The Times They are a Changing

When I graduated from college, I thought I had all the answers and was ready to take on the world with my knowledge. Have since realized I don’t know much at all.

I can remember in Seminary when tough questions were asked of deeply held Baptist beliefs. When students questioned the baptism requirement for church membership, the professor got really upset. Why it is what it is, seemed to be his answer. 

We Baptist hold onto traditional belief systems and don’t really know why. We continue to do things the way we do them because that is what we have been told is the way to do things. For example more and more churches are deciding to do away with Sunday Evening worship. Baptist traditionalist throw a fit about that one. Cold hard reality is that the only ones who consistently attend Sunday Eveing worship are the old gray heads who have grown up going to church Sunday evening.

But Sunday Evening worship is not the only dinosaur of old, that is being guestioned. Anybody wonder why we require ney demand a person be baptized in order to join a Baptist church? Isn’t the first requirement acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior? Can anyone conclusively show that church membership is a Biblical mandate?

Don’t misunderstand, our church does all of the above. We have made exceptions on the issue of Baptism. They don’t have to be baptized in a Baptist Church in order for it to be a legitmate baptism. As long as they are an immersed believer in Christ, then we will accept that baptism. Each baptism is considered and prayed over.

Some churches do not have memberships per se. That presents a problem for many Baptist churches. Some members have left the church and are attending a church that does not require membership. So that name remains on another churches roll forever or until they die or request name be removed. Why do we continue to keep names on the roll, when everybody says, they don’t come anymore and will probably never come again? Dare try to remove those names and holy heck breaks lose.

Folks the times they are a changing!! The old way of doing things is being questioned.  The old guard in our churches don’t like it and in some cases will go down with the ship rather than give up on what doesn’t work anymore.

Even how we do the BGCT convention is up for grabs. Many are wondering if the old ways don’t work anymore. Change within the BGCT is hard and painful. But until and unless the convention changes with the times, it too could sink and become irrelevant.

I don’t have all of the answers. But we gotta find new ways of functioning as a convention that is more relevant than it is now. I love the BGCT and want to see it go forward.  Admit mistakes, learn from them and do things differently, may be a way forward. Carping on the past will only bog us down and slow down God’s work.  God is at work. Find God’s will and go forward.

Say it isn’t so Dr. Lowrie !!

On another blog was pasted a direct quote from a letter from Dr. Lowrie to another blogger. It has since been taken down and for good reason. If the quote from Dr. Lowrie is a direct quote it is a very hurtful letter.

The quote was like fuel to the fire regarding the whole Valleygate issue. In the quote, Dr. Lowrie all but says the Wade administration virtually covered up the whole Valleygate issue.  That they mishandled the whole thing and seemingly did so on purpose. Can’t quote it directly since the blogger has taken it down.

If that quote was correct. And I am inclined to believe it was not correct and was misquoted or taken completely out of context. Then Dr.Lowrie has accused the Wade admininstration and current staff of directly covering up. If that is the case then he has not acted presidential. When I saw the removed post of Dr. Lowrie, my first response was that the letter didn’t have the tone and demeanor that I have read on his own blog. It just didn’t seem to have come from him.

No one and not including that blogger of old, has  come up with any direct evidence that a cover up ever occurred. If Dr. Lowrie truly believes one did occur, it is incumbent upon him to show such evidence or to not perpetuate the rumor and gossip of the last few years. It is not very presidential to write such a letter to a dieing ember and flame it up.

So say it isn’t so Dr. Lowrie!! If the letter is for real, shame, shame, shame. It may cause more harm than good. I am still inclined to think the reciept of the letter has blown his comments out of proportion, as said blogger is known to do.

New Ventures, Same Criticism

With any new venture there will be criticism. Admittedly I was and am still a little skeptical of the New Baptist Covenant. But as I read more about the recent events, I am softening up on my deep criticisms of it. Kinda like a new horse, ya just don’t know if it is gonna be a good rider or not. But you try it out anyway.

When the subject of evangelism comes up the different opinions fly. Understandably people can and do have strong views on how we reach people for Christ. But reach them we must. We must do an effective job of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Texas Hope 2010 is a start in the right direction. It is not the only evangelism tool out there, but it is a way nonetheless. I have been impressed with it’s emphasis on relational evangelism. I have always felt that one on one is the best and most effective way to reach people for His Kingdom.

Understandably some will not support anything that comes from the BGCT. That is their choice. Many, many churches are supporting the evangelism efforts being provided for churches to use. It is not THE tool, but a tool. It is meant to be taken and adapted to each church situation. The days of one size fits all just doesn’t but it anymore.

I am on the planning committee here in Abilene for the upcoming Engage Evangelism conference.  The great thing about this is that the Evangelism department came and asked how we wanted to format it and who to invite to come and speak. They didn’t come in and say, “Here is what we are gonna do”. They let the committee plan everything.

As a bi-vocational pastor, I strongly encouraged that we make sure the event is compatable for all pastors. Too many events are designed with the full-time pastor in mind. More and more churches are becoming bi-vocational. We bi-vo guys are not the outcast of the convention. We are the original pastors. Remember back in the beginnings of Baptist work in Texas, all of the pastors were bi-vocational.

Anyway I digress, the point is the BGCT is listening to us and want to hear from us.  The input of churches and pastors is very important to them. The evangelism guy from the BGCT kept saying over and over again, “What do you want to do?”

But still there are the critics out there. They don’t make monuments to negative people. Those kind only find fault and reasons for not doing something. Every church has those kind of  people and there are pastors (SS) who can’t find anything positive whatever to say about the BGCT. As the old saying goes: “Lead, follow or get out of the way”.

As to the personal criticism, it is as water running off of a ducks back.

Now that is out of Line!!

I understand Montoya is hurt,but to attack all of those who work within the BGCT is beyond belief!! He says that the majority of those who work for the BGCT are just basicly lazy people who think working for the BGCT is a calling.

How dare he question God’s calling on a person’s life. It is no different than questioning the calling of females to the ministry. I do not and have not ever questioned his calling. Who put him in the place to determine and validate or invalidate anothers calling from God?

It is a sad picture I have in my mind of Montoya. He figuratively stands outside of the BGCT building throwing rocks at it. He is angry and wants everyone to know. He will not be ignored. He reminds me of the character in the movie “Fatal Attraction” who will not be denied and does everything possible to get attention.

I will from here on out not mention his name. I will not give him what he wants. He will be an anonymous letter no one wants to read.

As for the Texas Hope 2010,I am excited about the real possiblities of that process being used to reach many for Christ. It is not a program as such, but an organized effort to reach as many as possible.  It will have some flaws in it, nothing is ever perfect in its excution or delivery. But if His Word is preached and made known, then God will bless it.

I will from henceforth pray daily for those who work within the BGCT. Over the years I have found that all of the people I have met who work for the BGCT to be Godly people,true and genuine servants of Christ.

Just For the Record

Just for the record, I never knew of Montoya’s past until he discussed it on his blog. Personally I don’t really care about his past. God has forgiven and forgotten and so do I.

The same is true of the Valleygate stuff. God has forgiven and forgotten and so will I.

Turn out the Lights, the Parties Over!!

It appears Montoya and his followers are having little or no influence on pushing the Valleygate agenda. Why his boy Lowrie has pushed him into a back room and ignored him.

It was obvious from the get go, that Montoya wanted Lowrie as President so that he could have his ear on the Valleygate issue and some other non-issues. He championed and applauded Lowrie’s work until yesterday. He now feels abandoned and let down, cause Lowrie admitted that he has not done anything regarding Valleygate.

So now Montoya is disillusioned by the whole thing. He thought he was in Lowrie’s back pocket as it were. Turns out Lowrie doesn’t cow-tow to anyone much less to the likes of Montoya. I am sure he likes Montoya but feels like most of us, tired of his shrill talk of events from the past that have long since been buried.

So now Montoya and a handful have decided to withhold funds to the BGCT and not turn in ACP reports, that part really hurts, NOT. Even if all the churches don’t turn in ACP reports, big deal.  Can’t get what he wants so he pouts and throws a fit and calls for a boycott. Kinda like the war no body shows up for.

Boycotts always have consequences, usually unintended consequences. A monetary boycott of the BGCT has to be done by churches. Churches that are congregational rule, will have to vote on this matter and consider the possibility that many entities could be hurt by such boycotts. Montoya will not get what he wants. His church just voted to increase giving to the BGCT. Will they then turn around and not send money at all? Just because he says so.

So it appears the lights are growing dull and dim on the Montoya party. His cries are being ignored and people are moving on. They have better things to concern themselves with. Such as reaching a lost world for Christ. They are more concerned about the children in foster care who need to be loved. They are more concerned about college students at our universities getting a good quality education, while growing in Christ. The list of greater concerns go on and on.

So build a bridge and get over it!!

Hey Montoya

Here is a direct quote from your recent post:
“If it will not get you into trouble with your church and if you have a calling rather than a career to protect, this blog invites you to join us in this campaign to force change in the BGCT by listing your name as one who will not go to the convention this year and will not turn in your ACP.”

I notice you haven’t got any responses. HMMM. Could be aint nobody listening to you.

Well, There ya go Again!!

In the words of Ronald Reagan, “Well, there ya go again!” Montoya has posted the giving numbers within the BGCT and has cried doom and gloom. It almost comes across as if he is happy to see low numbers. When you read his blog, there is a little image of Montoya in the far right corner of your computer screen of him looking like Golum wringing his hands and saying, “Well, my precious, it will all be mine soon”.

So the numbers are down. So is giving to every other non-profit organization in America. Giving is down in many of your churches. Even here in the belt buckle of the Bible belt, giving is down.

But Montoya says it has been in decline since the Wade years. It was in decline before that too. All denominations have been hurting over the years. With the younger crowd not being as in tune with denominations as other generations, it stands to reason that it would financially impact all of them.

Of course research indicates that the largest religious bodies that are having growth spurts financially are:  Mormons (tithing is mandatory), Assembly of God, Some Pentecostal groups, Muslim and Islam. Just to name a few. Overall giving in 2008 to charities was down by 5.7%. So it stand to reason that all charities, religious and otherwise would be impacted by this same trend.

So to make a correlation, as Montoya does, that low giving equates to distrust yada, yada, yada. That song don’t play anymore!!

So what is his solution to this problem? Don’t give. Pull back on your giving to the BGCT. He is encouraging churches not to give. So is his church gonna decide not to increase it’s giving as was previously stated? Will they not give at all? 

I can’t get my way, so I’m just gonna take my marbles and go eslewhere!!! Yall won’t listen to me, so I’m gonna pout and keep the money. I’m not gonna go to convention and be heard, so I will stay home and let my “spies” report back what is actually going on.  This is what Montoya suggest. This is where I yawn real good.

Instead I strongly encourage two things: Give and attend. Give more to the BGCT, give cause it is your calling. Give cause it is the right thing to do. To hold back is to hurt. Boycotting always has unintended consequences. The ones who are hurt by choosing not to give are enumerable.

And then attend the BGCT convention in Houston. Pack the place out. I realize it is costly to go. But dang, I know guys who spend more on a hunting trip!! I know it is a long way to go, go cause lost souls need us to go. Go cause Satan wants us to be apathetic. Go and vote. Go and see God touch your heart and move you to recommitting to His cause.

Or you could do the easy thing, don’t give and don’t attend. Anyone can do that.

Conviction over Politics

Micheal Cox, music professor at SWBTS, has chosen to resign as professor in order to stay on at Broadway Baptist Church in Ft.Worth as part-time music leader. Ministry over politics, conviction over politics, wow!!

The whole event stems from Broadway being booted from the SBC for supposely holding pro-homosexual views.  SWBTS requires professors to be members of SBC churches, so then Cox had to make a choice. Broadway or SWBTS. For him the choice was Broadway.

Obviously Cox has taken a huge cut in pay to stand up for his convictions. I suspect some at SWBTS are happy to let the door hit him on the butt on the way out. As a matter of fact they dropped his biography off of the SWBTS website faster than you can say “jumping jehosephat”.

From what I have read of the whole Broadway flap, there has not been any real evidence brought out that they endorse the homosexual lifestyle per se, so much as they minister to the gay lifestyle. Which in SBC circles is tantamount to approving the gay lifestyle. They cried foul when some gays were serving on the churches committees. Sinners on committees on my!

Let’s see, are all the committee members in our respective churches non-sinners? Hmmm, probably not. They may be saved sinners, still struggling with sin. But that does not disqualify them from serving. Now don’t misunderstand me, if they are practicing sinners, refusing to acknowledge the sin and in essence say it is ok, that is different.

I have a guy who is working with our youth who admits to struggling with cigarette smoking. He has owned up to it and is striving to quit. He has had a very hard time with it for years. He is dropping the number of  cigarettes per day and will eventually with God’s help drop the habit. In the meantime he will continue to serve.

To Micheal Cox, he gets my applause for standing for conviction over politics of perfection and creedalism. The SBC is becoming more and more narrow in it’s judgementalism.  Gee, do all the members of the SBC executive board claim sinless perfection? Probably not. I think we need an internal probe of each member to detect sin and to remove the offenders! NOT

Montoya, the Sermon Judge

The campaign push for David Lowrie goes nasty. Supposedly Montoya has a copy of Currie’s “candidate” for BGCT President. Now understand, as of this writing we only have one candidate for president.  But nonetheless, Montoya finds this sermon and judges it inadequate.

I guess anyone can find a copy of  David Lowrie’s sermons and do the same with it.  Can you just imagine how Montoya would react to that? Why he would burst his Karate belt right off of his large girth. He would break ice blocks to control his anger. A Bible would go flying through a window in his office.

The dude has not officially been announced as a candidate and yet Montoya is out for blood. Let the dirt digging begin. Has he now sunk so low as to become as bad as the secular political machines we have seen over the years? Will operatives be placed in the guys church to find dirt on him? Will there be people digging in the guys trash looking for beer cans and cigars? A guy in a three piece suit might show up at his church offering money to church members for rumors and gossip.

Will Montoya have goons plant microphones in his office, such as occurred to Dr. Winfred Moore back in the late ’70’s. Hidden cameras might be placed in the guys home. The undercover work would  remind us of “Mission Impossible”.

I wonder, oh, I wonder if I person could get a hold of one of Montoya’s sermons. Nevermind.