part 2 would cost you the same.  If I was truly sadistic and wanted to watch again both parts of this report, it would cost me $38.  Yes, $38.

6.  Once you order an item, it takes 3-4 weeks to get your order to you.  Are they being shipped from China on a boat?  As somebody who does business on line, a CD can be shipped for less than $2 and arrive in 3-4 days.

6.  The SBC consists of several million members with about 20,000 actually attending the sessions.  Shouldn’t we try to make these sessions as available to our members as possible?  Who is actually buying these?

7.  Once you do buy a CD, you still are limited in its use.  Read this notice from the website:

Please help us protect this revenue stream by not duplicating or uploading any of these messages without SBC Tapes written consent.  The Pastors’ Conference thanks you for your honesty and support.

Notice that the sermons of these preachers is now a “revenue stream.”  Notice also the switch in nouns in these two sentences.  In the first sentence, the revenue stream is controlled by SBC Tapes.  In the second sentence it is The Pastors’ Conference that thanks you for your honesty and support.

For those of you with influence in the SBC, this system needs to be thrown in the garbage heap right away.  As Fries suggests in his tweet, make them available on-line and without cost.  This can be done without incurring any additional charges.  No objection to this should exist unless the goal is “revenue streams” rather than ministry.

It has been an interesting experience watching the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) on-line and engaging with other baptists on Twitter.  The only hitch was that the on-line feed went black at exactly 5pm.  Only problem was that the primary vote for this year happened between 5:05 and 5:10pm.

Much of the activity at the SBC makes me glad to be a part of this denomination.  Others things make me want to pull my hair out.  Now I don’t get riled by spirited debate.  That is part of being in a large democratic organization.  With any group that large, you will get some whacky statements and actions.  Instead of focusing on that, I am most interested in the statements of the body as a whole and of the leaders of the group.  So here are the things that I like.

1.  Approval of the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) report.  If curious you can go here to see the report (it has been slightly modified).  Hopefully, this will help the SBC be organizationally more functional towards what matters.

2.  I was pleased that the GCR Task Force toned down the rhetoric and acted much more diplomatically.

3.  I like that a new generation of SBC leaders are all about God’s glory and reaching our world for Christ.

4.  I am appreciative of the graciousness of President Johnny Hunt and team demonstrated when others might be tempted to smack a few folks.

5.  I am most thrilled that my heart has been stirred afresh for a global mission of reaching people from every tribe and nation.  Thanks to Jerry Rankin for his leadership at the International Mission Board.  He is retiring from that post.

Now, here are a few things that I did not like:

1.  Morris Chapman’s attempt to derail the GCR.  I don’t fault him for having a differing view.  I just don’t know what has happened to Chapman these past couple of years.  He seems so out of step with the denomination that he has been at the helm for 18 years (this is his last).

2.  I wish that opponents of the GCR proposal would have made arguments as to why they were opposed instead of trying to use methods to prevent a vote.

3.  What most frustrated me was the report of the ERLC (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission).  The president of the ERLC is Richard Land.  I had Land preach in my pulpit when I was a pastor in the early 1990′s.  But Land sounds more like a pawn of the right wing of the Republican Party rather than a spokesman for biblical ethics and religious liberty.

I may not agree with the healthcare direction in our country.  But I know there are people who love Jesus who differ with me.  Why link ourselves with a political position that just isn’t the priority of biblical Christianity?  Land went even farther in his comments on U.S. immigration.  That’s not what I want my mission dollars being spent doing.

Now for some funny tweets:

JimmyScroggins: At biz @ SBC n Orlando. When the mics open, weirdos come out & the dumber the motion, the more Prez Hunt calls u “Dear brother.”

JimmyScroggins:  Morris Chapman is bashing the GCR & GCR task force @ SBC Orlando. Feels kind of like when your senile grandpa cusses u out

FakeJDGreear (Several):

Make no mistake. Every #GCR vote counts. And since we’re in FL, some of them count 4 or 5 times.

Humiliated. I was kicked off the @baptist21 panel because of my “old dude sellout suit.”

My book is better than @plattdavid’s, plus when you finish reading it you don’t have to sell your bass boat.

5ptsalt:  I love Al Mohler, but brethren, I do wish he would consider decaf

djword:  Southern Baptists resolve to expand their evangelistic reach by inviting Big 12 schools into the SBC

HannahBadgett:  I received a few strange looks when an “Amen” slipped out at work. Watching #sbc2010 live streaming.

jrbuchanan:  Morris Chapman is as out of touch as a homeschooler at the prom.

mattprivett: Where are the vuvuzelas when you need them?

DvdAlexandr:  Can we just skip to the world cup soccer game? Whose in charge of the big screen?

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is taking place this week in Orlando, Florida.  The SBC is taking full advantage of technology by streaming live the actual convention proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The same is true of the main pre-convention event – The Pastors Conference (PC).  I was able to follow much of the PC through the on-line stream and interact with participants and other observers via Twitter.  This article will present my take on what I thought was the SBC at it’s best.  I also will present some of my concerns.  I will offer a section of memorable quotes from speakers and the responses of twitterers.

The PC was not without a spirited debate about one of the speakers on Monday night.  You will be able to read some of the comments about that speaker’s presentation.  Finally, Baptists have some funny folks.  Several satirical twitter accounts offered some ways for Baptists to laugh at themselves.  The final section will present some of the comedy.

We will sum all of this up under four headings: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Funny.

1.  The Good

Most of this conference could be noted in this section as being good.  I will limit my comments to four items that stood out to me.

A.  Matt Chandler’s Sermon

Matt Chandler is a preacher that you should listen to whenever you get the opportunity.  He is a pastor in Dallas, Texas.  This past year has been some kind of year for him.  On Thanksgiving morning, he had a seizure resulting from a brain tumor.  He had surgery and then went through both chemotherapy and radiation.  All the while he has lived a powerful testimony to the person and work of God.  He fearlessly proclaims the gospel with clarity and power.

One quote from his sermon was tweeted repeatedly, and should be drilled into our hearts and minds:

Don’t simply try to control your sin, but seek to murder it.

B.  The Emphasis on and Example of Adoption

Dr. Russell Moore (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Highview Baptist Church in Louisville) preached a sermon on adoption.  He made biblical application to both the gospel (we have been adopted by God) and of caring for orphans.  He spoke of the adoption of his own children.  Later Kevin Ezell (also from Highview and President of the PC) introduced his family with both birthed and adopted children.  Finally, a pastor and his wife were aided by the PC in the adoption of a small baby, Jedediah.

C.  Francis Chan’s Sermon

Francis Chan has been until recently a pastor in California.  He is not a Southern Baptist, but Southern Baptists’ were enriched by hearing him.  While I watched and listened, I was captivated by his message calling us to have a compelling desire to intimately know Jesus.  Seldom have I seen such authenticity and spiritual power in the pulpit.  Here are a couple of quotes, but you really need to find a this sermon and watch it for yourself to get the full effect.

Would anyone say, “the day I spent with <you>, felt like I was walking with Jesus?

When people meet you, do they think, “Wow, I can see that he/she REALLY loves Jesus more than anything”?

D.  David Platt’s Sermon

David Platt closed out the PC with a sermon version of his book Radical.  I have attended years of PC’s, but not sure I have heard a more challenging and gospel strong sermon preached in all of those years.  Even Matt Chandler chirped in with this tweet:

MattChandler74: @plattdavid preaches like he’s in pain and I’m grateful to God for him.

Here are some quotes from Platt:

(Proclaiming the gospel) This is not the reason we have a convention. This is the reason we have breath

Jesus Christ drank every last drop of the wrath of God turned the cup over & said ‘It is finished’ & that’s good news.

1.6 billion people have a knowledge of God only enough to send them to hell. We must do something. We must tell them.

God help us if we cannot sacrifice plans and percentages when He has called us to sacrifice our lives.

2.  The Bad

A.  GCR Promotion

Let me begin by saying that I am in favor of the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) report which will be presented to the convention on Tuesday.  I just don’t like feeling that I’m being sold by high-pressure salesmen.  Having worked in sales, I would not sell furniture or hotel rooms with these tactics -much less a spiritual thrust.

Ronnie Floyd made an impassioned plea for acceptance of the GCR report.  I’m fine with that.  However, I am sure that godly and wise men are differing and will differ on the best way to move Southern Baptists ahead.  The rhetoric comes dangerously close to suggesting that if you don’t buy the entire report, you are somehow less spiritual and almost not spiritual at all.

I believe a greater day is coming. Tomorrow is about the gospel of Jesus Christ! – Ronnie Floyd

Tomorrow must be a day of change. Will you rise up? – Ronnie Floyd

Again, I favor the GCR recommendations.  But is it really a vote on the gospel?  When put in these terms, those who disagree are presented as being anti-gospel.  I would much rather see a thoughtful rational for the recommendations rather than this type of force feeding.

3.  The Ugly

Andy Stanley, son of Charles Stanley and a pastor in Atlanta, spoke in the evening session.  To say that he spoke to mixed reviews would be an understatement.  Stanley gave a leadership presentation.  He did not preach a biblical sermon.  That is the point of contention.  He brought a Bible and laid it on a table behind him (he didn’t use the podium/pulpit that others used).  Near the end of the sermon, he quoted one passage.  Here is a sampling of the tweets:

steveweaver: Thinks Andy Stanley should have contextualized and preached the Bible tonight.

steveweaver:  Oops, just corrected by one of my church members watching online. He did bring out his Bible and lay it on the table.

DrJoelB: Andy Stanley is great on leadership but let’s b careful what we call preaching, when the Bible is barely mentioned

bradbrisco_kc: A Stanley is a gr8 leader & communicator but is any1 else troubled by his talk @#sbc2010? It is all abt vendor of religious goods & servce

sjcamp:  Listening 2 Andy Stanley. So Weak. His axiom so far is: church should b better, better, better. How about: holy, holy, holy?

sjcamp:  Andy Stanley. All pragmatics – no Scripture! Here we go again: the biblical command is to “preach the Word!”

chadwickivester:  Is #AndyStanley the #RobertShueller of the SBC?

timmybrister:  I don’t think there will be a more stark contrast in content & delivery than Andy Stanley & @plattdavid back to bac

timmybrister:  We are about to go from customer service Christianity (goods & services) to biblical Christianity (Jesus & taking up your cross).

CurtTreece:  Wish Andy Stanley would just “walk our the door and come back in again” and preach an actual sermon from the actual word of God.

DChrisGarner:  Andy Stanley is the worst preacher I’ve ever heard at a conference I’ve attended.

scottsull7:  Andy Stanley just managed to tell us how to make church “better” without once using Scripture as a reference. Just sayin’.

bradthayer1:  ”Last point comes from the Bible. I know that’s a relief.” wow!

These comments were met head-on by those who were enjoying Stanley’s presentation.

It wasn’t the prettiest example of Baptist life.

4.  The Funny

XIANITY: BREAKING NEWS: @ErgunCaner won’t be speaking at#SBC2010, the cost of fitting him w/ both a mic & polygraph was prohibitive.

PuljolsBio: Sitting in Busch Stadium, hoping both @albertmohler and Albert Pujols hit homers tonight.

cliffmathis: Kneeling at Mac Brunson’s urging, size-challenged SBCers struggle to get up. Lend a helping hand, please.

cliffmathis:  Thinks this prayer would be a bit shorter if Brother Brunson had to kneel as well.

SBCmessenger:  Andy Stanley is going to be preaching expositionally from a John Maxwell book tonight.

SBCmessenger:  Mediating on 2 Bible verses b/f bed: 1. Apart from me you can do nothing, & 2. God helps those who help themselves.

fakebp:  BREAKING: Embarrassment ensues when @drmoore attempts to adopt @francischan following Chan’s #SBC2010 pastor’s conference sermon.