It has now come to our attention that a third 1VP candidate will be nominated at the SBC. Jimmy Jackson joins Keith Fordham and Mark Dever as willing participants in the race for the 1VP slot.

You can read the BP story on Jackson here:

Huntsville pastor Jimmy Jackson to be nominated as 1st VP.

This comes amid rumors that Jerry Sutton will be nominated as another candidate for President of the SBC. If so, and I am assured by a solid confidential source that it will be so, there will be 8 candidates for 3 offices – and that is assuming that no one else runs.

A few thoughts on the situation:

There hasn’t been this many options since the days when the future of the convention was still in doubt. Does that mean that the future of the convention really is in doubt again? I know several who think that it is. Marty Duren has said that this is a battle for the future of the Convention. This perception is not just for bloggers anymore. It seems that now everyone believes this to be true.

Could the Inner Circle be divided? It has been clear for some time that many solid conservatives have been unhappy with the direction of the status quo. Coul the number of nominees reflect the core truth that the tightest circles maybe of different minds? What would that mean if it were so?

Could the various nominees actually be an attempt to create a sense of confusion in the “massive middle” so that they turn to the nominee that bears the endorsements of the “known leaders” of the Resurgence? I said several months ago that several nominees could very well solidify the “annointed” candidate.

The complexities of these nominations are vast. Both Frank Page and Ronnie Floyd have offended Calvinists in the convention. You have heard more about Frank lately because he has a published book to which many can refer – and they do so. Ronnie, however, has frequently demonstrated a penchant for verbally abusing Reformed Baptists a la Ergun Caner at Pastor’s Conferences and other events.

Most of the blogging world is breaking for Page – except Calvinist bloggers, but Sutton has appeal to many older conservatives who know and trust him. In the South, Page still has the grapevine rumor that is linking him as a “liberal” to Russell Dilday because he said that Dilday’s firing was political and wrong minded.

Let’s get this straight: Saying that Dilday’s firing was political is not a liberal thought. It is accurate. We’ve been down this road before, so I won’t rehearse it again for you. Simply put, Frank Page may be many things, but a “liberal” is not one of them.

Sutton is seen by some as a second “Inner Circle” candidate to replace Floyd. It seems that the endorsements and the campaigning are not working as Ronnie continues to take heat over his church’s giving record. The revelation that the Arkansas Baptist Convention gives more to his church than his church gives to them has been devistating. You can read about that particular piece of info at the blog of Ben Cole.

Page is a hometown fella who has the 40 and under crowd behind him. If Sutton calls in the middle aged conservatives who think Page is a liberal and are offended by Floyd in some way, then it could turn out to be quite a horse race for President.

I think if Sutton is nominated (and it is officially “in the air”) then he wins because conservatives trust him and questions circulate around the others, whether or not they are deserved.

Frankly, nobody knows much, but that Floyd will have his giving record hung around his neck from now on. If it improves, most will see it as an attempt to secure the office of President in the future. I am afraid this is his one and only chance.

Then again, who knows? Stranger things have happened.

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