NBC not political, yeah right!

No sooner had the NBC event started that they “invited” two presidential candidates to address the event. Gee, don’t I remember that when the SBC or any other Baptist group meets and a political figure addresses it, then it is horrible. I distinctly remember reading in the past of such occassions and the cries from many that it is a violation of seperation of church and state. I haven’t heard any similar cries regarding last nights violation.

To say the NBC is not political is akin to our little church inviting politicians running for local office to come and have church with us. And then say we aren’t into politics. We may not endorse a candidate but you know politics will come up if the opportunity arises. If so and so Baptist church has some one sided politicians there, the cries of partisanship would fill the air. And rightly so.

So the NBC is partisan. Come on yall admit it. Don’t do a little dance around the political fire and sing kum by ya and tell us it aint so.  We aren’t that dumb. I suspect if you did a survey of what political persuasion the majority of the people in attendance were, you would find out just how partisan it really is.

So why not try this NBC gig again and leave out the politicians? Or is it too tainted with politics now to be seen in a non-partisan light? I would love to see the NBC succeed, it still may succeed.  Only if they have other meetings sans the politicians. Then I think they may gain more widespread acceptance. For the sake of the Kingdom I pray it succeeds.

It is just my opinion.

New Baptist Covenant

When I first heard about the New Baptist Covenant (NBC), I got excited. The idea of it was grand and wonderful. It has been a sad thing that Baptist have been divided for so long. Some have surmised that being divided is the Baptist way. But alas we are not the only ones. Just do research on any denomination and they too have divided.

As a matter of fact at one point in the early days of Baptist in Texas, there were five different state groups. They were divided over theology and geography. When the BGCT was formed it united several Baptist groups. As most know, it is has since divided again with a splinter group known as the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention (SBTC). This group was started over supposed theological issues.

So the idea of the NBC got me excited. What an awesome thing, to bring Baptist of all stripes together worshiping and fellowshiping. What a testimony to the world! No sooner had the idea been hatched that politics was brought into the mix. They said the political figures were invited to lend it creedance.

As I kept up to speed on the NBC, I began to notice more and more the political nature of this event. I looked at the keynote speaker line-up and noticed that most were from the left to far left leaning areas of Baptist life. Oh, sure there was a token speaker from the right, but no big names. I realize that some of the names from the right tend not to want to association with the “evil” Baptist from the left, but there are some who are middle to right who could be involved.

I applaud the fire, just don’t like the political wood that was used to light it. I would be just as unhappy if the event were strongly right side leaning. There are some groups in Texas that tend to lean right side politically at the Baptist meetings, and that does not make me happy either and I don’t attend.

So NBC nice try but no cigar.

Change in the BGCT

Several years ago I was in on some meetings related to the BGCT and the idea for some changes as to how things were being done. Most of it was eye opening as to how the convention has done things and how duplicious most of it was.  It just didn’t seem to function as well as it should.

Since that meeting I remember discussing with some people at an associational meeting the ideas for change. Talk about opening a can of worms! Some were just very upset about the notion of change. Some felt that if it aint broke don’t fix it mentality.  There were some who thought the kind of change was wrong.

In some sense the changes that were being dicussed really were radical changes. But change was necessary. Change is a painful thing.

I don’t like the changes that have come in my lifetime. I don’t like that my hair is not as plentiful as in the past. That my back and neck hurts more, and my eyesight aint any better. Dang it, my golf game seems to get worst each season.

I know change is not always what we want. It upsets the routine and pattern of our lives. It means we gotta adjust. I know here at my church, change is sometimes considered a dirty word. And for many within our convention, change is sometimes given some choice discriptive words to go with it. It is usually not spoken of with much joy and celebration.

But change we must. I know when I accepted Christ as my Savior, my life changed and has never been the same. If I don’t continue to change, then I am just stuck back there when I accepted Christ and am sticking drinking milk. We must move from the milk to the meat portion of our growth. Change can be a good thing.

Change happens whether we want it or not. It comes from behind and almost tackles us to the ground. Sometimes we don’t even see it coming. I didn’t wanna change from 8-track tapes to cassette. Just when I got used to that, then the CD thing came out. I fought that one for a long time. Now I don’t have anything to play my cassettes tapes on. I am thankful for the change from vhs to dvd. I really got tired of the vcr eating my vhs movies. Even now I am afraid to put a vhs into the vcr, it might not come back out.

So some change is good. Oil change is good. Changing our clothes is good. Changing from woodburning stove in church to central heat was great. As nostalgic as those days were, I will stick with central heat and air. Don’t wanna go back to those days.

The BGCT is in for more change. The way it was in the past just isn’t cutting it anymore. The young people see the BGCT as an “old” folks thing.  If they do show up at a convention, they feel out of place in a sea of grey hair.  The idea of having a big meeting in sometimes far off places, with hotel prices out of sight, food and gas out of reach and then to set and not see any or very few people in thier age range, is just not something they don’t want to spend their hard earned money on.

For many of our pastors, of whom the majority are pastoring small churches, they must make a decision about going to the convention or some other event. They may not have much money available to attend or not enough.

Change is in order. I have championed the need for some way to make the convention more accessable. Maybe having regional events, much like the evangelism events. We got all these wonderful baptist entities spread out all over the state, why not have meetings at them? Why not make the convention available via the internet and satellite?

We gotta think different and relevance at the same time. Most of the younger pastors coming up will probably not attend a convention. They don’t see the relevance of it. We may not think it right of them to think that way, but it is the new reality.

The new reality also consist of the questioning of conventional wisdom in sending money into an entity to send out missionaries, when the churches themselves are now going. The younger generation and some of the older are starting to wonder about sending all this money to an organization when some of that could be used at home.

One way or the other the BGCT must change in order to be relevant to all groups in our great state. There are too many lost souls at stake for us to maintain the status quo. Churches are having to rethink how they do things, and so too should the BGCT. Maybe more of the great listening sessions that occurred prior to looking for a new ED, is in order.

Dr. Randel Everett ED Nominee

I see where the Executive Committee of the BGCT is presenting a name for the new Executive Director of the convention. I don’t knowDr. Randel Everett. Never even heard his name before. So I have no opinion whatever regarding the guy.

But I do trust the committee. They have worked long, hard and prayed much for this decision.  Like a good committee I am sure they did the tough research and background studies on this man. They listened to people all over the state, so they didn’t make this decision without input.  They are to be greatly commended.

And then there is David Montoya. The dude didn’t even let the “ink” dry on the report and he pulled his “karate chop” weapons out on the guy. He has become the judge, jury and executioner for Dr. Everett.  Unless Montoya gets who he wants in place as the ED, then he will not be satisfied. He has basicly tried to ruin and destroy Dr. Charles Wade and now he is out to do the same for the next guy.

I have no doubt that Montoya loves the BGCT very much and cares for its future. He truly desires that we be the best convention we can be. He wants us to have someone in place that can lead us in new directions. I too desire the same. I want so much for the convention to think in new ways and strive to be the best for God’s glory.

I am willing to give the new guy a shake. ( I know he hasn’t been voted in yet.) He deserves our love and support just as much as new pastor deserves the chance to make an impact. But when the “knives” are drawn out swinging it makes it much harder to move forward.  My prayer is that we will give the guy a fighting chance to turn the convention around.

David Montoya reminds me of the dudes that were standing around watching Nehemiah build the wall and found fault with every move.  Montoya will find something out of sorts at every corner. He will find flaws in the most beautiful paintings at the museum and gladly point it out.

I prefer to bring out the best in people. To allow God to work in them and see them blossom into the person God has in mind. Our God is an awesome God!! He sees the potential in each one of us. He is the God of second, third and a multitude of chances. Sure Dr. Wade messed up, but so have I. But that does not give us the right to impugn and destroy a fellow brother in Christ, just because we felt “lied” to.

Dr. Everett, I don’t know you, but you know my Savior and have served Him gladly and that is good enough for me.  I will pray for God to give you wisdom as you consider this great opportunity to serve Him.

All are Welcome, Not!

It is in our human nature to judge people by appearance. When the person smells, or looks bad, we may put them into a particular category. We might not even want to be around them. We may even walk a distance around them.

 I remember a couple had come to church and sat in front of my wife and I. In a very short span of time, we couldn’t help but notice that they smelled really bad. I mean burn your eyes kinda bad. And we weren’t the only ones that noticed it. Soon several people around us were doing the sniffing routine trying to figure out where the nasty smell was coming from.

Folks it was bad, I mean really bad. What were we to do? I was on staff at the church and people were complaining about the awful smell.  But this couple was new to our church and had come to worship.  Should we turn them out? Should we shun them? What were we to do?

On any given Sunday in America, there are people just like the couple that came to our church, they may not “fit” into the typical church today. They may come and really be out of place. Socially they may be “backwards”. They may not have much money to put into the offering plate. They may not be able to dress as nice as the people setting near them. The car they drive leaks oil all over the place, the kids are not as well behaved as others are.

Used to be the typical church, particularly, the Baptist church, was the favored home for the down and out of society. That was the place for those who just didn’t have much and they congregated with others who were just like them. Over the last 40 or 50 years the typical Baptist church has become more affluent. People dress nicer and are able to give money to the church. Ironically, it was at the peak of the great depression that percentage giving to the church was at its highest. Maybe because the church was reaching out to the down and outers in greater numbers and people gave to the church knowing the money would go to worthy cause.

 Anyway, it just seems to me that the typical Baptist church has lost touch with it’s base, it original congregants, the ones who flocked to the church in great numbers, cause they knew they would be accepted for who they were.

I just can’t picture back in the ’30’s and ’40’s when my dad and his many siblings were going to church, that they wore much more than their cleanest overalls and dresses. They were never turned away cause they didn’t have nice clothes. I can remember my Grandmother telling how hard it was keep all eight kids setting still in church. I don’t think she was alone, cause all of her friends had a mess of kids too.

I suspect that the preacher had to preach over the noise of the children. There were probably kids getting up and down having to go to the bathroom (an outhouse?). Back in those days the floors were not carpeted and so each footstep was heard.

In the winter they probably wore winter coats in the pews just to stay warm. One potbellied stove was just enough to keep you from seeing your breath. Air conditioning, forget it! Hand held fans was the best you could do.  And it must have been really hot with all the people filling the pews up.

Now I get complaints about the temperature not being just right for worship. On the same Sunday I get complaints about being too hot and too cold at the same time in the same setting!! Can’t win in that department.

Children are just more noisy today than they were back in the day, or so it seems from the complaint department. They just don’t know how to set still and not make a single sound. Oh, we like children, just as long as they are silent and not seen wandering around the church unsupervised.

So we are basicly judgemental people. We judge those who aren’t like us. It seems that those who look, smell, dress and give like us are welcome in our churches. Wrong skin color, clothes, smell or lack of money, they may be ignored and basicly by default pushed out of our churches.

The young couple did eventually leave and go to another church.  Things then went back to “normal”.

BGCT Evangelism Conference

Have been reading about the BGCT sponsored evangelism event held last weekend. Sounds like it went well, program wise. But some are “complaining” about the lack of attendance. I understand that. I do the same when attendance at my church isn’t what I “expect” it to be. 

There have been many times when I have busted tail visiting people and making contacts only for them not to show up on Sunday.  Have done tons of “outreach” projects, contacting many people and still they are no shows. So in light of that, maybe I should just quit this gig and move on to something else. Afterall if God is in it, then the people will come, or so the thinking goes.

So if the numbers were as low as David Montoya posted on his unreliable blog, then  give up on the thing and move on.  Why bust tail and only 300 or 400 show up then it was a waste of time.

 Now I am being silly, would anyone cancel services on Sunday because “no one” showed up? No. Would any of us give up visiting and contacting potential prospects for our church if no one seemed to show up each week? No. And yet using the same analogy in regards the evangelism event, then some seem to imply we ought to do away with it.

It seems that those who are crying about the lack of attendance or success of the event are the ones who didn’t go (David Montoya) and claim it is a waste of time. Isn’t that the same line of thought that people use for not attending church? Ie: “The church is full of hypocrites, so I am not going.” “The attendance at the event was poor so I am not going.”

I think some “predetermined” that it would be a failure and so they stand back and pontificate about what a waste of money and resources.

It was not a failure, some 600 plus had registered. Dang, not bad for the first go round. Reports from those that attended are good. Sounds like Randles did an excellent job. But leave it to some naysayers to stand around and find fault just like those who found fault with Nehemiah.

I say to Jon Randles, keep up the good work. The stone throwers are fair weather fans anyway.

Opening Doors and Hearts

Been thinking about our churches and how well they do at reaching out to those who have nothing whatever to do with the church. In the area where I pastor, a lot of people have little or nothing to do with church. They in a blurred fashion know that the church is there. But kinda see them as “cute” little country churches and that is about it.

Even if they do happen to drop into a church, they are scared to death. They wonder if people will stare at them, whisper about them, make them set somewhere else or worst just ignore them. They wonder if they will know any of the songs, do you stand or what during Bible reading or prayer? Will my kids behave or will the church people turn and stare as if to say, “Children should be seen and not heard.”

I once heard a preacher say, “Crying children, like good intentions should be carried out immediately”.  I think my family would get the strong hint that children just weren’t part of God’s plan for worship, especially not to be a part of the pastor’s sermon.

How many times have we stared at people who come in late for church and watch them as they walk to their pew as if we are “helping”them. Me, it makes me want to get up and walk right back out and let them look at my behind all the way out the door!

Going back to church or attending for the first time, is a very scary prospect for most people. As you pull into the parking lot, you wonder, “Just what are they going to do to me.” One can be treated in one of two ways. 1. Being totally ignored. No ones speaks to you and acts as if you never even entered the building. or 2. Everyone is overly excited and hovering over you like a lion after a small dog.  They are trying to drag you to a Sunday School class full of people you don’t know and maybe even the wrong age.

It has been said that the average person will decide within 15 minutes of arriving at the church whether they will be back or not. So really one only have one chance to make a positive impression.

Now some may, say, “Hey they come to our place, they don’t like it, it is their tough luck.” Sorry that gets a huge game show buzzer sound. That attitude will only serve to kill the church and drive the lost and unchurched further into the abyss of seeing the church as full of hypocrites. And they would be right.

Maybe it would help if we saw people through the eyes of Jesus. It just might change our attitude towards those who come to worship with us. It might change how we treat them.

May we see with new eyes. Then we can see them as Jesus sees them. Hmm, seems I remember the Bible saying: “For God so loved the world…”. That includes the ones who smell bad, look ugly, don’t dress right, live on the wrong side of the proverbial tracks and have skin color that is different than well, mine, or yours.

Maybe that is why so many just drive by the churches and think, what a nice building, but it is not for me.

Lord, melt our hearts!!