Some Pray We Will Fight

I read the Associated Baptist Press. The ABP is a group of liberal Baptists who haven't got over the fact they lost control of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979. I read their stuff because it is good to know what the liberals are thinking. I have always been in the habit of reading everyone's thoughts. However, I can only name one other person that frequents their website.

Over the last few months, the ABP has been so excited by a possible dispute at the Southern Baptist Convention. All most every article they print about the upcoming SBC is about dissension within the ranks. It is as if they are praying that the SBC has a big fight. I know this is going to disappoint them, but it ain't going to happen folks.

The reason they want a nasty fight is to prove their point. They believe that the conservative resurgence was an awful thing, and it was done by awful people. (By the way, every article they write about the current SBC leadership uses the term "Fundamentalist". However, they never use the word liberal to describe their side). A big nasty fight would prove their hypothesis that the SBC conservative movement is ran by hatemongers and rabble-rousers.

Also, a big nasty fight would prove one of their heroes correct. Bill Lenard, a liberal Church Historian, has said for years that Conservatives have to fight about something. Thus, they would end up turning on themselves. Bill Lenard also said that the SBC would break up into many denominations. He said this at Cumberland College many years ago. He has also predicted many other things that aren't true. However, if this one is true, then Bill Lenard is a genius.

Here is my prediction for this years SBC. Ronnie Floyd will win the presidency with about 70% of the vote. He will call for unity. The other candidate will get up on stage with Ronnie and encourage all Southern Baptists to support their new leader. Their will be a huge standing ovation, and some tears shed.

As for the Mohler and Patterson discussion on Calvinism. This will be nothing more than a discussion. They will talk about how each side can reach the lost. This will not be a debate at all, and everyone will be happy at the end.

I know this prediction is going to cause the liberals to be sick to their stomachs. All their hopes and dreams are going to be shattered.

I look forward to the SBC. I enjoy the worship, I enjoy the displays, and I enjoy the reports. I was at the last large convention in 1990. Those days are over, we will not fight like that again. The reason we fought so hard then was to correct a Biblical problem. There will always be opinions on the Conservative side of things, and sometimes those opinions will be strong. However, we will not see a massive movement for change in the SBC. We may debate over some issues, but truthfully, most of us are fairly happy. Of course, there are flaws in our organization, but nothing on Earth is perfect.

PS. I will be on vacation next week. I will post again the following week. Thanks for reading.

Why I Can't Vote For Ronnie Floyd for SBC President

Last month, I wrote a blog declaring Johnny Hunt as the next SBC President. My how things change! Johnny Hunt decided that he couldn't run. So, he called his good friend Ronnie Floyd, and asked Dr. Floyd if he would allow his name to be placed in for consideration. Ronnie Floyd accepted, and Dr. Hunt will place Dr. Floyd's name in as a candidate for the Presidency.

Dr. Floyd is the Pastor of First Baptist Church, Springdale, Arkansas. First Baptist Springdale is the largest SBC church in Arkansas. He has been a prominent figure in the convention's leadership for years. Dr. Floyd is a logical choice for the position. However, I have major problems with Dr. Floyd.

The first time I heard the name Ronnie Floyd was at the 1997 Pastor Conference at the Southern Baptist Convention. The Convention was held in Dallas, and I attended. Ronnie Floyd was the President of the Pastor's Conference that year. I have been to 6 Pastor's Conferences. Ronnie Floyd's was a disaster.

Ronnie Floyd did not have a Pastor's Conference. He had a Promise Keeper's rally. He invited terrible speakers, and we had beach balls in the auditorium. It was so bad that they had to beg for money before the last offering to pay for building. How do I know this? Well, something interesting happened to me in the bookstore.

Between speakers, I happened to be standing in the bookstore near the late Adrian Rodgers. I over heard a conversation between Adrian and Ronnie, and it went something like this. Adrian said,"How short are you?" Ronnie said, "Quite a bit." Adrian replied, "We will help you out."

The next thing you know, Bailey Smith was brought to the pulpit to ask the pastors to dig deep. I do not know if they got enough, but I will always remember the failure on the 1997 Pastor's Conference.

The next time I heard Ronnie Floyd was when he was promoting his book on Fasting. I don't remember the books name, because it had that much impact on my life. But I remember him talking about fasting for 40 days. I want to be clear here. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, Biblical about a 40 day fast. Jesus fasted 40 days, but I do not see the Scriptures telling us to do this. I believe this a stunt, and I have to ask why he felt the need to write a book about it.

My next problem with Ronnie Floyd is his lack of Cooperative Program giving. His church has over 6,000 people in attendance on Sunday morning. Last year his church gave $32,000 to the Cooperative Program. This was .27 percent of his undesignated offerings. My church averages 140 on Sunday Morning and we gave over $20,000 last year. I think Ronnie Floyd should step up.

My final problem with Ronnie Floyd is his nonchalant attitude towards historical methods. Dr. Floyd allows for Fire Engine baptisms to take place in his church. When children are baptized in the fire engine, lights flash, sirens blare, and confetti is fired out of cannons. I wonder if Dr. Floyd has thought for one minute about how coercive this is to a child.

So who will I vote for? I don't know. As of now, there is not another candidate. My hope is that a group of leaders choose a candidate that is non-controversial.

Over the years, I have followed the SBC leadership in all most all of their decisions. I cannot support Dr. Floyd. I pray that another name is brought to the floor. I do know one thing, It should be a very interesting convention in North Carolina this year.

Church Planting Problems

I was a church planter before I became the pastor of the church I am currently serving. I love church planting. I truly believe that I will be involved in church planting for the rest of my ministry. I worked hard to get my current church to plant a church in a neighboring town. That church plant is expected to constitute in September. My next goal is to try to plant a church in another neighboring city. This will be difficult, but most great things are difficult to do. Needless to say, church planting is a major priority in my ministry.

The reason I see church planting as a priority is due to the fact that it is a priority in the New Testament. Jesus commissions the church in Matthew 28:19 to go out and make disciples all over the place. The New Testament church did just that. They went all over the known world and made disciples. They made disciples by making churches. You cannot read the book of Acts and deny the emphasis on church planting. Church planting was the way Paul ministered.

I believe that you cannot make disciples without placing them in a church. Thus, if we are to reach out as Acts 1:8 tells us to; we must then do it with an emphasis on church planting. Thus, church planting must be the centerpiece of any mission organization. This leads me to my problem. Our state and national conventions claim that church planting is a priority, but I fail to see the leadership and the resources given to prove their claim.

I can speak only for church planting in Ohio, but I would not be surprised if the problem is convention wide. The pathetic management of church planting is the only reason I applaud the removal of Bob Reccord as the President of the North American Mission Board. I hope the next president will spend more time on this important topic, and less time promoting their self-interests.

Our state and national conventions have three major problems to overcome if church planting is to be successful.

First, the funding of church planters. Church planters are paid very little and expected to do a lot of work. My total package was $25,000 my last year of church planting. The term total package includes; salary, insurances, retirement, and social security. My actual salary was around $17,000. You cannot raise a family on this type of money. The sad truth is that I made more than many other church planters.

Three years ago, we developed a package for our current church planter. His total package is around $35,000. This total package is an exceptional package for a church planter. Most church planters would give their left arm for this type of salary package. This is sad. Nevertheless, it is true.

If our convention wishes to be a successful church planting organization they must find a way to pay church planters. Church planting is an extremely difficult and time consuming ministry. Most church planters are making half of what the average pastor is making. If they wish to live at a comfortable level, they will need a second job. If they get a second job, it will take time away from their church plant. You can see how this can cycle out of control.

Second, the convention must find qualified church planters. Most of this problem could be solved if they fixed the first problem. Why would our best and brightest ministers plant churches when they can be paid twice as much pastoring an established church?

Church planting is not for everyone. You have to be a self starter. You have to have vision. You have to be optimistic. You have to stay focused. You have to be able to shake off disappointments. Church planting is just plain tough.

Due to the fact that we refuse to pay our church planters, we often are left with people who cannot find churches to pastor. This isn't always true, but I believe that many of our church planters are young men looking to get into the ministry. They go to church planting to get their foot in the door.

Many church plants fail. These failures are due to many reasons. However, if we can find a proper way to get more qualified men into church plants; I believe the failure rate would be much, much lower.

Third, We must find good mother churches. Churches start churches. This statement should be tattooed on the foreheads of every Director of Missions in our convention. If we want to see successful church plants, then we must have dedicated mother churches.

Our national and state conventions must begin to convince our large churches to take a part in this task. I would love to see our next SBC president make planting churches an issue. Most churches are not involved in church planting. We must find ways to change this. Church planting is expensive, and many churches do not believe they have the funds to support a new work. Our convention must develop a plan to get churches to work together to support new works.

Over the last 10 years in Ohio, church planting efforts have been an abysmal failure. I cannot speak for the rest of the nation, but I am confident things are not great there either. The three items that I mentioned are not new. They have been talked about for years. However, I have not seen any leadership in dealing with these problems. I believe we will continue to flounder unless drastic changes our made.

I do know one thing. If I pastored the same church for 10 years, and never truly addressed and fixed any problems, I would resign in disgrace. I would apologize for my pathetic efforts, and I would pray that God would forgive me for wasting valuable resources. Dr. Reccord should probably be the first of many to go. It is time that our national and state conventions evaluate their church planting efforts. We need to stop pouring new wine into old wineskins.

Sorry, No Post This Week

I am in the middle of a move. My internet Service Provider disconnected me. I will be back up on May 10th. Thank you for reading.

Bigrevcoop