Southern Baptist Convention Resurgence

This past week I had opportunity to attend my first Southern Baptist Convention. As a 25 year old young SBC’r dependent upon how this one had gone it could have been my last. I am proud to report it will not be. There was a great cry for unity in the SBC this past week. We have many differences in our convention, whether they be theological or worship preferences – however we all agree that Christ is our Saviour and it is through Him we are saved. There was a great cry to unify over what we do have in common for the sake of making the gospel known to all the world. Gone are the days where we fight within and here are the days where we go out.

Great men of the faith such as Ed Stedzer, Danny Akin, and Albert Mohler are making this Great Commission Resurgence possible. For once in my life I am excited about what is going on in our convention instead of embarrassed and ashamed to tell others that I am a Baptist. I pray that God will continue to use this movement and resurgence to spark a flame that has been dead in Baptists for decades. We have been riding the waves of a century old revival for to long and Satan has not only crept in but built a house, planted a garden, and is fat in the Southern Baptist Convention. I pray that with this new commitment to unity as Baptist we will be able to tear down walls that have been built up.

As Baptist we have a long way ahead of us – there are MANY that would love for the walls to remain up and to remain divided; their voices are the squeaky wheel, and they have been heard for many many many years, however we must pray that our actions and unity are stronger and louder than any squeaky wheel of Satan.

Following a harsh and divisive speak my the President of the Executive Board was a panel for Baptist who exist in the 21st Century. B21 is a loose network of persons “seeking to be Baptist in the 21st century.” In a panel held at the SBC Mohler told the pastors and students: “Don’t look for too much out of the Southern Baptist Convention. Don’t find your identity here.” He encouraged them to minister in their churches, find their identity in Christ and plug into the SBC for connections and resources.

Stetzer, who has worked for three national Baptist agencies and has “seen the good, the bad and the ugly,” said he is “not impressed with the Southern Baptist Convention. I’m not getting my identity from it.” “Now is the time to engage and fix that system,” he said. “But don’t be fooled. The voices of division will become more shrill before we come together.”

I am first a Christian and only associated with Baptist out of the need for connections and resources. We can never become a Baptist first before we are a Christian, sadly this may be the mentality of many of the squeaky wheels in the convention. There are many who seek to bring division to the Convention, but I feel as if God has began something here at the SBC 2009 that many people have been praying for many years.

Let us continue to pray for unity in the SBC, for Johnny Hunt as he has a huge task ahead of him this year, and the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.

More to Come.

A Love that is Crazy

As I was leaving for the southern baptist convention on Saturday I grabbed a book that I had read before but wanted to re-read called “Crazy Love” by a Pastor name Francis Chan. As I was reading this book once again, I was overly convicted by a passage that I would like to share with you:

“I think sometimes we assume that if we are nice, people will know we are Christians and want to know more about Jesus. But it really doesn’t work that way. I know a lot of people who don’t know Christ and are really nice people—nicer and more fun to be with, in fact, than a lot of Christians I know.

There has to be more to our faith than friendliness, politeness, and even kindness. Jesus teaches in Luke’s gospel:

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners” love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners” do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners” lend to “sinners,” expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
-Luke 6:32-36

True faith is loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out.

In October 2006, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a man stormed an Amish school and killed several girls. The day after the shootings, many Amish people visited the shooters family to say they had forgiven him. That sort of forgiveness is incomprehensible to the world; because of it, people have even accused the families of being bad parents, of not dealing properly with their anger, of living in denial.

It is just this sort of love that is crazy to the world; true love, a kind found nowhere but through Christ.

We are commanded to love our enemies and do good to them. Who are you enemies? Or in terms we connect with better, who are the people you avoid or who avoid you? Who are the people who have hurt you or hurt your friends or hurt your kids? Are you willing to do good to those people? To reach out to them?

Oftentimes, my first response when someone does something to me—or worse, to my wife or to one of my kids—is retaliation. I don’t’ want to bless those who hurt me or people I love dearly. I wouldn’t want to forgive someone who walked into my daughter’s school and shot her and her friends.

But that is exactly what Christ asks us to do. He commands that we give without expecting anything in return.”

I hope you got as much out of this portion of this book as I did. Thank you Francis Chan.