Archive for May, 2006
Wade’s decision…
May 31st, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
A few days back, Wade posted three options for moving forward in response to the debacle at the IMB Trustee meeting in Albuquerque. Today, he has posted his decision.
Continue to pray for this situation!
A bit of insight into Dr. Hatley?
May 31st, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Now, many may disagree with my highlighting of this post from Tad Thompson, accusing me of “gossip” or “slander”. I just can’t let this slide by, though, as I think it’s worth looking at and considering.
Why? Because many of us have sat in disbelief at the recent actions of Dr. Hatley at the last IMB Trustees meeting. We’ve wondered how a leader in our convention could attack a brother as he did. We’ve wondered about his character and leadership abilities. Is it possible that the information Tad has shared provides some insight?
Now, I must add a warning here… Although I have no reason to disbelieve the things Tad has posted, weigh these facts carefully. Remember that Tom is our brother in Christ, and nothing good will come of trashing him with personal judgments based on the facts contained in Tad’s post.
Ropeless Jump Rope?
May 30th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Just For Fun...
You’ve got to be kidding me… a ropeless jump rope? And I thought I had some odd ideas.
Speaking of which… check out this site for even more such interesting inventions.
What to Expect in Greensboro
May 30th, 2006 | 3 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Don Hinkle, editor of the Pathway, one of Missouri’s two Baptist newspapers (yes, we have our issues too), has published an editorial on his blog summarizing a lot of the issues we can expect to see addressed in Greensboro. This same editorial will be coming out in the Pathway soon.
It’s a well-written piece, and I’d encourage everyone to give it a look.
UPDATE…
Just wanted to clarify my thoughts on the “big tent” / “doctrinal purist” matter Don describes so eloquently, because I think it would be easy to misunderstand us “big tenters” a bit.
“Big tenters” (such as myself) most definitely want to open up the SBC to a wider number of Southern Baptists, but the expansion of the tent is not due to a widening of theological boundaries, but rather a concerted effort to ensure that we include Baptists from all throughout our convention in our activities. We don’t want to fight battles that have already been fought. We have a doctrinal statement… the Baptist Faith and Message. Now we simply need to ensure that we use that as our doctrinal guide… that we don’t narrow those parameters by which we cooperate (as outlined in the BF&M) further to exclude any Baptist that agrees with the BF&M.
Don’s article could be read in a manner that would lead one to believe that we want to see a bit of relaxing in our doctrinal boundaries; this is DEFINITELY not the case.
Basically? It’s all about cooperation. Cooperation is what makes Baptists special… it’s what makes us effective in reaching a lost world… it’s what allows us to send missionaries to hundreds of unreached people groups… it allows the “whole” of Baptists to be far greater than the sum of our individual parts.
Let’s continue to be a people marked by unfailing love for each other… to be united, even if we can’t be uniform.
Nice Bass!
May 29th, 2006 | 10 Comments | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
Everyone has hobbies or things they enjoy doing. I am one that REALLY enjoys fishing.
Here’s a good example why!
I caught this largemouth bass this morning about 7:00 at Nodaway Lake while fishing with my dad. It measured 20 inches long, and weighed about 5 pounds. Not a bad fish at all!
If you thought we had a mess already…
May 26th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Prayer Requests
Well, I just noticed Wade’s latest post, promising a far more aggressive response to the “spin” we’ve seen in Baptist media covering IMB issues, the lack of forthright information from other trustees about these issues, and the downright nasty treatment he has received because of his stance and his blog.
There’s a very appropriate phrase for what’s about to happen, but in the interest of keeping this blog free of vulgarity, let’s just say we’re about to have a much bigger mess than most of us would have dreamed.
Pray for Wade. Pray for the other IMB Trustees. Pray for our IMB leadership and missionaries. Pray for the Southern Baptist Convention. Pray, pray, and pray some more!
God’s hand is needed in this!
(Oh… Did I mention that we should pray?)
Updated Blog Software
May 26th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Site News...
FYI… I updated my blog software tonight due to increasing spam problems (the newest version of WordPress has some GREAT spam management tools!). If you notice ANY problems with the site, PLEASE let me know either by commenting on this thread or by e-mailing me (link at the bottom of the left sidebar).
Note that as a result of this upgrade, I’m disabling the CaptCha plugin, which is good news for those of you who can’t stand having to type in the characters from those cryptic images when commenting! Of course, I’ll be re-enabling it should the new spam controls in WordPress be inadequate, but we’ll give this a shot for a while.
God bless!
News Stories on Albuquerque Events
May 25th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
The IMB website now contains a news story on the events occurring at the IMB Trustee Meeting in Albuquerque. This will probably appear on the Baptist Press site soon. As you would expect, many of the details we’ve received from Wade, Wes, and Cliff are not given.
The Associated Baptist Press has also covered the meeting. Their story is not as extensive in its coverage of the meeting’s events, but does contain additional details you will not find in the IMB story. The ABP story can be found here.
Another bombshell… surprise surprise.
May 24th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
If there is even an ounce of truth to what Wade Burleson has posted on his blog today regarding his treatment by Tom Hatley at the Albuquerque IMB Trustee meeting, Baptists everywhere have reason to be incensed with righteous anger. This is UNACCEPTABLE behavior for a Christian, but even more so for a Christian in a position of leadership.
Tom… I hope you read this. I’m VERY disappointed in you as a spiritual leader in our particular denomination. Your assassination of Wade’s character is reprehensible. In a moment where you were given the opportunity to bring peace, you instead chose to drive a wedge between yourself and a brother in Christ. Not only that, but your actions today created additional division throughout the SBC regarding this issue at a time when peacemaking is most desperately needed! I’m so disappointed and disheartened!
Sadly, this should not come as unexpected, given the treatment that Wade has been given so far in this dispute. I’m still disappointed and angry, but most of all, I find myself disheartened at the message we seem intent on giving a lost world… that we can’t even love one another.
Satan must be dancing like a crazy man.
UPDATE…
Cliff Cummings, a pastor from Oklahoma who was at the meeting, attests to everything Wade has posted in his blog. Here’s some details. Expect some more from Cliff later on once he makes it back home from the meeting.
Also, Wes Kenney, who also attended the meeting, has posted his corraborating observations here.
Accounts from Albuquerque
May 24th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Wes Kenney has posted some of the highlights from yesterday’s IMB Trustees meeting in Albuquerque on his blog. Check out the latest entries here and here.
Cliff Cummings has also posted about the meeting .
Both of these guys’ sites are worth checking out to get some first-hand accounts of the day’s events.
(Of course, you won’t want to miss Wade’s site either. If you’ve been following this for long, you’ll no doubt have that URL memorized or bookmarked, but here’s the link for those of you who don’t have it handy.)