Archive for June, 2006
Won’t We Ever Learn?
June 22nd, 2006 | 10 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Guess what?
Southern Baptists are bickering and infighting about drinking beverages containing alcohol again. Is anyone surprised?
Why can’t we just let this topic die? It does nothing but cause division everytime we bring it up. We get articles like that written by James Smith in the Florida Baptist Witness, full of strawman proposals and personal attacks. We get heated, wandering discussion on mailing lists such as the Missouri Baptist list (linked in the left sidebar) or in blogs like Marty Duren’s SBC Outpost or Wade Burleson’s “Grace and Truth to You”. What’s the point?
Does anyone really disagree that the Biblical prohibition is drunkenness rather than drinking? Does anyone really disagree that Jesus himself drank wine? Why are we splitting hairs over this, one way or the other?
Isn’t the most appropriate Scripture passage in regard to the consumption of alcoholic beverages from 1 Corinthians 8:9?
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
We have freedom in Christ, but we must be careful how we exercise that freedom. Isn’t that the bottom line?
Anyway, maybe I’m just a foolish young layperson who is weary of seeing so much bickering and infighting and just doesn’t see the point of further dispute.
A Little Essay Contest…
June 22nd, 2006 | 4 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Wade Burleson has challenged everyone to a little essay contest…
Get your thoughts together, and let him know what you would do if you were president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Yes, there will be prizes.
Anyway, check out his site for more information.
Who’s Going to Hell?
June 21st, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in » In the News...
Here’s an interesting news story regarding beliefs about who’s going to hell and why, broken down by a variety of people groups (see some of the results of the survey here).
The telling statistic to me is not that people of different backgrounds believe in hell as a real place and that they believe that many they know are going to hell, but that 58% believe that we go to hell because of immoral action (this must be the “if I’m good enough, I’ll get in to heaven” crowd). They’re only partially correct. The Bible is crystal clear that we’re all unworthy, all filled with sin… and thus, all bound for hell (Romans 3:23… “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”). So… although sin is the reason we deserve hell… it’s not the deciding factor in whether we go there. The deciding factor is whether we accept or reject the free gift of salvation offered through faith in Christ (Romans 10:9… “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”).
Anyway, there’s a whole world out there that’s missing the point when it comes to heaven / hell… a world that doesn’t understand that we can never be “good enough” for heaven. It’s up to us to tell them that we’ve got to trust in the one who enabled salvation… the one who paid the penalty for sin… the one who conquered death and gives us life… that we’ve got to cling to Jesus and go before the throne of God with Him as our hope of salvation.
Before the Throne of God Above
June 21st, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in » Song of the Day
I’ve got a thirty minute drive each day back and forth to work, so I’ve got a lot of time in the car to myself. Yesterday, I popped in a CD from Sonicflood that I hadn’t listened to in a while… “Sonicpraise”. I’d almost forgotten how much I love their rendition of “Before the Throne of God Above”.
So… that’s my song of the day.
Before the Throne of God Above
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!
Talk about some awesome lyrical content… sound theological truths about our relationship with God… straight to the point and elegantly written. And Sonicflood’s rendition? Blows me away every time I listen.
Anyway, check it out when you get a chance. It’s track 10 on the CD, and you can listen to a preview here.
Happy Birthday, Nancy!
June 21st, 2006 | 1 Comment | Posted in » My Life / Family
I love you!
(For those of you who don’t know, Nancy is my wonderful wife!)
Sobering Statistics from the Convention…
June 20th, 2006 | 4 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Thinking back on the SBC Annual Meeting, a few sobering statistics dawned on me.
– We have approximately 16,000,000 Baptists on our church rolls, and about 45,000 churches in our convention.
– We had about 12,000 messengers at this year’s SBC meeting.
– Even if each of those 12,000 messengers represented a different church (which was not the case), the business activities of the convention were decided by about 25% of churches in the convention.
– Given that almost every convention church gets more than one messenger (most of our churches have the right to send ten), we had business being decided by an even much smaller percentage of available messengers (probably in the realm of 2 to 4%).
Does this sound an alarm bell to anyone but me?
I’m afraid these statistics are indicative of a serious grassroots issue… ignorance and apathy to convention matters on behalf of the majority of Southern Baptists. What if the following statement (made by a member of a Southern Baptist church on an internet forum) is true about most Baptists?
The only reason many in our church knew about [the convention meeting] was because our Pastor went. The day to day workings of the SBC aren’t a big concern. We send our own mission teams, and have a large outreach program, so the CP isn’t a big issue. I don’t even know how much we gave last year.
Now, I don’t mean to pick on the individual who made that statement, but seriously… what if that statement is reflective of the majority of Southern Baptists? What does this say about the future of the Cooperative Program and the future of our cooperative missions efforts?
My point is simply this… having become far more interested in convention activities over the past year, and having just attended my first meeting, I now understand much more about the convention and now realize the importance of being informed and involved. I’d love to see all Southern Baptists opening their eyes and realizing the same.
Who Said Blogging Was a Waste of Time?
June 20th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Worth Reading
Fellow blogger Alan Cross has posted an excellent article entitled, “Who Said Blogging Was a Waste of Time?”
If you haven’t already had a chance to check it out, it’s worth your time.