Is the BGCT out of touch?

Our whole world is going through so much change lately. It seems everything around me is changing.  I see where very soon in order for me to watch television I am going to have to switch over to digital. But I am perfectly happy my analog television. No matter how clear the picture is, the stuff that comes over it is the same.

But at the same time I have been to Best Buy and watched one of them digital televisions. It is kinda cool. Feels like your really there. The picture is clear and sharp as can be. Maybe I could see Tony Romo throw more touchdowns this way. Will Pat Robertson look better on one of those televisions?

Is the BGCT in an analog world, with digital creeping up quickly? Maybe so. The old way of doing things just doesn’t seem to work. Many students and young pastors  don’t have any desire whatever to travel to a convention and stare at the back of bold people, look over a sea of gray heads and bump into pot bellied pastors who act like they own the joint.

Now put the convention on the internet and let them interact at their pace, then yeah, they may get involved. It may be a slow process, but it may be worth it. The future of the convention depends upon it’s willingness to change. Change or die. Hate to say it but that is the reality.

Change means a possible loss of control and normalcy. I am at the age where I am starting to get comfortable with my life and aren’t wanting lots of change in it. But at the same time I must change in order to move forward. If I am gonna get better at golf, I gotta change the old way of doing things.

If the convention wants to have relevance and to be in touch, then it has to change. A call center aint it folks. It was a decent idea, but it has flopped.  Having annual conventions in one local is a thing of the past and is too costly.  Don’t get me wrong I enjoy going to the convention each year. It is costing me more and more to do so. As a pastor of a small church, of which the vast majority of our churches are, it is getting harder and harder for me to travel to the convention. Many pastors are expressing the same difficulty. Many are bi-vocational and can’t afford to take off work. So change is in order, the sooner the better.

I think the convention can still have relevance. It just needs to reinvent itself. It is a dinosaur that must change or fade away into the past. Please understand I love the BGCT (no I don’t want a job!) and it’s glorious history. Let’s not throw that away, let’s build for the future.

It’s just my opinion.

To Have the BGCT or Not Have the BGCT?

Sometimes we want things both ways. It is kinda like the friend of mine who wanted the Cowboys to go to the Super Bowl recently, but then he didn’t. He was afraid they would go all the way and then lose. He wanted it both ways.

As an American Baptist pastor in North Dakota, we ran into this dichotomy of autonomy of the local church versus the “higher ups” telling us what to do. Way back when Baptist work first begun in the Dakotas, they set up  percentage giving amounts that was expected from each region. And it remained the same for many, many years. The population in the Dakotas has been in decline ever since.

So the region was at the place where they just couldn’t afford the percentage amount that was expected from them. I was part of the executive board for the region when they decided to meet with the “higher ups” about changing the percentage to a more managable level for the region. They refused to budge and we said that was not satisfactory. So we decided to escrow our giving until that changed it. I can still remember the “higher up” saying “That is my salary your messing with!”. It was our livelihood they were messing with too. I reminded him of the principle of autonomy of the local church. To which he seemed to scoff. He had come to the place of thinking he was “over” us.

Because we withheld our moneys to the national office we became persona non grata. They called us the “bad boys of the Dakotas”.  They wanted it both ways.

Having said all that, the BGCT is an animal that must be kept in check.   They don’t own us and we don’t own them per se.  We don’t want top down from them. We don’t want them or any other group telling us how we are to think or otherwise. 

There is a scary thing going on in our world with some ministers who are dangerous to our churches. And they jump from church to church and no one knows how dangerous they are.  Some say it is the BGCT’s fault for having not “filtered” this nasty stuff out. But doesn’t the burden fall primarily on the autonomous church?  Does not the church call previous churches and find out why the dude was only there a short time? If the minister is guilty, then the church should  report it to police and then they will have a permanent file on the crime. Churches need to stop being wimpy in reporting sexual crimes.

But then what if the minister is in a situation where the criminal is the church member who falsely accuses the minister? We live in a world now, when a church member could easily ruin a minister just because they have an axe to grind. I was once in a church where a church member spread false rumors that I misused church funds. It was totally false and this member still resides at that church and is very active in that church. He was never called on the carpet for his false rumor. It could have very easily ruined my career.

If we want the BGCT to be the entity to deal with stuff of this nature, then how do we know that is the best way? It could place the BGCT in a situation where they could be sued for accepting false reports. Just something to think about. The primary responsiblity still falls on the local church. They can call the previous church where the minister was at last, and ask hard questions. They could call people in that community who may give a more honest answer.

Anyway we can’t have it both ways. Can’t blame the BGCT for what is primarily the churches responsibilty.

Yes, there should be a way or place to report such crimes. Could be the local police is the best.

It’s just my opinion.

Congrats to Randell Everett

No sooner has the ink dried on the announcement that we have a new leader in the BGCT that some throw mud on the guy. I really feel for him. No matter who was elected to replace Dr. Wade, some are gonna complain and whine. My heart goes out to Randell Everett.

More importantly my prayers go out to Randell Everett. His job will not be an easy one. He will have the dubious job of trying to herd cats! And the cats are already showing their claws. They are hissing at the guy from a distance and they don’t even know him. They don’t even know why they “hate” the guy.

Everett leads a Texas Baptist convention that is in decline. The reasons are varied and complicated. Some of it may be the changing tide throughout the country by many who are anti-establishment religion.  There is an overall anti-establishment mentality in our country and the BGCT is caught up in the middle of it.

My prayer is that Randell will be open to trying some new and innovative ways to “expand” the reach of the BGCT.  The convention needs to find a way to connect to all Texas Baptist, not just the old grey heads and pastors. The convention needs to “remodel” itself. The old way of relating to churches needs to change. Churches, much like individuals are distrusting of the “institutional” aspect of the BGCT.

Now it would be real easy to find fault and offer criticism of the BGCT or we can offer solutions and suggestions for improving things. Kinda like a pastor coming into a new church, people are full of complaints about the church, but sometimes don’t offer solutions. It is when we start talking about solutions and ideas addressing the problems, then we can move forward.

Dr. Everett, ya got my prayers and support. Leading this old bunch of trail hands aint gonna be easy, but if you will lead and listen we are gonna be the best drovers you ever saw. Oh, we will complain about the “cooking” and the lack of “meat” in the beans. As the new trail boss, we are open and willing to give you the fair shake we each would want. So let’s stampede ahead for the Glory of the Kingdom of God!!

It’s just my opinion.

Can Baptist Churches Survive?

As I look at the fog outside my office window, I am reminded that much like the fog outside, there is one in the air of Baptist denominational life today. It seems that I am hearing more and more that denominational (institutional) religion is crashing. Surveys come out that continue to show a decline in overall attendance.

I know here in my own Association the numbers are not “exciting”. Most of the churches are struggling to keep their heads above the water.  Some are having to go to bi-vocational pastors. Some are cutting budgets and wondering how they are gonna pay the sky rocketing utility bills. 

In the middle of all the fog are some churches that are reaching the lost. They garner much criticism from the churches that aren’t growing.  Could it be pure jealousy at work?

These churches that are reaching the lost are for the most part churches that are not your “mom and dad’s” church. They are outside the norm and baptizing people left and right. Some of them are “Cowboy” churches. Some say they are only targeting “cowboys” and that isn’t right. My wife and I went to a “cowboy church school” in Waco and learned that most of those who do attend cowboy churches aren’t even typical cowboys. Most don’t wear cowboy hats or boots. Most are people who are fed up with the traditional church and looking to be accepted for who they are and not what people “expect” them to be.

Folks let’s face up to the facts. The traditional (institutional) church is on the decline. Yeah,there are some that are growing, but they are outside the norm.  The ones who seem to be on the increase are these churches that are doing things that are very different and are reaching many who haven’t attended churches for years and years. Some may say it is just a passing fad. Maybe, maybe not.

And the same could be said of the Baptist denomination, in particular the BGCT. I wonder if it will continue to be relevant. Can it remain vital to churches, or does it just need to get out of the way? In the Midland/ Odessa area they have changed the model from an associational form to networking. So the churches are networking together for the kingdom.

Is a new model in order? I think so. The old “car” just aint cutting it anymore. It is cool to look at, but it aint got all the bells and stuff of the newer cars. The point is that the convention and churches are in dire need of changes. Change is a dirty word for most. The only ones who likes change are babies. It is scary to think that all that I have learned at seminary don’t mean squat today. All the “methods” of outreach don’t work as well as they used to. My nature is to fall back on what I am familiar with and those things aren’t working now.

So I am researching and praying for new models of sharing the “old, old story of Jesus and His love”. It may mean all that is of comfort for me and mine, to be shaken to it’s very core.  It may mean stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things radically different. Lord help us to listen to you and put tradition on the back burner long enough to think differently for Your kingdoms sake.

It is just my opinion.

Baptist Namecalling

I have recently posted some comments on another blog that has been used as fodder to imply that A: I am a lukewarm Christian or B: not a Christian at all.  And these are done by people who have never met me or know me at all. They are just judging  based on a few comments I made.

Let me give a brief history of where I have been and where I am now as a Christian in general and as a Baptist in particular. I got saved in the summer of 1978 at a Baptist camp. I knelt in a dusty west Texas field and asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. If some need a specific date so as to “affirm” that it really happened it was in July.

I was then baptized the following Sunday at a very conservative church pastored by Stan Coffey. This is the same dude who spearheaded the start of the  Southern Baptist of Texas Convention.  I attended this church for several years.  The year after I accepted Christ I felt called into the ministry. At that time I visited with the current pastor of the same church Dr. David Walker (pastor of controversial church in San Antonio) and asked where I should go to school. He recommended Wayland or Hardin-Simmons. I didn’t know which to attend so applied at both schools and decided to go to whichever one answered first. Never heard from Wayland.

While a student at HSU, I attended Elmcrest Baptist, a very conservative church. It was while there that I heard some of the political rhetoric of many of the conservative giants of the day, notably, Adrian Rogers. Through the guest preachers and the pastor I was convinced that SWBTS was a horrible place and full of rank “liberals”. They said that the school didn’t teach the Bible and supported abortion on demand.

While a ministerial student at HSU I was required to go on a “field” trip to SWBTS with a ministerial class. I dreaded it and felt awkward about going. Upon arriving on campus I immediately fell in love with it and the professors. I guess all the “liberal” guys were in hiding. 

I enrolled there after graduation and absolutely enjoyed it. They challenged me deeply about my views on many issues. SWBTS was not an extension of a Sunday School class. We were taught to research and study ALL of the scriptures, not just select passages to bolster viewpoints. Up until then all of my views about God etc, could allegorically fit into a nice neat shoebox if you will. It was while at SWBTS that “liberal” bastion of the day, that I took all my preconcieved views and studied them. Some I have held onto, some I have changed and some I am still struggling with.

After graduation I went to California and served in several churches. All of them conservative. I was still studying God’s word and deciding on my views of particular issues of the day. At the time I was not ordained, only licensed. I sought out ordination at the current church and noticed that I was getting passed over. I then found out that I was blackballed bythe association because I dared to believe that God calls women into the ministry. I couldn’t get ordained. Should I compromise on my study of the Scripture in order to get ordained?

So after much prayer and heartache and being labeled a liberal, we looked into other routes. I still believed the Bible from cover to cover, I held to the Scriptural view that the Bible was inspired. I did not use the word inerrant,  even the Bible does not use that word to describe itself. I believe God used the dynamic of each individual writer and thier personality shines through in each book.

So my wife and I switched to American Baptist Church, USA. I loved it and enjoyed being with them for almost 12 years. The interesting thing is that 85% of the churches in the ABCUSA are conservative. Don’t support abortion or homosexuality. Churches on the east side of the Mississippi are generally more liberal in theology. So most of the churches in California were not much different than SBC, just that they didn’t have a problem with following the Scriptures when it came to women in ministry.

From California we moved to North Dakota where I pastored until I left due to pain from an auto accident and moved back to Texas.  I did attend one ABCUSA national “convention” and was very disappointed. The homosexual issue was front and center at that particular convention. I saw just how liberal some of the key upper echelon leaders could be. I was proud to be ABCUSA but at times it was not conservative enough for me. I was a card carrying member of the American Baptist Evangelicals, a more conservative element within the ABCUSA.

Coming back to Texas the BGCT and I were a perfect fit. I still feel strongly about the BGCT and support it wholeheartedly. I disagreed with the SBC and it’s stance on the BFM 2000. I support the BFM 1963, but will not sign it or any other “theological” treatise.

I don’t support homosexuality, but will reach out to them. I don’t support abortion but will still reach out to those who have had an abortion. Does that make me a liberal? I don’t think so.

I am socially conservative and Biblically conservative. I do not agree with much of the SBC. But then they don’t speak for me.  I am strong on separtation of church and state. I support the basic Baptist heritage tenents of old. Salvation is in Christ only. Baptism doesn’t save, but do so out of obedience to Christ command.

I don’t like Baptist namecalling. I have been labeled all kinds of things. Some have called me liberal because I will not use the unbiblical term inerrant. Some have called me liberal cause I believe God can call whomever He wants to. How dare we tell Him whom He can and can’t use. Afterall the first evangelist/ Preachers after the resurrection are women.

So to those who like to throw out names. I am a bit wacky. I don’t fit neatly into any molds out there. I am still a work in progress. I preach God’s word each and every Sunday.  Am still studying tough issues and don’t claim to have all the answers.

His Servant

Baptist and Politics

Ah, the political season is in full swing. Actually it has been in full swing for a while now. I don’t know about you but I am fatigued by it already. It is already starting to spill over into the church.

Just this Sunday I had at lady at one of our nursing home ministries hand me a copy of some political comments about a particular candidate that she felt passionate about.  It was an editorial slamming a candidate. I took it not knowing what it was, she did not say what it was she was handing me. I read some of it and immediately chose not to comment on it. I stuffed it in my pocket, just to be polite. 

It is inappropriate to bring politics like that in church. But this was not a church per se. So I did not say anything. If they were brought to my church, I would have said as nicely as possible that it was not appropriate to bring that to church.  I pray good common sense will be the rule of the day in this political season.

I personally don’t care what side of the political aisle one is on, don’t bring it to church. It is a distraction from the Gospel and worship. All it will do is cause hard feelings and heartache on Sunday morning. It will lead to heated discussions and much political fighting.

Once a very good friend of mine endorsed a candidate from the pulpit. I told him he was wrong for doing so. He felt it was his right and duty to do so. I asked if it would be alright for someone to endorse a candidate he was opposed to, he said that would be wrong. But he just couldn’t see the fallicy of his argument.

In this political season we must be careful of allowing politics to dominate our churches. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised that it is the rabbit chased in many  Sunday School classes. I will personally not allow it in my Sunday School class. Discussing ethical and moral issues is fine and dandy, but talk about political candidates as such is wrong.

It seems of late that the argument is that if you are a “good Christian” you should vote for so and so of such and such political party. That is nothing short of hogwash. I have met very devoted Christians from all political parties. It is not my place to judge thier Christianity based on the political party they are a part of. Shame on us for placing secular politics in spiritual settings.

Vote your conscience, vote with conviction, but leave it out of the church.

To Bless or Curse, Judge or Not

It is real easy via a blog or through e-mail to judge people. Words can be thrown around with the greatest of ease and we don’t see the results of them. It is kinda like the drive by shooters, they shoot and run. Those who get hit by the shooting happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So with drive by writings, some get hurt by the words.

Remember when we were kids and they said “Sticks and stone may  break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” They were wrong, words do hurt. They sting and can last a lifetime.  I can still vividly remember name calling at school. Being a small, skinny kid I got all the skinny jokes. Kids would come up to me and tell me skinny jokes just to see me cry. They would then say, “We were just kidding.” But I don’t think they were laughing with me, cause I wasn’t laughing. I was hurting on the inside.

As a pastor I have heard some of the most hurtful and painful things said to me and my family over the years.  I can take some of it, but say bad things about my family, that is hitting below the belt.  It hurts when people judge when they don’t know the full story or don’t care to hear the full story. It is almost like no matter what you say, they won’t hear it and continue to judge you.

Because I have experienced the pain of false accusations and could not defend myself, I understand the pain that Dr.Wade and others are going through. I am not saying he did or didn’t do everything right. I am not going to judge him. I want to treat him as Christ wants us to treat each other.

I guess that is why I don’t like the comments that David Montoya and others are saying about Dr. Wade.  They have a right to criticize and all. But the name calling is over the top. That is not the heart of the Lord.  Some of them have placed themselves in the role of judge, jury and executioner.  Whatever happened to “do unto others?” Or do we just chuck that out the window cause we don’t like that verse.

On blogs we can be anonymous and say what we want. It is like wearing a mask and saying and doing what we want. But God knows and it must break His heart. He knows the pain we have caused by our words. Judging is best left in the hands of the ultimate Judge.

Romans 12:14 says:

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not.”

We are to wish the best in those whom we may not agree with or even like.  To bless someone is to desire the best in them. To curse them is to wish for thier demise, to want the worst to happen to them.  I have to admit that in the past when someone said or did ugly things to me and my family, I wanted God to smack them or something. I would wish the worst for them. That they would lose their job or home burn down etc. I was cursing them and not blessing them.

But God wants us to bless those we disagree with. Including our enemies.  It runs contrary to our nature, but we are to take on Christ and His nature and caste ours aside.

What did the NBC accomplish?

From what I have read on blogs and articles, the New Baptist Covenant was a “success”. It appears that for the most part the speakers and preachers etc. stayed away from partisan politics. For that I give them a heartly amen.

If the overall goal was to show unity among Baptist, then I think they accomplished that. If they wanted the press to pick up on that and say how wonderful we Baptist are then that appears to have been a failure. It was mostly ignored by the mainstream press. I wouldn’t be surprised if they yawned throughout the event. Not that I am saying that it was boring (at least not from what I am hearing), but that the mainstream press didn’t get any “fireworks” to write about. They probably back home saying what a waste of time.

But was the event for us Baptist a waste of time? Only as we go forward will we be able to tell. A lot of money was spent on this event. Don’t know how or by whom it was paid. Maybe some of them rich politicians kicked in, not. 

As I have written before, the whole idea of this meeting was a great one. I applauded it from the beginning. I think it would have been better recieved and attended had the politicians stayed home. Kinda like one of my deacons, who always says, “All politicians are corrupt.” I don’t know if he is right or not, but that is one of the views from the pews. And I suspect he is not alone in his view. So just by having politicians there, tainted the event.

I have read the responses of those who have tried to justify the preponderance of the majority of the “big” speakers being Democrats and all. But in the end it just doesn’t wash. Anymore than it would if we had a big event with some of the predominate keynote speakers being say: Trent Lott,George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Draper, Rick Warren, Rush Limbaugh, Franklin Graham, etc. They cries from many would be similar to what I have been hearing and reading. (I am not a fan of all of the above speakers by the way.)

I did like some of the speakers at the NBC, but the politicians I didn’t care for, no matter which side of the aisle they were on. I thought true Baptist were strong on seperation of church and state? Or did we get selective amnesia on that issue? Especially in an election year the issue should have been front and center.

I would like to see another NBC type meeting held. I really think I might be interested in attending. That is if they ban the politicians from the meeting. Almost without exception the guys I knew who were in the slightest interested in the NBC were repelled by the presence of politicians. Now they never told me which side of the aisle they were on, and I don’t care, they just didn’t like the political figures there.

So guys catch a clue on this one. It could have been so much better.

That’s my opinion.

Reflections on the NBC

Been reading some of the blogs about the New Baptist Covenant. Sounds like it is well attended mainly because of the close proximity of the National Baptist Convention. Good timing and planning on Carter’s part. It appears if you take that away, then the numbers would drop.

But don’t get me wrong numbers don’t mean anything these days. We live in a different world, where people can access events and information via the internet. Just like I am doing today.

Sounds like some of the ”preaching” are really speeches with God brought into the picture, not that there is much wrong with that. I think many do that no matter what theological or political pursuasion they may be.  I guess I am not happy when people seem to “speak” for God on issues of which the Bible does not address. And during political seasons this gets ratched up several notches.

In some ways I think I might have enjoyed the NBC. But then again there may have been times when I would have gotten irrirated with some speakers and thier liberal bent. I have been to CBF meetings and really enjoyed them. Don’t always agree with the speakers, but enjoyed the events none the less. The only time I was at a Baptist meeting and found it truly distasteful, was at an ABCUSA bi-annual in Des Moines, Iowa and the homosexual issue was front and center. It overshadowed everything else that was going on and made many upset.

Anytime Baptist get together, there will always be those whom we may disagree. But when we can unite around Christ, evangelism and missions, then His name is lifted high. But at the same time when you put politicians in the room, the temperature will naturally change. If the NBC stays away from political pot shots and agendas, then I will give them much credit. Time will tell.

It’s just my opinion.