Yesterday was the final day of the pastor's conference. It was absolutely great. All of the speakers were dead on and the theme was unity and love. Its what the SBC needs. As I alluded to on Sunday, there's a huge generation gap in the SBC. All you have to do is look around the convention hall to see the blue hairs in the the polyester and the young hipsters in jeans and messy hair and a soul patch. The messages on unity were just amazing - my personal favorites were David Platt, Ed Stetzer, and Johnny Hunt. That was the super short version. I think you can look it up online and watch the sermons at sbc.net.
So, for today - Today I was proud to be a Southern Baptist. I didn't think I'd be saying that. But today a lot of guys my age should be proud to be Southern Baptists. Today the generation gap was bridged. Who's to thank for this? Our president, Johnny Hunt. Johnny has taken a lot of heat in the past for being a Calvinist basher, but he's not now and has apologized. Calvinists have been guilty of Johnny bashing and should get over it. I've always been a fan of Johnny and Calvinism. I've been around Johnny Hunt for many years in many different roles. He's a great, godly man who's bridged a gap with people who he loves but just so happens to disagree with when it comes to soteriology. His leadership in passing the Great Commission Resurgence was astounding. You can read more about the GCR here.
During the lunch break today I went and sat in on a panel discussion called "Baptist 21." The guys who were there: Danny Aiken, Ed Stetzer, Daniel Montgomery (Sojourn Louisville), Al Mohler, David Platt, and Mark Dever. Amazing again. These guys also made me proud to be a SBC member.
Oh yeah, this morning I went to the Founders Ministries breakfast. Danny Aiken (who is not part of the group) was the speaker. Again, totally inspiring. He talked about how he was losing friends simply by being at the breakfast and how he knew the gospel was more important than a silly debate. It was fantastic.
Here's the thing...The SBC's cooperative program is a great organization. It makes missions possible. All of these young missionaries-in-waiting around the country and here at Southern don't want the bureaucracy. Some of it is of course crazy. A lot of it is necessary though. When you manage this many churches and manage this much money you have to have order. Organized bureaucracy is necessary. Its how the missionaries get paid, and rightfully so. Its how we send more missionaries than any other organization in the world. And its not close.
Many people have given the sarcastic "have fun" when I tell them I'm taking this as a class and have to go. I'm glad I'm here and I've learned a lot. I've learned some that has made me laugh. When guys make motions to ban Mark Driscoll from LifeWay I laughed. When a guy referred to the Great Commission Resurgence as the G.C. Insurgence (by mistake, not on purpose), I laughed. So of what has happened was ridiculous. Like today when a guy got up and angrily and bitterly ripped Calvinism in front of 9,000 people. He was completely uneducated as to what he was talking about and outright wrong. However, I was mostly proud. Like when former SBC president and outspoken non-Calvinist Frank Paige got up and spoke FOR the GCR. I was proud when we as a convention rose above the stupid Calvinism debate and focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and overwhelmingly passed the GCR. I think today was a big day in the life of the SBC and for our future. I was proud to be there.
Then when I got home, Bogie rolled in poo. Life is great!
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