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Is Bobby Welch Wrong About CP?
I like Bobby Welch. I have only met him on one occasion, around ten years ago when I was serving as an Associate Pastor of FBC Poinciana, near Kissimmee, FL. The Senior Pastor and I took a group of folks from our church to a F.A.I.T.H. Evangelism Training event at First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach. Pastor Bobby’s enthusiasm for reaching the lost — whether in your own hometown or half-way around the world — was contagious! At the conclusion of the training, I asked Pastor Bobby to sign a copy of my F.A.I.T.H. New Testament, which he graciously did. Maybe I’m biased, but as a native Floridian who was reared in a Southern Baptist church in the middle of the state, I always looked to pastors like Bobby Welch and Orlando’s Jim Henry as heroes in the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cooperative Program, Great Commission Resurgence, Southern Baptist Convention
Speaking Truth To Power In The SBC!
“Speaking truth to power.” Used by liberals ad nauseum during President George W. Bush’s eight years in office, this pithy saying, although not in the Bible, certainly was embodied in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, Paul, Peter, John and others in the New Testament era and by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others in the Old Testament era. To speak truth to those in power is not an easy thing to do, whether those in positions of power are in government or in America’s largest Protestant body. Because so few people have the courage to challenge those in power, when it happens, it becomes all the more noticeable. Such was the case in Greensboro, NC at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2006. In one of the boldest examples of truth-telling to those in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cooperative Program, Southern Baptist Convention
A Radical Makeover – Florida Style!
The radical makeover of the Southern Baptist Convention continues to move faster than a starving alligator chasing down its next meal. With the release of their report and recommendations on September 23 at historic Lake Yale, the “Imagine If Great Commission Resurgence Task Force,” appointed last year by Florida Baptist Convention President John Cross, appears poised to lead Florida Baptists to become the first Baptist State Convention under the GCR to become a subsidiary of the national SBC. In June, just after the SBC in Orlando, I predicted to my brother-in-law, a Florida Baptist pastor, that the Imagine If Task Force would recommend a 50-50 split of CP funds. I just didn’t predict the four year timeframe. As a Florida native who was ordained as a deacon and licensed to the Gospel ministry at First … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cooperative Program, Great Commission Resurgence, Southern Baptist Convention
Heroes & Villains In The SBC
It is my hope and dream, knowing the autonomy within our convention, that the leaders within our state conventions will take a radical, prayerful look at this priority,” Wright said. “State leaders could be the real heroes here. They are controlling the funds. The Southern Baptist Convention has no authority in this area. It is my hope that there will be a radical reprioritization so that we can bring about these thousands of people groups who have practically no witness of the gospel. Byrant Wright, President of the Southern Baptist Convention Haven’t we had enough radical change in our country in the last two years? Apparently not, according to new SBC President Byrant Wright. Restating his vision to radically reprioritize (and redefine) the Southern Baptist Convention, he continued his call to dismantle change the autonomous … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cooperative Program, Great Commission Resurgence, Southern Baptist Convention