That Was Great, Bob. Now Get Out!

The North American Mission Board will have a new leader soon. The former leader, Bob Reccord, resigned after a report was published that highly criticized his leadership. According to the reports, Dr. Reccord used questionable judgment in many of his expenditures. For instance, he spent several thousand dollars of cooperative program funds so that he and his family could see the opening of Chronicles of Narnia in London. He also spend over $10,000 promoting himself to get on CNN. The report also questioned his heavy handed tactics. It claimed that Dr. Reccord created an atmosphere of intimidation which made it hard for others to do their job.

I have a mixed opinion of Dr. Reccord. I truly love to hear him speak. He is a great communicator. He is very capable at using technology to further the Kingdom. He is a true visionary, and his style will be missed at the board. That being said, I have a major issue with the way he directed his most important activity. Dr. Bob Reccord, and those who worked with him, have done a ridiculously sorry job in the field of church planting. I spend a lot of time in this area of ministry, and I haven't been pleased by much that NAMB created. I think my next blog will be written on this topic.

So Dr. Reccord is gone. I write this blog not to be critical, but to laugh at the process. Dr. Reccord resigned under a cloud of issues. Yet, there is a need within the Southern Baptist Convention to act like Dr. Reccord did nothing wrong and this was a happy day for everyone.

A few years ago, I watched a church get rid of their pastor. The reason the church forced their pastor out was due to the fact that he married someone too soon after his wife's death. They didn't think he mourned long enough. So they stopped tithing. When he resigned, I did not see any of the Deacons running around saying this was a good day for everyone. For the truth was, this was a bad day for the pastor, and an even worse day for the integrity of the church.

It appears to me that the higher up you go, the better the send off you get. Dr. Reccord resigned in disgrace. We can polish it up all that we want, but he is no longer the President of NAMB because of his poor leadership. I guess admitting the truth is awfully hard for some of us.

According to Baptist Press, dozens of SBC leaders have signed a letter praising Dr. Reccord's integrity. It is my belief that Dr. Reccord will be just fine. He will land on his feet, and will continue to have speaking engagements all over the country. I just wish these same SBC leaders would right a letter for the pastor that lost his job because his church ran him off without a legitimate reason.

I hope NAMB will look outside of itself for its next leader. This position is one of the most important positions in our Convention. My hope is they will choose a Pastor that has impeccable character. I know one that lost his job several years ago because his church thought he married to soon. I am sure he would be open to an interview.

My One Year Anniversary

This post marks my one year anniversary in the blog world. I have truly enjoyed it, and I look forward to blogging for several more years. Maybe one day more than fifty people will read my work. Maybe one day someone of importance will find their way to Bigrevcoop's Thoughts and make me an offer to write for him. All this is highly unlikely, but I can always dream. You never know, stranger things have happened.

The truth is that I write this blog for myself. I truly appreciate everyone who reads it, but I would write it even if I was the only one who read it. Writing a weekly blog has been a great discipline for me. It forces me to sit down and truly ponder on an issue.

I believe that writing is a lost art. Most people have never learned how to put their thoughts into words. This blog has made me a better Pastor. Why? Because it has made me a better writer. Every sermon I write is better because I spend a few moments every Wednesday putting this blog together. That is why I see myself doing this a long long time.

I have decided to rank my 10 best blogs for this post. Over the last week, I reread everything I wrote last year. Many of the things I wrote do not warrant another read. Many of them were boring and some of them were self-serving. However, there was a handful that I thought were pretty good.

So here it is; from 10 to 1.

10. Praise the Lord: If that's O.K. with you. Posted April 12, 2006. This is my last post before this one. I enjoyed writing it, and I found it to be a good read.

9. Abortion in America. Posted January 25, 2006. I wrote this at the time of the National Right To Life rally in Washington D.C. I had a few Biblical texts in this one that I thought hit the nail on the head.

8. No Modern Day Cinderella Story. Posted March 25, 2006. I haven't used it yet, but I believe this would be a great sermon illustration of the problems of our society.

7. The Diminishing Role of the Bible in Preaching. Posted November 2, 2005. This is a call for pastors to use the word appropriately.

6. Prayer Falling Short. Posted June 3, 2005. I loved reading this one again. It reminded me of why I write these things in the first place.

5. A Weak and Vulgar Society. Posted October 10, 2005. A whole lot like number 8, but a little better.

4. End Time Madness. Post September 23, 2005. If you are confused by the book of Revelation; good. This blog will make you feel good about being confused.

3. Silly Urgency. Posted January 19, 2006. It is not your fault that lost people are lost. Remember this.

2. Who Has Authority in The Church. Posted July 1, 2005. More people contacted me about this blog than all others combined. One pastor even told me that he printed it off and read it to his congregation the next Sunday.

1. I Feel Funny. Posted October 19, 2005. This may not have been your favorite blog, but it was mine. And you must remember, this is my list. I truly believe that existentialism has been a great burden to the local church. I hope you FEEL the same way.

So there you have it, my top 10. I hope you have enjoyed reading my work as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Next week I will post again. Thanks again for reading.

PRAISE THE LORD: if that's o.k. with you

On March 31st, the largest ecumenical group in our nations history was started. Christian Churches Together was dreamed up 4 years ago, and constituted last month with 34 groups present. The purpose of this group is to promote unity within the Christian community. This is precisely the reason it is doomed to fail.

I do not attend my local ministerial society. There are many reasons that I don't attend, but the main reason is that I am not ecumenical. I never will be ecumenical. I find ecumenicalism appalling and disgusting. I have very little respect for those who are ecumenical, and I often wonder if a person can be a Christian and be ecumenical.

The biggest problem with ecumenicalism is that you have to forfeit your right to believe in things. The only ministers that can be ecumenical are liberals. Liberal Christians refuse to take stands on things that matter, thus they can associate with whomever they want without compromising their beliefs.

I have known several good Christian pastors who have tried to associate with ecumenical groups. All of these pastors end up regretting their decisions to get involved. Why? Because ecumenicalism means you must leave your strong beliefs at the door and accept another's beliefs regardless of how unbiblical those beliefs may be.

Can't we all get along? The answer is, "No we can't." We never have been able to get along. We never will be able to get along. When Jesus comes back he will separate the true church from the false church. When this happens, those who are saved will all get along. Until then we will constantly fight and argue about what is true.

I once heard a pastor call denominations "Deamonations". I think this statement is nothing more than shallow and ignorant drivel. The purpose of denominations is to separate what is true from what is false. This concept makes denominations very important. Ecumenical groups want to remove the walls of denominations. Why? Because they want to blur the truth to make everyone feel O.K. about themselves.

I, on the other hand, want to build the walls higher. I want purity in truth. I want what is good to be good and what is bad to be bad. I want people to believe passionately enough to debate their hearts. If you cannot stand up for what you believe then by all means sit down and shut up.

The one good thing about Christian liberals is that they kill themselves. Every group that has moved theologically left is shrinking and dying. Ecumenicalism cannot last because it believes in nothing. Unity may sound nice, but what must you give up to achieve it. Unity at what cost? If it costs the Gospel truth, then what really do you have?

The Pastor's Phone

The majority of people who read this blog are pastors. Sure, I have a few church members reading the blog. However, the majority of my church hear me enough. Only very few want more of my ramblings. I also know that some friends and family members read this blog. I truly appreciate their readership, but most of them already know what I think about most issues. I know of a dozen or so pastors that read these posts. I believe this post will speak to them. I will leave the rest of you wondering if I have finally lost it.

I hate my phone. I hate both of my phones. I hate my home phone the most. I have hated it the longest. I also hate my cell phone. I have only recently developed a hatred for it. When I first got my cell phone I loved it. It was shiney and new. I had already grown to hate my home before I got my cell phone. I thought it would be nice to have a phone that I didn't hate. However, now I hate both of them, and it has nothing to do with the charges.

I realize that I need a phone. The phone is what connects me to my work. However, for the last ten years my heart races everytime the phone rings. It rarely brings me a conversation from a friend. It rarely brings a conversation about fun or happy things. It regularly brings me information about the sick, the angry, the hurt, and the dead. That is why I hate my phone.

I started hating my cell phone two years ago. My cell phone was rarely used by people giving me information. The only time that church members used my cell phone was in case of an emergency. My cell phone was mostly reserved for my friends and family. My wife calls me all the time on my cell phone. I always love to hear from her. Then three year ago on vacation, I learned to hate my cell phone.

Three years ago, I recieved my first call on vacation about an issue that I needed to deal with. It was a situation that was unavoidable. My attention was needed, and it was the only way to get a hold of me. Since that day, my vactation is marked by the dread of checking my calls several times a day just to make sure that everything is all right.

My wife loves the phone. She gets to talk to everyone about everything. However, I am always everyone's pastor. I seldom get to chit-chat. Most people don't chit-chat with their pastor.

At the start of my ministry, I was told often by older ministers that everything changes when you are the pastor. This is true, even for my phone. My hope is to one day not to hate my phone. I guess I need to go out and buy a cute phone that looks like a puppy. More than likely, that probably won't work for my personality. I am not certain I love my real dog, Calvin. I don't think a plastic one will fix the problem. I guess I will go on hateing my phone. I am certain I am not alone.