Goodwill Baptists?

I have been reading some of the editorials of Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, on Ethics Daily. Here he speaks at a BCE Luncheon. He is very clear that he is not going to be nice anymore.

Isn’t is his comment about serpenthood amazing?  To me, this is classic Scripture twisting by leaving off the rest of that verse which Jesus states that we are to be as harmless as doves also.  I find his articles here about the upcoming New Baptist Covenant meeting in Atlanta very interesting.

“Baptists are more than Southern Baptists–who are more Southern than Baptist, more exclusive than inclusive, more negative than positive–yet Southern Baptists too often define what it means to be Baptist,” Parham, executive director of the Nashville-based BCE, told The Tennessean.

and he continues,

“Baptist has become a word that is synonymous with an anti-everything posture: anti-women, anti-public school, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, anti-Disney,” Parham said.

There doesn’t seem to be much goodwill among these Baptists for Southern Baptists. There already seems to be a problem in the group.

But it appears unlikely that the group, known as the New Baptist Covenant, will advocate for churches to become more welcoming of gay and lesbian worshipers, and it remains unknown whether the politically-oriented coalition will take a position in the social debate over same-sex marriage. Both Carter and Clinton have said they support civil unions for gay couples.

Also, let’s not forget that Carter and Clinton support abortion. I think our president Frank Page is wise to say he is all for unity, but, “The Bible is firmly against abortion, and we will not be part of a movement that affirms the right to kill a baby.” The organizers said it was not their intention to not invite Southern Baptists to this meeting but it seems to be a convenient omission from the guest list and speakers list. Knowing Clinton’s past history and Carter’s feelings towards the SBC, I question their motives.

 

Memories of Greensboro

I found this clip on Youtube.com. It is an interview of Wade Burleson at the Sheraton Downtown Greensboro by Micah Fries during last year’s Convention.  I find it interesting to listen to this interview now and compare it with events that have occurred over the last year as we prepare for San Antonio.  Micah Fries asks excellent questions and I urge you to listen to the entire interview. (more) 

Remember

I got somewhat emotional today in the morning service as we recognized our veterans. I was alright till I asked for a moment of silence to remember those who didn’t make it back and I remembered my Citadel classmate, Chad.

Well, there you go again, Mr. Carter

Let me warn you: this is a long post but I wanted to be fair to our former president, so I researched his definition of fundamentalist
so that we could have a fuller understanding of his worldview. I looked at various resources in my efforts to get a fuller meaning of his use of this word. This is very important to understand the context for the formation of the New Baptist Covenant. As I read these articles and interviews, I found a common theme emerging and it reminded me of the Carter-Reagan debates when after one of Carter’s rambling commentaries, Reagan just shook his head and said, “There you go again.”

Spiegel Interview with Jimmy Carter

I found this to be an interesting read this morning. Spiegel is a German magazine which interviewed Jimmy Carter back in August, 2006. It demostrates his feelings about fundamentalists.

SPIEGEL: One main points of your book is the rather strange coalition between Christian fundamentalists and the Republican Party. How can such a coalition of the pious lead to moral catastrophes like the Iraqi prison scandal in Abu Ghraib and torture in Guantanamo?

Carter: The fundamentalists believe they have a unique relationship with God, and that they and their ideas are God’s ideas and God’s premises on the particular issue. Therefore, by definition since they are speaking for God anyone who disagrees with them is inherently wrong. And the next step is: Those who disagree with them are inherently inferior, and in extreme cases — as is the case with some fundamentalists around the world — it makes your opponents sub-humans, so that their lives are not significant. Another thing is that a fundamentalist can’t bring himself or herself to negotiate with people who disagree with them because the negotiating process itself is an indication of implied equality. And so this administration, for instance, has a policy of just refusing to talk to someone who is in strong disagreement with them — which is also a radical departure from past history. So these are the kinds of things that cause me concern. And, of course, fundamentalists don’t believe they can make mistakes, so when we permit the torture of prisoners in Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib, it’s just impossible for a fundamentalist to admit that a mistake was made.

Is this why no Southern Baptist preacher of note is included in the preaching portion of the program? Oh, I forgot. This guy is speaking but this is what he says of the Conservative Resurgence here, here, and here. They also have this guy.

Beagles and Baptists, Part 2

I would like to share one other lesson that I learned from Zeke. If you stand in the middle of the road, you’re going to get run over. Zeke died when he applied a lip lock to a speeding Ford F150 pickup.

10 Years Ago Today

May 24, 1997, I married the love of my life and she still is today.

Beagles and Baptists

My brother loved to hunt when he was younger and he was known for having the finest beagles in the community. One day, after a long, exhaustive search, he found a beagle that had excellent credentials and pedigree. He bragged that he knew more about this dog’s family tree then our own tree. This dog had the blood of champions coursing through it’s veins and would be the finest rabbit hunting beagle that we would have ever seen. I remembered the day the puppy came. My brother named him Zeke. Zeke was a friendly little fellow and the children loved him. He did not have a bit of meanness in him. We looked forward to the day that we would take him out for his first hunt. My brother bragged to everyone about this dog and how he was going to be a great hunting dog. Well, one Saturday, we called our friend Roscoe to meet us with his beagles. I loaded Zeke into the ‘66 Chevy pickup. He rode in the cab because he got car sick riding in the back. He hung his head out the window and let those big floppy ears fly in the wind as we drove to the field. We got there and Roscoe had his dogs already out the truck. He had them on a string and they were pulling hard to get loose. So, I opened the door and out jumped Zeke. Roscoe let his dogs go and off they went. Soon, they found a scent and there is nothing like beagles singing on the trail of a rabbit. We could pick out each individual dog by their bark. Now, Zeke, on the other hand was still sitting by the truck. He didn’t go with the other dogs. Roscoe just shrugged his shoulders and said to be patient with Zeke being a young dog on his first hunt. Soon, we heard the other dogs approaching. The rabbit was circling back to try to confuse the pack but Roscoes’s dogs were too smart for that trick. Well, Zeke got up, went up the road a little ways, and was sniffing the ground. I guess he wanted to see what was happening when suddenly the rabbit leaped out the woods, over the ditch, and was nose to nose with Zeke. Zeke had seen his first rabbit. The rabbit stood frozen for a moment and Zeke was paralyzed. For a moment, the world was still. Time did not move. Then, the spell was broken. Zeke yelped and ran up under the truck while the rabbit jumped to other side of the road. I got the rabbit a few minutes later with the blast from my father’s 12 gauge shotgun. Zeke stayed under the truck. My brother was humiliated. His face turned red and he slapped his thigh with his ball cap. He looked under the truck at Zeke then motioned me over to him. He told me to get the dog and take him home then he left. Roscoe just shook his head and told me it was alright. Just get Zeke and go home. He could get his dogs himself. I thanked him and dragged Zeke out from under the truck and threw him into the front seat. Roscoe just patted me on the shoulder and said, “You know that dog just won’t hunt.”

I tell this story because it reminds me of recent actions by certain well known bloggers to attend a conference hosted by Jimmy Carter. One blogger listed his credentials as a conservative but you know Zeke probably had more credentials than any of us. They seem to have shot themselves in the foot. The question remains the same: will this dog hunt? My answer is NO!

Swallowing Camels, Part 2

You know what amazes me about the current discussion about PPL is this: when the NAMB passed a similar requirement for its missionaries back during the Conservative Resurgence as the IMB is trying to do now, moderates and conservatives came together to support the proposal. Conservatives and Moderates agreed on the PPL issue. What bothers me the assertion that charismatic churches are the only growing being used as one of the reasons to embrace PPL and the entire Bapticostal movement. With this in mind, maybe more people should read this book. Are we going to move on from PPL to healing by having people touch the screen of the television or their computers next? Are we next going to offer classes teaching how to speak in tongues? We are Baptists: not Pentecostals, charismatics, or Bapticostal.