Exegete this ...

With the end of the semester approaching, my desk holds a stack of exegesis papers dutifully written and presented as an offering by my Old Testament and 1-2 Samuel students at the Campbell University Divinity School. In a folder, there is a list of 17 blog sites from my "Ministry of Writing" students, who were assigned to start a blog and post at least four entries for me to peruse. Next Tuesday, I'll add a tall stack of final exams to the mix.

I was a bit surprised to discover that it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to read, mark up and grade each exegesis paper. With more than 40 left to go and deadlines looming, it looks like I'll be burning a lot of midnight oil.

Unfortunately, today's paper reports that working the night shift is a cancer risk. When I took this job, I didn't realize that it would involve such exposure to carcinogens.

At least, I thought, reading the exegesis papers gives me a chance to focus on the Bible for a while, free from worry about Baptist issues. Then I noticed some of the texts: conflict between the hypocritical Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar (Genesis 38), conflict between the prophet Elijah and the overbearing queen Jezebel (1 Kings 19), conflict between Abraham's surrogate wife Hagar and his real wife Sarah (Genesis 16), conflict between Jacob's impetuous sons and their confused neighbors (Genesis 34), conflict between David's children that he refused to confront (2 Samuel 13), conflict between David and his takeover-minded son, Absalom (2 Samuel 15-18).

They don't seem so non-Baptist after all.

At least the papers are not without hopeful texts: Nehemiah leading the Israelites to work together in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2), the courageous leadership of the midwives, Shiprah and Puah (Exodus 1), the hope of promises to Abraham and Sarah fulfilled (Genesis 18).

My stack of student papers brings me a world of conflict and turmoil, but with glimpses of heavenly hope ... who would have thought that grading papers would so appropriately reflect the atmosphere of Advent?

[First image from my desk. The Advent candle art is from www.justpeace.org.]

Is Calvinism predestined to grow?

Observers of Baptist life – especially as it relates to the Southern Baptist Convention – will not be surprised to learn that Calvinism is on the rise. With Al Mohler, an advocate of Calvinism, having led the SBC's flagship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for some years now, it’s not surprising that a growing number of seminary graduates also profess Calvinism.

Acknowledging the trend, conferences on the newly resurgent doctrine now dot the Baptist landscape, including one of about 550 people who are at Ridgecrest this week for a conference called “Building Bridges: Southern Baptists and Calvinism.” The conference is co-sponsored by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and “Founders Ministries,” an unabashed pro-Calvinist organization.

Speaking at the conference, the SBC's LifeWay Christian Resources researcher and “missiologist in residence” Ed Stetzer said nearly 30 percent of recent SBC seminary graduates now serving as church pastors affirm the traditional five points of Calvinism.

That compares to about 10 percent of pastors who claim to be Calvinists among the general SBC population.

Stetzer said his research showed that 29 percent of SBC pastors who are recent SBC seminary graduates indicated they are Calvinists. He said 27 percent of 1,234 recent graduates serving in SBC church leadership positions "somewhat agree" or "strongly agree" that they are five-point Calvinists, while 67 percent affirmed that God's "grace is irresistible" and 58 percent said they believe "people do not choose to become Christians, God chooses and calls people who respond to him."

In other words, a clear majority of recent SBC seminary graduates do not believe that God gave humans the freedom to make their own decisions about matters of salvation, but that God alone decides who will receive grace and who will be condemned.

For many rank and file Baptist church members, that is a surprising and radical thought – but one that might well be proclaimed by their next pastor.

Stetzer’s numbers indicate that the Calvinist shift has strong momentum: the numbers of graduates who affirmed Calvinism rose steadily between 1998 and 2004, with 34 percent of the 2004 graduates identifying themselves as five-point Calvinists.

Some of Baptists’ bitterest battles were fought in the nineteenth century as Calvinistic “anti-missionary” Baptists and Arminian “missionary” Baptists struggled for control of churches on the American frontier.

Now that fundamentalism has won the day against more progressive thought in the SBC, it appears certain that the next “resurgence” will not be of conservatives, but of Calvinists.

And the "eighth wonder of the world" is ...?

Every now and then, I read about some new project that claims to be the "Eighth Wonder of the World." In one day this week, I ran across two.

More than 100 feet beneath the foothills of the Alps in northern Italy, in the valley of Valchiusella, a series of interconnected chambers make up the unexpected but exceedingly impressive "Temples of Damanhur." The vast underground temples, richly embellished with eclectic designs, are the work of Oberto Airaudi, a 57-year-old former insurance broker from northern Italy who says he began seeing visions in childhood and was inspired to create what he saw. Aided by friends from across the globe, he started digging secretly beneath a modest house and spent many years excavating the cavernous but intricately decorated halls that some have likened to the lost city of Atlantis or the Eighth Wonder of the World. Finally, the secret got out, the police came in, and the "Temples of Damanhur" was put on the map.

A few hundred miles to the north, in the English county of Cornwall, a self-proclaimed "Eighth Wonder of the World" inhabits a huge pit where clay was once quarried. The "Eden Project" is the brainchild of Tim Smit, an archaeologist turned pop music producer who decided to build a new Eden in England. Smit convinced investors to sink $100 million into his giant hole in the ground of southwest England, where geodesic domes cover vast greenhouses that bring the tropics to a most unlikely setting. The resulting eco-park has proven to be a big hit, claiming nine million visitors since it opened in 2001.

In contrast, few people have been granted permission to view the "Temples of Damanhur," which were built without proper authorization and only recently made legal via retroactive permitting. Though dedicated to no particular god, true believers find the subterranean chambers to be a perfect spot for meditation.

So, do either of these wonders deserve to be called the "Eighth Wonder of the World"? One can't answer that question without deciding to what wonders one should compare them, for despite the mythic status of the "Seven Wonders," there is no fully agreed upon list of what wonders should be included, from what historical era they should come, and whether we're talking about man-made wonders only, or including natural wonders (Wikipedia has a nice review of the "Seven Wonders" dilemma).

When you can't define precisely what the top seven "wonders" are, it's easier to call your own favorite the eighth.

No matter what human constructions we find wondrous, none of them can hold a candle to the canyons and caverns, to the mountain heights and ocean depths of the planet we call home, an astrophysical, geological, meterological, biological marvel not built with human hands.

The world itself -- that's the wonder.

[Photos from the linked websites, both of which include additional pictures.]

Yellow pencils and matching socks

During the Thanksgiving season, I often recall reading about a delightful young girl named Barbara Ann. She was a happy child, much of the time, because she had the special ability to find happiness in little things. When the skies were cloudy, she found joy in the shapes of the clouds. When she was stuck inside, she found happiness in the smell of a Crayola crayon, or in the sight of her cat streaking by at thirty miles an hour, or in the soft fluffiness of a cotton ball.

Sometime in Barbara Ann's sixth grade year, she began to write down all of these little things that made her happy. She started with an ordinary spiral bound notebook, and soon she had filled it up. She got more and bigger notebooks, and as she grew older, she continued adding to her collection of all the little things that gladden the eye and bring wonder to the heart. Things like:

Ancient alphabets.
Lighthouses.
Onions on a hot dog.
Beachcombing.
Different accents.
Honeysuckles.
Three gallon tubs of ice cream.

After twenty years of this, bubbly Barbara Ann Kipfer decided that other people might enjoy reading her collection, and she persuaded Peter Workman to publish them in a book called 14,000 Things To Be Happy About (New York: Workman Publishing, 1990). Since then, she's written other books, earned two Ph.D.'s, and manages multiple reference-related websites, along with a personal one called Things to Be Happy About.

When I read from the list in Barbara Ann's book, I discover that some of the things that make her happy don't do a thing for me. We are different people. But reading her list inspires me to be more aware and more appreciative of some of those little things that bring joy to my own life and remind me of the goodness of God:

The smell of new-mown grass.
Writing with a yellow No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil, freshly sharpened.
Baked beans with real bacon.
A new novel by a favorite author.
The softness of a baby's head.
The laughter of children.
A day when things go right.
Finding socks that match.
Corn flakes and cold milk.
Sunshine.
A mountain stream full of rocks.
Fall.
Homemade bread.
Looking at cloud tops from an airplane window.
Sometimes, sleeping until the sun comes up.

What kinds of things remind you of God’s love and goodness? What brings special joy to your heart and reminds you of the ever-present loving-kindness of God?

Whenever I contemplate a list of things that bring me hope and joy, it always concludes with the hope we have in Christ that God’s blessings go on and on.

My favorite Thanksgiving scripture is Psalm 100, a text in which the psalmist declares the reality of God, testifies to the goodness of God, and reflects on the lasting quality of God’s love. God's love is steadfast, he says, — to all generations — even into eternity.

Thanks be to God.

Divisive is as divisive does

You may have read about an anti-blogging resolution approved last week by the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC). You can find the full text of it here. And, if you look closely, you’ll see a brief reference near the end of this article from Baptist Press.

As of Sunday Nov. 19, I could find no mention of it at the GBC website, or the site of the GBC-controlled newspaper, The Christian Index, even though editor Gerald Harris wrote the article that appears on Baptist Press.

The resolution, sponsored by pastors Wayne Bray and Bill Harrell, says that the sponsors treasure free speech and recognize the potential value of “responsible blogging.” They assert, however, that “certain people use this tool for divisive and destructive rhetoric at the expense of peace among the Brethren” and that “blogging is also being used by some as a tool for personal attacks upon other Christian Brothers and Sisters, and this critical and divisive use promotes a negative view of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

It is telling that the resolution, offered at the Georgia Baptist Convention, is primarily concerned with the Southern Baptist Convention.

The resolution called for messengers to “oppose blogging when it is used to cause division and disharmony among the members of our Southern Baptist Family,” that “all personal attacks should cease immediately,” and that messengers should “request and expect that individuals who disrupt the fellowship through blogging repent and immediately cease this activity and no longer cause disharmony for the advancement of their own personal opinions and agendas.”

The resolution passed.

Would you like to see what gall looks like when standing up? Having co-sponsored a resolution against blogging that is used “for personal attacks upon other Christian brothers,” Harrell then preached the GBC’s annual “doctrinal sermon,” in which he roundly criticized mega-church pastors Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, and by extension those who have adopted their seeker-sensitive methods (see this timely blog for more details).

Do you notice a disconnect here?

Apparently, questioning a person’s behavior in a digital discussion is sinfully divisive, but calling names in a fiery sermon is righteous.

To paraphrase Forrest Gump’s mama, divisive is as divisive does.

If they're concerned about too much sharing of opinions, perhaps the GBC and SBC should follow the lead of another Baptist organization that adopted a different method of discouraging divisiveness … it did away with resolutions.

What think ye?

My friend Vic Ramsey, a respected pastor in the northeast corner of the state, posted an intriguing comment to my recent blog about the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina meeting in Greensboro. He raises an important question and invites response. I don't want it to be lost at the bottom of a long list of comments, so I'm pasting it here in full:

Was anyone else taken aback by the comments of the Convention's attorney during the debate on the WMU amendment at Wednesday morning's session?

To begin with, he was given the floor while other messengers were waiting to speak, and when no messenger in debate had asked a legal question which required clarification.

Then, in his remarks, he cited the potential bankruptcies of some Roman Catholic dioceses as a reason to vote against the amendment.

Here are my questions:

1. Isn't it true that those dioceses are in that predicament due to their cover-up of sexual misconduct of priests?

2. Isn't it true that Roman Catholic priests are predominantly male?

3. Would it be fair to say that, if a messenger hearing the attorney's statement drew the conclusion that voting for the budget amendment was also a vote to endanger our children and bankrupt our convention, that would be an unfortunate misunderstanding of his intent?

The BSC leadership advanced its proposal and its opposition to the inclusion of WMU in the NCMO on the basis of the principle that no entity not directly connected to the convention should receive NCMO funds, because there would be no accountability regarding the use of those funds.

I have four questions:

1. Does the Executive Committee and Board of Directors consider the 100 Baptist associations to be "directly connected" to the convention?

2. In what sense are the associations "accountable" to the convention?

3. Will an association have to submit its hiring decisions to the Executive Director/Treasurer for approval before receiving its share of the NCMO?

4. If the answers to the above questions are "no", then it appears to me that the principle advanced by the BSC leadership is violated 100 times by their own proposal. So, what is so wrong about violating that same principle the 101st time?

I look forward to responses from other readers.

I find Ramsey's point about the supposed "direct relationship" requirement particularly pertinent (to make one correction, I believe the number of associations is about 80 rather than 100: some cross county lines).

I am aware that the associations sign specific partnership agreements with the Convention for each budget cycle, outlining how much money they hope to receive from the Convention and what projects they plan to fund with it. To my knowledge, except for a cooperative sharing of reports, that is the extent of any formal arrangements that would make associations "accountable" to the BSC.

Is there any good reason that WMU-NC could not also sign an agreement regarding specific funds to be received and how the organization plans to use them?

Another question comes to mind: the president of the state's Baptist Associational Missions Conference has a seat on the BSCNC's executive committee, as does the president of WMU-NC and the president of North Carolina Baptist Men. It's all spelled out in the BSC-NC bylaws (which can be downloaded here). Members of the Baptist Associational Missions Conference are employees of the individual associations they serve, not of the convention.

Does inclusion as a partnering organization in the BSCNC bylaws not constitute a "direct connection"? Obviously, employment by the Convention is not required in the case of the associations: why should it be different for WMU-NC?

Vic has raised an excellent question.

What think ye?

Narrower road, smaller load

When Jesus spoke of the narrow gate and hard road that lead to life (Matt. 7:13-14), he was talking about the highway to heaven rather rather than the path of doctrinal conformity or denominational accountability. During the 2007 annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Nov. 12-14, the consequences of the Convention's continuing shift to a narrower, more conservative stance came to the fore.

Like an overloaded truck that has to shed part of its load to get through a tight place, the BSCNC left the annual session in Greensboro with a much lighter load. By meeting's end, one church had been voted out of fellowship, the five affiliated higher education institutions had taken another step toward a severing of accountability ties, the departure of Baptist Retirement Homes reached a closure of sorts, and North Carolina Woman's Missionary Union was effectively removed from the Convention's budget process.

Despite pre-convention predictions of a larger than usual attendance, the number of registered messengers continued a steady decline. The messenger total was 2,549, with 54 percent of those being pastors or church staff employees and their spouses.

Myers Park Baptist Church disfellowshipped

During a pre-convention meeting of the BSCNC Executive Committee on Nov. 12, Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte sent a delegation to ask for a ruling on its membership status. Pastor Steve Shoemaker acknowledged that the church welcomes gays and lesbians into both membership and leadership, which puts it at odds with bylaw changes adopted by the BSCNC in 2006. The bylaw changes declared any church that condones or endorses practicing homosexuals to be out of "friendly cooperation" with the Convention. Both Shoemaker and deacon Nancy Walker, an attorney who identified herself as being lesbian in orientation, asked that the church be allowed to remain in fellowship with the BSCNC.

The Executive Committee ruled against them, but allowed church representatives to appeal to the Convention. That appeal took place on Nov. 13, when messengers voted overwhelmingly to hear their appeal, then just as strongly to deny it, despite appeals from Shoemaker and Walker. "Open your hearts to all who seek to worship God," Walker asked messengers. "Reach out to people who have experienced pain and spiritual isolation."

"No matter your vote today I will be a witness in the world for love, compassion and reconciliation," Walker said.

Board of directors president Allan Blume said the Convention had no choice but to abide by its bylaws, and opponents pointed to biblical passages that condemn homosexual acts. The Convention's vote served to officially "disfellowship" the historic Myers Park church from the BSCNC (see stories from the Biblical Recorder and the Charlotte Observer).

Although the church had "self-reported" its policies last spring and invited Convention officials to visit, there had been no response from the BSCNC, which does not consider ousting a church unless at least two people file a formal complaint. For Myers Park, the church's appeal forced the issue.

Colleges and Convention step toward severance

A measure designed to officially sever relationships with the five Baptist colleges that still have BSCNC ties passed the first stage of its journey: it must be approved again at the 2008 annual meeting. If the motion is given final approval at next year's annual session, the five institutions (Campbell University, Chowan University, Gardner-Webb University, Mars Hill College, and Wingate University) will officially sever ties with the BSCNC and enter a less formal relationship through which the schools will elect their own trustees and forgo funding over a four-year period.

Funds now received are used for student scholarships. If any BSCNC scholarship funding remains available after 2008, students will have to apply directly to the Convention to receive it (see stories from the Greensboro News-Record and the Biblical Recorder).

Appeal made to Baptist Retirement Homes

In a final-morning session that was much better attended than usual, a committee appointed to study the Convention's relationship with BRH made its report. BRH asked in August 2005 for a new relationship in which it would begin electing its trustees and surrendering BSCNC funding over a four-year period. The Executive Committee approved the motion at that meeting, but later rescinded it after the Convention attorney said the change amounted to a severance and violated the bylaws. Rather than continue negotiations, BRH trustees voted in December 2005 to become self-perpetuating.

Joan Mitchell, a Durham attorney who chaired the committee, said the committee had heard much sentiment calling for legal action against BRH, but recommended that no legal action be taken, with the parties seekig to work out their relationship as Christians who want to present a good witness in the world.

The committee's findings were released in a 29-page report that made three recommendations (the full report can be downloaded from this page). In short, the proposals called for BSCNC to: (1) Encourage BRH to reverse course and go through the BSCNC bylaw-approved process for severing its relationship to the BSCNC and ask for a new one, (2) Provide some pro-rated funds from escrow to BRH, assuming that it complied with the first recommendation, and (3) Study other options for ministries to the aging beyond those provided by BRH.

An amendment designed to make the release of funds more clearly contingent upon BRH's willingness to go through the process was approved.

BRH was given an opportunity to respond, but neither BRH president Bill Stillerman nor any other BRH representative appeared to speak to the proposals, indicating an apparent lack of interest in further negotiations.

The action appears to bring some closure to the matter, with the BSCNC having made an effort to reach a more amicable resolution, and BRH apparently set on pressing forward with its current course.

WMU-NC removed from budget

Most pre-convention tension had related to an anticipated showdown over WMU-NC's exclusion from the North Carolina Missions Offering, approved by the Convention's Board of Directors at a special meeting October 29.

When the budget was presented, committee chair Larry Burns said WMU-NC had been eliminated from the proposed North Carolina Missions Offering budget for 2008-2009 because all WMU-NC staffers had announced plans to resign or retire as BSCNC employees by Dec. 31. That meant WMU-NC would have no further direct connection to the BSCNC, Burns said, though he acknowledged WMU-NC's professed intention to remain supportive of the BSCNC and to continue working with BSCNC churches.

"In the past, NCMO has only funded things with direct connections" to the BSCNC, Burns said. Continuing to include WMU-NC would set a dangerous precedent, he said, as any independent ministry could ask to be included in the NCMO.

But, Burns said, because of the Convention's appreciation for WMU-NC, the Board of Directors had "agreed to support a special offering for WMU as an autonomous and independent missions organization."

Former executive director Roy Smith said WMU-NC would need additional funding during its transition to financial independence, and made a motion that the NCMO goal for 2008 be increased by $500,000 to $2.5 million, with the additional funds to be allocated to WMU-NC (WMU-NC is slated to receive more than $850,000 from the 2007 NCMO).

The motion generated considerable debate, with all speakers agreeing that WMU is a beloved and cherished organization in BSCNC life. Several speakers who opposed to the motion criticized WMU-NC's leadership and its Executive Board, which one said had "messed up." After a number of speakers pro and con, the motion was defeated by a substantial but not overwhelming margin, leaving WMU-NC to rely entirely on its reserves and a revival of its "Heck-Jones" offering, beginning in 2008.

Convention seeks "Great and Wondrous Things"

Despite the appearance that the BSCNC might be fragmenting in some ways, business went on. Rick Speas (pstor of Old Town Baptist in Winston-Salem) was elected president, Leland Kerr (Director of Missions for the Wilmington Association) was elected first vice president, and Phil Ortego (pastor of Scotts Hill Baptist in Wilmington) was elected first vice president.

A series of speakers promoted various aspects of the convention theme, "Great and Wondrous Things." Executive director Milton Hollifield recalled difficulties early Baptists faced, and how they reached out to each other to build associations and conventions. Guest preacher Jim Henry, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, called for unity. Outgoing president Stan Welch called for the Convention to have higher expections, and Mark Harris, in the convention sermon, called for messengers to "rebuild the walls" of the BSCNC even as Nehemiah had led returning exiles to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Harris, hoarse from his exhortations, extended an altar call Tuesday evening, and hundreds responded.

The BSCNC is somewhat lighter and walking a narrower road, but gave every indication that it intends to march onward on with high hopes for a more cohesive future.

As moderates continue their gradual disengagement with the Convention, those hopes may well be realized.

[Photo courtesy of BSCNC. More BSCNC photos from the annual session available here].

More from Greensboro

In brief, the morning session of the BSCNC was much better attended than usual, probably because of interest on both sides regarding a report concerning Baptist Retirement Homes (BRH) and Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina (WMU-NC).

After some discussion and a largely meaningless amendment, the BRH proposals passed by overwhelming margins. The proposals were, basically, to: (1) Encourage BRH to back up and go through the BSCNC bylaw-approved process for severing its relationship to the BSCNC and ask for a new one, (2) Provide some pro-rated funds from escrow to BRH, assuming that it complied with the first recommendation, and (3) Study other options for ministries to the aging beyond those provided by BRH.

BRH, whose trustees voted in December 2005 to become self-perpetuating, sent no representative to speak to the proposals, indicating an apparent lack of interest in further negotiations.

On the other hand, considerable interest and support was expressed for WMU-NC. When the budget was presented, committee chair Larry Burns said WMU-NC was eliminated from the proposed North Carolina Missions Offering budget for 2008-2009 because all WMU-NC staffers had announced plans to resign or retire as BSCNC employees by Dec. 31. That meant WMU-NC would have no further direct connection to the BSCNC, Burns said, though he acknowledged WMU-NC's professed intention to remain supportive of the BSCNC and to continue working with BSCNC churches.

"In the past, NCMO has only funded things with direct connections" to the BSCNC, Burns said. Continuing to include WMU-NC would set a dangerous precedent, he said, as any independent ministry could ask to be included in the NCMO.

Burns said that, because of the Convention's appreciation for WMU-NC, the Board of Directors had "agreed to support a special offering for WMU as an autonomous and independent missions organization."

Former executive director Roy Smith made a motion that the NCMO goal for 2008 be increased by $500,000 to $2.5 million, with the additional funds to be allocated to WMU-NC.

After a number of speakers pro and con, the motion was defeated by a substantial but not overwhelming margin.

For more details, check out the stories posted on the Biblical Recorder website, and on the BSCNC's dedicated annual meeting site. This blog and the previous one will be revised, combined, and updated in a more comprehensive blog to be posted later this (Wednesday) evening.

Baptists in Greensboro

Events at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) annual meeting were as expected Nov. 12-13, with more potential for a closer vote on something slated for Wednesday morning, N.v. 14, when supporters of Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina (WMU-NC) are expected to move that the Convention overrule its Executive Committee and General Board, which voted Oct. 25 to remove WMU-NC from the North Carolina Missions Offering, beginning in 2008.

On Monday, Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte sent a delegation to the BSCNC Executive Committee, stating that it was in violation of new "friendly cooperation" rules adopted in 2006 because it welcomes gays and lesbians, but asking to remain in fellowship. The Executive Committee ruled against them, but allowed church representatives to appeal to the Convention. That appeal took place on Tuesday morning, when messengers voted overwhelmingly to hear their appeal, then even more overwhelmingly to deny it, effectively disfellowshiping the church from the convention.

A measure designed to officially sever relationships with the five Baptist colleges that still have BSCNC ties passed the first stage of its journey: it must be approved again at the 2008 annual meeting.

Meanwhile, in a rather historic move, presidents or representatives from all seven colleges historically related to the BSCNC (including Wake Forest University and Meredith College) sat on the dais at First Baptist Church of Greensboro during a fellowship dinner held by
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC). The representatives all signed a pledge to provide tuition scholarships for qualifying children of missionaries serving through the national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship organization (CBF). CBF has pledged to cover costs for housing and books, as much as possible.

A partnership between CBFNC and Baptists Today was also announced at the dinner. CBFNC will provide support for a new "North Carolina edition" of Baptists Today, set to begin in January.

The meeting did not focus on "getting out the vote" for the potential action related to WMUNC on Wednesday morning.

In an e-mail message to a mailing list of Conservative Carolina Baptists (CCB), BSCNC Board of Directors president had warned that "moderates/liberals" were planning a large gathering on Tuesday night in an effort to bring out more voters for the Wednesday morning session, calling for conservatives to remain for the last session. Blume's call to action was echoed in an article by budget committee member Steve Hardy on the CCB website, and by blogger Tim Rogers. The CBFNC dinner and worship meeting, however, had been planned months in advance, and the dinner had sold out its 350 available seats some time before. The worship service held afterward included a testimony from a WMU staffer, but its major focus was for other purposes. CBFNC Larry Hovis affirmed to me earlier that CBFNC had made no efforts to "get out the vote" for WMU-NC, but was doing its part by encouraging churches to receive a special offering to assist WMUNC during its time of transition in moving from the Baptist building in Cary.

Watch this spot for an update of Wednesday morning activities, hopefully by mid-afternoon on Wednesday.

"Wallowing in hell"?

While researching an article on National Baptists for the January issue of Baptists Today, I ran across a historical vignette that has the rare quality of incorporating both pain and delight.

Prior to the Civil War, many African American Baptists were attracted to the gospel, and particularly to the individual-respecting Baptist version of it. Unfortunately, few were allowed to build or control their own churches: most were members of white-owned and operated churches. And, even though they often outnumbered white members by a substantial margin, they had few rights.

In the early nineteenth century, it was customary to practice church discipline more frequently than now, often for offenses such as drinking to excess or dancing.

For slaves, one could also be disciplined for talking out of school or demonstrating a lack of due respect to those who ran the church.

In 1807, in the Elkhorn Baptist Church in Kentucky, a slave woman named Winney was brought up for discipline in church conference. Charges were brought against her “for saying she once thought it her duty to serve her Master & Mistress but sine the Lord converted her, she had never believed that any Christian kept Negroes or Slaves,” and secondly, “For saying she believed there was Thousands of white people Wallowing in Hell for their treatment to Negroes – and she did not care if there was as many more” (cited by Bill Leonard, Baptist Ways, p. 264).

The motion was referred to the next meeting, and I don't know how the case was eventually resolved. It's hard to imagine the pain felt by the woman known to us as Winney, what it was like to be surrounded by people who preached freedom in Christ and who claimed to possess Christian love, and yet kept her and millions of her kindred in cruel bondage.

Slavery is not the issue most Christians face today, at least in American, but we still confront the confusing picture of people who speak much of love, but show little respect toward those who disagree with them.

I can't agree with Winney's sentiment that they deserve to be "wallowing in hell," but I have to admire the spunk she showed in speaking truth to power. Time has proven that the might of her oppressors did not make them right.

Long may Winney's spirit live.

How the mighty have fallen!

When King Saul and his son Jonathan died on Mount Gilboa following a battle with the Philistines, David wept and cried "How the mighty have fallen!"

The Philistines themselves might have said the same thing a few years earlier when a younger David whipped their giant champion, Goliath: "How the mighty have fallen!"

Fans of Kentucky basketball might be singing that same lament after the fabled Wildcats were chased out of Rupp Arena by the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University, one of five institutions of higher education affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC).

The story may seem hard to believe, but it's true: upstart Gardner-Webb waltzed onto Kentucky's home court Nov. 7, got off to a 14-0 start, and never trailed en route to an 84-68 victory.

Another story making the rounds in North Carolina is easier to believe, but, to my knowledge, far less true.

On Nov. 13, during the BSCNC's annual meeting, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC) will hold a dinner meeting, something the organization has done for several years. Since a fair number of CBF supporters still attend the annual BSCNC meeting, it's a convenient time for the state organization to hold a fellowship gathering. Since so few of the participants tended to return to the Tuesday evening session of the Convention, CBFNC leaders decided to extend their program a bit this year.

That plan has been in place for many months, and I've seen or heard no evidence that it has any other purpose than to promote the fellowship and programs of CBFNC.

Multiple conservative spokesmen, however, have been raising an alarm of late, claiming that the purpose of the CBFNC event is to attract messengers and pack the house for the Wednesday morning BSCNC session, when there may or may not be an effort made to reverse the BSCNC Executive Committee and Board of Directors' decision to remove Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina (WMU-NC) from the annual North Carolina Missions Offering, beginning in 2008.

In an article on the Conservative Carolina Baptists website, budget committee member Steve Hardy concludes his analysis of Convention issues by saying "CBFNC has planned a major rally on Tuesday evening in Greensboro so they can flood the Convention with messengers on Wednesday morning."

Yadkinville pastor and frequent blogger Tim Rogers said in a recent post:

I received this information in an email and you need to know that it is reliable information. The person I received this from certainly would know about this political move.

NC Baptists need to know that the WMU will try to reverse the Board’s recent action which excludes them from the NC Mission Offering. THIS WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY MORNING!! In the past conservatives have not been faithful to attend on Wednesday morning and we MUST not let that happen this year!!

Rogers goes on to say "The CBFNC (moderate/liberals) are having a huge gathering on Tuesday evening in an effort to get their messengers in Greensboro to be ready for the Wednesday AM budget presentation."

It seems a bit strange to me that I'm on the CBFNC mailing list and in fairly close touch with CBFNC leaders, but I've not heard a word about any "get out the vote" rally on Nov. 12.

If the information is truly reliable, and CBFNC has indeed decided to abandon its longstanding purpose for the meeting in favor of an all-out effort to pack the BSCNC house on Wednesday morning, the organization has done a mighty poor job with publicity, because it appears that only conservatives got the memo.

In truth, it's one of the state's leading conservatives who sent the memo to supporters, incorrectly portraying the CBFNC meeting as a political rally for WMUNC.

I don't doubt that many of those who attend Tuesday's CBFNC meeting will be registered BSCNC messengers who will also attend the Wednesday morning meeting, but there is nothing new about that. They will do so because they are faithful Baptists who are interested in their Convention, not because they were called out to Greensboro by a CBFNC meeting.

That you can believe.

IMB trustees censure Burleson for talking

Trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board (IMB) voted Nov. 6 to censure a board member for violating new rules designed to silence public dissent. The vote was taken behind closed doors (surprised?), and no count was announced.

Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson first drew the ire of fellow board members when he dared to speak against another set of new rules designed to tighten restrictions on potential missionaries, eliminating those whose baptism did not meet certain standards, along with those who practice a "prayer language," even in private.

After Burleson spoke publicly about the issue, and discussions surrounding it, the trustees enacted new board policies stating that members could not speak negatively about IMB business or publicly disclose conversations with other board members. Burleson, upholding the Baptist tradition of one's right to dissent, voted against the policies.

Prior to the Nov. 5-7 meeting, fellow trustee Jerry Corbaley e-mailed a 153-page accusation against Burleson to other board members, calling for his dismissal from the board. The e-mail charged Burleson with slander and consisted mostly of several of Burleson's blog posts, along with readers' comments.

Burleson said he attempted to talk with Corbaley about the matter, but Corbaley has pointedly shunned him, citing a biblical injunction to have nothing to do with troublemakers.

Getting no response from his accuser, Burleson posted Corbaley's charges on his blog.

The IMB did not dismiss Burleson, but did approve a three-page document censuring Burleson for publicly disclosing "private" conversations with other board members, including Corbaley and trustee chair John Floyd.

When the vote was announced near the end of the meeting on Nov. 7, Burleson sought to speak, but Floyd had Burleson's microphone turned off, according to Ben Cole, who is joining Burleson's staff at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Oklahoma.

The IMB's news page offered no news about the action as of 3:30 p.m. Nov. 7, but Burleson has posted a personal account and response on his blog.

Fellow trustees voted not only to censure Burleson, but to suspend him from participation in the next four meetings. Burleson is prohibited "from any active involvement with the board of trustees for at least the next four trustee meetings," according to a post on Baptist Press.

Free speech and principled dissent are cherished values in most parts of America and among most Baptists, but are no longer recognized by the IMB trustees.

There seems to be a failure on their part to understand that rank and file Baptists are not entirely gullible. When the only information they are allowed to get is carefully packaged and questions are not allowed, trust will inevitably plummet. That may be fine for the theological ideologues who run the show, but it can't be good for the missionaries -- or the offerings that support them.

Mixed messages

For the past couple of months, a busy corner near our home has featured the antics of two young men who are apparently being paid to point travelers to a new housing development. They hold big signs, shaped like an arrow, bearing the name of the development and a brief message. To attract attention, either of the young men is likely to spin the sign, throw it into the air, catch it behind his back, ride it like a horse, play it like a guitar, or otherwise grab the attention of passersby.

All would be well and good except that the spinning, flying sign points in all directions, making it hard for interested parties to know where the object of appeal is located. Likewise, it moves so quickly that I had passed through the intersection on three different occasions before I could so much as read the name of the advertiser, much less the pricing information below it.

It struck me that the young men, despite their laudable and hard-working efforts, were sending a mixed message. They got plenty of attention, but their message was garbled.

About the same time the high-sign boys took up residence on the corner, I saw a Barna survey indicating that young people their age are getting an overwhelmingly mixed message about Christianity. Just 16 percent of non-Christian young people (aged 16 to 29) have a favorable impression of Christians, the poll said, and a piddling 3 percent of them hold a positive view of evangelicals.

That's a sharp indictment of the sort of mixed messages that Christians are sending.

Respondents to the poll found Christians to be judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%).

Young people showed particular concern that the church is "antihomosexual," with 91 percent of non-Christians and 80 percent of church-going young adults holding that view.

"One of the most frequent criticisms of young Christians was that they believe the church has made homosexuality a 'bigger sin' than anything else," Barna noted.

The reader should note the poll ascribes that concern to young Christians, who also believe "the church has not helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to their friendships with gays and lesbians."

And they do have friendships. That's one of the main differences between older Christian leaders who have portrayed homosexuality as the sin of the century and younger Christians who find their tactics too heavy-handed: the younger Christians are more likely to have friends who are gay or lesbian. They're also more likely to show compassion than condemnation. They hear their elders speak of love, but practice something less.

Sadly, the Christian cause has been particularly harmed by the antics of people like Fred Phelps and his extended family-based "Westboro Baptist Church," a woefully misguided bunch who have made a practice of picketing funerals of slain military personnel as a way of arguing that the war is God's punishment for America's toleration of homosexuality. Other Christians simply haven't done enough to condemn such rabid behavior and distance it from true faith -- it's been left to Hell's Angels and other bikers to form a cordon to protect grieving families from the Phelps' spiteful spew, and to the courts to try reigning them in.

Such shenanigans, fortunately, are the exception to the rule, but the rule is still primarily one of rejection.

That leaves today's young people with an impression of Christianity that's closer to the witch-burning Puritans of Salem than to the compassionate Christ-followers of Matthew 25:34-40.

Each of us would do well, I suspect, to ask what sort of messages our words and actions are sending.

Will you miss it?

Hollywood's television writers seem serious about going on strike for higher pay, leaving many viewers to wonder when new episodes of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" will run out.

Boo hoo.

It's not that I don't have some sympathy for the writers: while they're well paid compared to many of their viewers (even full-time rookies start at $70,000), their salaries are minuscule compared to those of the pampered actors who put a pretty face (mostly) on the writers' scripts.

Even so, if the writers go on strike, there's not a single show that I will miss. I've never watched "CSI" or "Heroes," and I don't know why people get so excited over "Ugly Betty." I didn't even watch "Seinfeld" or "Friends."

It's not that I'm a troglodyte or an anti-TV nut: I catch the news, follow an occasional reality show, watch videos while working out, and enjoy an hour here and there watching the National Geographic, Discovery, and Food Network channels with Samuel.

I just can't imagine why anyone would want to devote a major part of every day to becoming a target for commercials.

According to a report by the A. C. Neilson company, Americans watch an average of more than four hours of TV per day. Think about it: that's equivalent to two full months (night and day) of every year, or more than 10 years of an American's expected lifespan.

Is that good stewardship of the time we have on earth?

On average, children see more than 20,000 commercials every year.

That's a scary picture.

Are we so unproductive or unimaginative that we really need constant entertainment?

There are so many other things to do, even after the household tasks are done. We could eat a family meal without extraneous noise, write a letter, phone a friend, read a good book, get some exercise, or practice any number of productive and healthful activities.

It would suit me fine if the writers strike for a long time: if folks get bored enough with reruns to discover more productive activities, maybe they'll wean themselves from the need for constant entertainment.

That, of course, is a TV executive's greatest fear, and the reason the networks will probably cave and settle the contract dispute sooner rather than later.

"You don't want viewers turning away from television," said Charles Floyd Johnson, an executive producer on "NCIS" (whatever that is), "because it can be hard to get them to turn back."

We can only hope.