Getting ready to go to bed after a day at the Missouri Baptist Convention in St. Louis. If you don't get too wound up about MBC goings-on then a) you're probably the smarter of the two of us, and b) this blog is probably not for you. But if you are interested in such things, read on...
The theme of this year's convention is "Restoring Fellowship, Reaching People." The highlight of the convention (in harmony with the theme) was to be the report of the "Peace Committee," a group of prominent men in Missouri Baptist life given the task of working out some of the hard feelings that have developed between factions in the convention. Imagine, then, the air that was let out of the room when the Peace Committee took the platform and essentially said, "There is no peace. We are at an impasse." Ooookaaay. (So much for restoring fellowship.) Nevertheless, the Peace Committee says it's committed to keep working at it, and I hope they make some headway.
In other news, our interim Executive Director, David Tolliver, did a solid job (as always) with his address. Of course, staying true to the theme, he spoke of the need for unity in the convention. He told the story of a prison guard who was once asked, "Don't you worry about all these prisoners conspiring together to overthrow you?" His response, "No. Lunatics never unite." I also was happy to hear David say that it's' time we stop counting baptisms, and start counting how many times we share the Gospel (the results being God's business), which is something I've said for awhile now. David has done an excellent job as our interim director, and should have the respect and gratitude of all Missouri Baptists.
The theme of this year's convention is "Restoring Fellowship, Reaching People." The highlight of the convention (in harmony with the theme) was to be the report of the "Peace Committee," a group of prominent men in Missouri Baptist life given the task of working out some of the hard feelings that have developed between factions in the convention. Imagine, then, the air that was let out of the room when the Peace Committee took the platform and essentially said, "There is no peace. We are at an impasse." Ooookaaay. (So much for restoring fellowship.) Nevertheless, the Peace Committee says it's committed to keep working at it, and I hope they make some headway.
In other news, our interim Executive Director, David Tolliver, did a solid job (as always) with his address. Of course, staying true to the theme, he spoke of the need for unity in the convention. He told the story of a prison guard who was once asked, "Don't you worry about all these prisoners conspiring together to overthrow you?" His response, "No. Lunatics never unite." I also was happy to hear David say that it's' time we stop counting baptisms, and start counting how many times we share the Gospel (the results being God's business), which is something I've said for awhile now. David has done an excellent job as our interim director, and should have the respect and gratitude of all Missouri Baptists.
Missouri Baptist President, Gerald Davidson (an SBC legend), closed out the first night of the convention with a loooooooong address. (But I guess he's earned that right.) As everyone knows, Dr. Davidson is a very opinionated man. But he did a very good job of refraining from getting into convention politics in his address, and instead focused on the person of Jesus, which is always welcome and needed. He even gave four points on how Jesus would vote! Now that's guts!... More tomorrow night.
