12 Witnesses

My blog was down over most of the day (maybe some of the night?). Anyway, I kept getting email from folks telling me, but I was out of pocket. A member of my church scored a couple of free passes to the LPGA event being held here in Tulsa and I was with him this morning, as he was gracious enough to invite me to come along.

Some speculated that it had been sabatoged. That may have been true. Marty Duren posted this cryptic comment, “Where, oh where, has my little Art gone? Where, oh where, could he be?” and within 24 hours, my blog disappeared. Hmmmm.

Nah, it was just blogger being flakey, as usual. Anyway, a couple of comments surfaced after everything went out, so be sure and check the last post.

In the meantime, have a blessed Lord’s Day.

The BOT of the IMB will be meeting next week. Marty Duren will be in observance for a portion of the meeting, but no one I know is expecting much. “Which is the problem,” said my friend. That is to say, some things probably should be happening that won’t.

I speculate that this will be a year of laying low. There is genuine division of thought on many of the issues surrounding the IMB. For evidence of this look at the closeness of the past election of officers - particularly the Chair’s race.

Not all of those on a different page with Dr. Floyd are necessarily on the same page as Wade Burleson, though. I perceive a middle ground group that view Wade as too controversial, but are not happy with at least the Baptism guideline (if not the PPL policy) and are very loyal to Dr. Rankin.

We’ll all be watching closely, of course. As I have said before, they are on the clock.

The thing you may not have noticed is the Executive Committee meeting the very next week. Again, I believe that what the EC does or doesn’t do has more impact than all the rest. I’ll post more about their important as they meet.

Dr. Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has joined the public conversation over his decision not to release Dwight McKissic’s sermon on Southwestern’s website after the Chapel service was over. You will recall that Dr. Patterson personally made the decision not to allow subsequent streaming video of the chapel sermon after the live feed.

In a letter to the editor of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, Dr. Patterson takes issue with the article written by Jim Jones, entitled: Seminary leader rebukes pastor over sermon.

The letter to the editor will be available online for only a brief time, so I have reproduced its contents here:

Jim Jones’ Friday story on Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was a disappointment.

First, I did not rebuke Pastor Dwight McKissic in any way, but rather received him warmly in every conceivable way as a brother and as a trustee.

Second, all sermons, including that of Brother McKissic, are kept in the archives and (as Jones noted, contradicting his own story) are available for purchase.

Most Baptists are not charismatics. I decided not to employ Southwestern’s resources to publicize a view contrary to our theology and critical of a sister agency. For this, I make no apology.

I will always do my best to feature to the general public those commitments of Baptists that we sincerely hold precious. Views all across the spectrum are taught in our classrooms, but not all views are endorsed, propagated or advertised. We certainly do not use our resources to promote views that we believe to be unbiblical.

Although I cannot know the reporter’s motives, I see no reason to present a story in which untruths are featured that can only mislead the public and run the risk of hurting genuine long-standing friendships. Why would a reporter deliberately report something that never happened?

Dwight McKissic is a precious friend and brother. He was rebuked by no one at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I simply chose not to continue the video streaming of this particular chapel service. Southwestern always reserves the right to decide what it will advertise or advocate with its own resources.

President Paige Patterson, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth

Until it goes away, you can verify the accuracy of this letter by reading it in:

LETTERS, FAXES AND E-MAILS TO THE EDITOR

I would note four things from this letter.

1. Dr. Patterson’s description of his time with Dwight McKissic parallels McKissic’s own version of their time together. It is apparent that Dr. Patterson went out of his way to make his guest feel at home and was successful in doing so.

2. Dr. Patterson refers to the video streaming of Southwestern’s Chapel service as being seen by the general public. While such a stream may be made available to the public, it is highly unlikely that people outside the Southern Baptist Convention would be watching such a stream. The point could be made that the articles in major newspapers would draw others from outside the general public, but without the sermon being withheld, there would have been no story to print in the first place.

I don’t know what to make of this statement. Either Dr. Patterson doesn’t understand who is browsing SWBTS’ website or he is equating making something available to the general public as promotion of the view represented. The DVD of the service, however, is also available to anyone who wishes to purchase it, so if he interprets available as promotion, he is still promoting these views.

3. Dr. Patterson’s statement concerning what Southwestern will and will not advocate with its resources is telling. I quote it again, for clarity: “Southwestern always reserves the right to decide what it will advertise or advocate with its own resources.”

Yes.

Southwestern will not use its resources to promote the use of a Private Prayer Language. Southwestern will use its resources to call into question the leadership and direction of the IMB:

If you didn’t know, this is a faxed copy of the cover letter Dr. Patterson wrote that went along with Dr. Keith Eitel’s “White Paper,” simply called “Vision Assesment.” This paper was sent, with cover letter, to every Trustee on the International Mission Board. The Paper is very critical of the leadership and direction of the IMB.

If you can’t read the letter because of degrading quality, here is the exact content:

[Southwestern's seal and letterhead]
[Name & Address of Trustee blacked out]

Mr. [blacked out]

Without a doubt, the keenest thinking in missiology occurs on the staff of the International Mission Board. Southern Baptists continue to be the leader in the field of International missions, and that is exactly how we want it to be.

However, some profitable thinking and planning is done elsewhere. Dr. Keith Eitel, one of the cutting edge missiologists of our day, who is professor of missiology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has written a white paper which focuses on one of the current major discussions. The critical importance of his paper, especially in light of the conservative movement within the Southern Baptist Convention, will be apparent as you read it. Because of your strategic position as a trustee of the International Mission Board, I wanted you to have the benefit of his thinking. May God be good to you as you continue to serve our denomination in so many ways.

Until He Comes,
[signature: Paige Patterson]
Paige Patterson

PP:cv

Enclosure

4. Finally, Dr. Patterson seems to imply that Jones, the article’s author, intentionally lied about something. Specifically, he interprets the title of the article as more factual than descriptive. On the one hand, the title does lead one to believe something beyond what actually happened had occured. On the other hand, if the title and the fact that you can still purchase the DVD are the only corrections, and they seem to be, then there is not much to correct.

Ok, I have had a couple of emails from one of my anonymous sources saying that I was too hard on Baptist Press. They are good guys in a tough position.

Apparently some of the comments I have made have led some, at least this one, to believe that I disrespect the people there.

One comment made by my source was that Frank page did not issue a statement on his own initiative, but that he was contacted by the BP staff for a comment. This is a step in the right direction.

My anonymous source also said that tremendous pressure still exists for the writers at Baptist Press not to run stories that cast certain people in a negative light.

It is this exact situation to which I have often referred. In fact, it is well known, and often evidence in the stories covered or not covered, that such a situation exists.

It is to this situation that I refer, and not to the guys who are writing the stories.

Hang in there, guys, and kudos on the piece, “Chapel speaker amplifies stance;
SBC’s Page sees ‘positive outcomes’“