12 Witnesses

There were three nominees for President: Alton Fanning, Buddy Hunt and Walter Mulligen.

There is a run off between the first two that has gone to a ballot (as opposed to show by standing).

Drama! ;-).

On my way to the BGCO this morning, I got a tip that the SBTexan had an article written by Tammi Reed Ledbetter with a couple of interesting quotes concerning the PPL issue.

Ken Hemphill, past president of Southwestern Seminary (and the man whose name is on my diploma), has said that PPL is a legitimate interpretation of 1 Cor 14.

Leo Garrett, longtime Professor of Theology at SWBTS, has said that Baptists disagree on the issue and, therefore, should not address it in our confessional statement. I agree completely.

Read it all for yourself:

Profs, former president respond on tongues

Kie Bowman just preached the most powerful sermon of the day. He called us to be men of prayer in seeking to be men of God and His leaders.

These sermons are due to be available on the BGCO website. I’ll post a link when I am able.

Bobby Waitman is a bi-vocational pastor and he preached on the elevation of Christ and the “delevation” of ourselves.

I was glad to see a bi-vocational pastor placed in this role. It’s a good sign that we are honoring truly servant minded men.

In answer to inquiries, I don’t know of any gossip in the lobby.

Keith Russell, past President of the BGCO and currently pastoring in FL, spoke on the things “I still believe” about the person of Christ. Virgin Birth, Virtuous Life, Vicarious Death, Victorious Resurrection & Visible Return.

At this point, it may be helpful for you to know that the President of the Pastor’s Conference has said that he asked the speakers “just to come and preach Jesus.” Therefore, the person of Jesus has taken center stage here.

Nick Garland touched on the symbolism of the Lamb throughout the Bible. In the end, he focused on the triumphant Lamb in Revelation 5.

Ergun Caner was third today. Ergun spoke on several things, as is his style. His running theme was the engaging of the lost culture with the authentic Gospel. Funny and, at times, self deprecating, he was smoother and more adept at rousing the crowd than Anthony Jordan.

He avoided the hot button issues of the SBC for the most part, but did say that we could refer to Jesus by any term “in [our] intimate prayer language,” and then paused, as if editing himself, then moved on.

I have also seen Wade Burleson now, so he, like Wes, has a witness.

Anthony Jordan, Executive Director of the BGCO, just preached on the power of the name of Jesus. Nothing like that to get an entire church full of pastors shouting and hooting.

Tommy Clark was our first speaker today. He nailed it. Discipleship over church growth. Servanthood over leadership. Good stuff.

I can see Wes Kenney and his bride close to the front. Just in case his church members were worried about him skipping and going to eat… He was here. I’m a witness.

I awoke this morning to find a new article on my Bloglines feed reader. It would seem that Morris Chapman has decided to post on his blog concerning the Guidestone issue that was raised last week.

You can read it at this link: The Investment Funds of SBC Entities.

I appreciate Dr. Chapman speaking for himself on this issue. A few things to note…

1. Dr. Chapman again affirms that this has been an ongoing thought process for about two years. Unless he lacks any shred of integrity, and I am confident he is not lacking, this foray is not a specific response to SWBTS. Not that SWBTS or any other entity would be forced to go to Guidestone, should this become part of its mission. It would be just an option.

2. This could, potentially, help our ministers and missionaries as fees could be reduced for us as they are offset by profits of these trusts. Naturally, I am all for that.

3. While SBC Life, a publication of the Executive Committee, had the heights of Cooperative Program giving on its front page this month, Dr. Chapman has rightly estimated that the Cooperative model is wounded and deteriorating. More and more churches are going outside the Cooperative Program for their missions efforts, leaving a pittance for the CP.

We fund work outside the CP, and I think that it is a healthy thing to do. However, our church also increased our giving to the CP dramatically. We give 10% of offerings to the CP, in addition to the special emphasis offerings, other percentages to the Association/BGCO and other local ministry efforts in which our members are involved. Many churches now are participating in the latter, but ignoring the former. This was never more evident than during the SBC Presidential race during the past year.

4. Dr. Chapman is still using the KJV. Not even the NKJV. C’mon, Doc. Don’t you know that the HCSB (which I use) is THE Southern Baptist translation? If you doubt this, walk across the street to the Lifeway building and ask anyone you might find over there.