My Trip To The Southern Baptist Convention

Every night, I lay in bed and ask myself what I learned that day. Over the last few days, I learned alot. I was in Nashville, Tennessee. I was at the Southern Baptist Convention, and I learned a lot about the denomination that I love.

Before I get into this column, I want all the readers to know that I am an unashamed Southern Baptist. I love being a Southern Baptist. I get angry when I hear people say negitive things about the SBC. I am upset when people move away from my church, and in their new town they begin going to a Church that is not Southern Baptist. Now, I do not believe that Southern Baptist Churches are the only churches, but I do believe they are the best churches.

In Nashville, this week, I learned that we really didn't mean to boycott Disney back in 1997. I have always had problems with our boycott of Disney. I personally believe that there was some "people issues" involved in our boycott. (I believe the boycott was partially a response to Jim Henry's Presidency). This week we decided to end the boycott. I do not believe Disney responded to our demands. I cannot remember Disney ever changing any of its policies. I guess we figured the boycott was not working. Of course, we said we proved our point. My question is, "What point did we prove?" The only point I think we proved was that the average Southern Baptist Church member did not follow the boycott the church leaders voted on in 1997.

On a brighter note, I learned that the Southern Baptist Convention still makes the news. It is good to know that we still matter. We didn't do much to gain national interest this week, but the simple fact that we met was enough to make the news.

We also were protested. However, this year was the fewest amount of protestors I have ever seen at a convention. As far as I could see, there was no more than fifty protestors at any given time. Normally there are hundreds of protestors. I also only saw two groups of protestors, when normally there are several. This year I only saw protests from the pro-gay crowd and the anti-war crowd. I am not sure what to make of the lack of large spread protesting. I guess I learned that protestors don't like to stand out in 90 degree heat. I also learned that the news media was interested in 50 protestors way more than they were the 15,000 Baptists inside the building.

The last and most important thing I learned was that Baptist still love the lost world, and want to see lives transformed by Jesus Christ. Evangelism and Baptistism were the twin foci of our event. Over the last few years, we have seen our national baptism numbers drop. Our convention made its case for a new commitment to these two critical issues. I applaud them, and I will pray to do my part.

I love the SBC, and I love going to the convention. I think every pastor should do this if it is possible. There is nothing like hearing a stadium full of preachers sing about Jesus with all their heart. There is nothing like hearing from our missionaries about their great work. There is nothing like hearing the voice of Adrian Rodgers call all of us Pastors to keep the faith. There is nothing like running into old friends from college and seminary.

I learned there is nothing like the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Party Of White Christians

Howard Dean is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This week, he placed himself in a big controversy by saying that "the Republican party was nothing but a party of white Christians". Howard Dean was not too far from the truth. White Christians do make up a large block of Republican voters. White Christians are normally against abortion, homosexual marriage, and other moral issues which places them in the Republican camp. Nevertheless, Howard Dean is wrong. The Republican party is made up of a lot of different people, many of them are not white nor Christian.

What I found interesting about this bit of information is just how acceptable it is to make a derogatory statement about white Christians. It seems to me that the white Christian is the last group of people that it is alright to say negative things about. Could you imagine what would have happened if the Republican National Chairman would say "the Democratic party is nothing more than a party of poor black people, or the Democratic party is nothing more than the party of homosexuals"? There would be immediate calls for his dismissal. He wouldn't last the night.

I guess we must chalk this all up to the words of Jesus. Jesus tells us that the world will hate the church. Thus we should not be surprised when a world leader says negative things about the church without anyone calling for his head.

So why does the world have such a distaste for Christians? Simply put, people who have strong beliefs and convictions scare those who do not. A person with strong beliefs makes those who do not feel uncomfortable. I believe that you must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to go to Heaven. For someone who does not hold to this viewpoint, this is an intolerable thought. My belief means that I do not believe that others, who do not agree with me, are right with God. It is easy to see why the world doesn't like us. We force them to examine their beliefs. We challenge the way they think. We cause them to have a personal confrontation. Of course they don't like us, who likes to be told they are wrong in the eyes of God.

Christians should expect more of this in the future. Though I am not a prophesy nut, I do not see things getting better anytime soon. Maybe we should take the negative comments as a badge of honor. Our Lord was crucified for who he was. As Christians we are to live like Jesus. Persecution, regardless of how silly or sophomoric it may be, will always be a part of the Christian life.

Prayer Falling Short

Recently, I began reading a book on prayer written by a former President of the Southern Baptist Convention. The first chapter tells us that when he began to get his prayer life correct, he saw hundreds of people come to the Lord. This is a great testimony, however, I do not believe it is normal.

Over the last few years, we have seen a boom in prayer books. It all started with the Prayer of Jabez. In my opinion, this is the only good thing that came out of this book. I believe the Prayer of Jabez was a terrible book. The entire premise was wrong. The fact that the author took a remote prayer from 2 Chronicles, and tried to apply it to everyone who is alive today is beyond me. Nevertheless, prayer is a big topic these days, and I think the church is better for it.

The problem I am having is that I am not seeing honesty when it comes to prayer. Every book that I have seen on prayer over the last few years makes prayer out to be some magic formula for Christian growth. It seems to me that Christians are looking for some mystic mantra to say to God to get all of these blessings, and I believe this isn't the intentions of God.

When I read the Bible, I see that good people suffered. I do not believe that Job would have seen his borders expand if he had prayed Jabez's prayer. I do not believe that Paul would have suffered less persecution if he got his prayer life in better shape.

I do not want to sound down on prayer. I believe in prayer. I would venture to say that I pray more than most. I start all most every day in prayer. I believe my prayer brings me into fellowship with God, and that is a good place to be. However, I do not believe I am changing God's mind when I pray, and if God decides to cause me to suffer so that the Kingdom might advance; who am I to think I can pray my way out of it.

I believe that it is time we bring sovereignty in our prayer life. God is in control, and we are not. Most every Christian I know believes that statement. However, they act like it isn't true when it comes to salvation and prayer.

The Lord Jesus gave us a prayer to model all prayer after. In that prayer, Jesus said, "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." Let us not leave this important concept out of our prayers. God is in control. His will should be our prayer and our goal. Remember this, the next time you pray.



(On Side Note) I Like to pray the Prayer of Jabez before I eat large meals.