Brothers and sisters, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again at this convention: Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing can be politically right if it’s biblically wrong.
Archives For November 30, 1999
Russell Moore (right), the new president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission explains that the ERLC will support principles, rather than specific legislation. President Emeritus Richard Land (left) led the commission for 25 years.
HOUSTON | Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the past 25 years, turned over the organization’s leadership reigns to new president Russell Moore during the ERLC’s report Tuesday afternoon.
The two men only stood together for a moment, to tag-team answer a question about the ERLC’s stance on immigration reform.
Land’s contribution to the ERLC and to Southern Baptist history was celebrated in a video that showed a lighter side of the long-time culture warrior. Footage of Land telling humorous stories from his past was intercut with words of appreciation from SBC leaders like Al Mohler and Paige Patterson, and from conservative stalwarts on Capitol Hill. Land received a standing ovation from the audience in Houston.
Then, Moore took to the podium. Repeating a phrase he used at Tuesday morning’s “Marriage on the Line” breakfast hosted by the ERLC, he committed to lead churches to act with “convictional kindess” in a world that presents questions that wouldn’t have been asked a generation ago. And referencing Ephesians 6, he urged Southern Baptists to remember who the true enemies are.
“We oppose demons. We don’t demonize opponents.”
He also tried to put in perspective Christians’ ideological differences with the culture.
“We have no reason to be fearful or sullen or mean. We’re not the losers of history,” Moore said.
“Since Jesus is marching onward and since the gates of hell cannot hold Him back, why on earth would we be panicked over the Supreme Court?”
What the Conservative Resurgence bought for us as a denomination was a second chance to be theological, rather than dead.
For the Supreme Court to attempt to define marriage, when marriage is already clearly defined in the first chapters of Genesis forever and ever, is unbridled chutzpah. They have no business even attempting it.
HOUSTON | Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter called to order the 2013 SBC Annual Meeting this morning in Houston with a light-hearted moment. When SBC Executive Committee Frank Page handed him the official gavel and told a little about its history, Luter pretended to bobble it. If we could use a smiley face in a news story, we would use one right now.
On the schedule for Tuesday:
– The report of the SBC Executive Committee, featuring a presentation from the Calvinism advisory team appointed to study theological differences in the denomination
-Reports from the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources
-The introduction of new Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore, and appreciation for President Emeritus Richard Land
-Illinois Baptist pastor Adam Cruse will close the afternoon session with prayer
-Luter will preach his president’s message tonight at 7:20
As of this morning, 4,205 messengers were registered in Houston. Check back here throughout the day for news and commentary from the SBC, and follow the action live at sbcannualmeeting.net.
Scott Venable shares his story of planting a church in Chicago at the WMU Missions Celebration in Houston.
HOUSTON | God used bungee jumping to move church planter Scott Venable to Chicago. At the WMU Missions Celebration, Venable told women he and his wife, Ashley, knew they were called to start a new church, and had visited the city several times in search of housing. But they were waiting to sell their house in Texas before fully committing.
On his 30th birthday, Venable went bungee jumping, and hesitated mightily before finally taking the plunge. Later that day, Venable said, he heard God say, “I want you to jump.”
“I had to go back and tell my wife that God has used bungee jumping to get us to go to Chicago,” Venable said to laughter from the audience. They found an apartment online, put down a deposit, and 10 minutes later, got a call that someone wanted to put a contract on their house in Texas.
The Venables’ church, Mosaic, is now two years old and averaging 75-80 in worship. They just baptized four people in Lake Michigan. The church also runs a busy program for kids in their neighborhood.
Venable thanked WMU specifically for their unflinching focus on missions, like the mounds of cards they send to missionaries on their birthdays. “Don’t ever underestimate what those mean to us on the field,” he said. “[They] brighten our day and strengthen our hearts and our courage.”
A veteran of Southern Baptist missions education programs, Venable told the audience he was a Mission Friend (the SBC program for preschoolers), and later accepted the call to ministry as an RA (Royal Ambassador).
“Missions is at the very center of what the church should be about,” he said, congratulating WMU on its first 125 years, and urging women to maintain that focus on missions.
HOUSTON | Monday featured panel discussions on preaching and family, worship music led by FBC Houston’s choir and orchestra, and faith and culture-themed messages from Ed Stetzer and Mike Huckabee.
‘The culture shifts, but we stand on an unshifting foundation,” Ed Stetzer told the audience at the Pastors’ Conference. “The question is, Will we live as salt, or will we take on another flavor, maybe bitterness?”
North Carolina pastor Tony Merida joined a panel discussion on preaching, where participants answered questions about preparation, sermon length, and the appropriateness of personal illustrations.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee opened his Pastors’ Conference message with humor: He no longer has to pay for a cell phone tracking app, because if he loses it, “I’m just going to call the government and say, ‘Hey, where is my phone?'”
The choir and orchestra from First Baptist, Houston, led the audience in a moving anthem about the blood of Jesus.
People stood to their feet and sang along with a familiar hymn: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
The most dangerous thing a person who calls themselves a leader can ever do is to draw power unto the leader, rather than empower the people he or she is leading.
John Bolin, minister of worship and arts at FBC Houston, leads in worship at the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference, which began Sunday, June 9.
Greg Matte, pastor of FBC Houston, Texas, and president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference, moderated a panel discussion on leadership with Rodney Woo (International Baptist Church, Singapore, Jack Graham (Prestonwood Baptist, Plano) and Eric Geiger (LifeWay Christian Resources).
Children in costumes representing nations around the world join FBC Houston’s praise team and choir to sing a moving version of “How Great is Our God”.
Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter closed the Pastors’ Conference opening session with a message from Psalm 34.
Affliction will come to the righteous, Luter quoted Psalm 34, but, “You know how I know you’re going to make it?” he asked pastors, holding up his Bible. “It’s in the script!”
THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn
Florida pastor Jay Dennis is issuing a wake-up call to churches who are fighting an enemy of which they may be unaware.
“Churches are facing a spiritual battle against a hidden plague that is keeping many believers from fulfilling their part of God’s mission,” said Dennis, pastor of First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland, Fla. That hidden plague is pornography. Dennis and other SBC leaders are fighting it by launching the national “Join 1 Million Men in the War Against Pornography” campaign at this summer’s Southern Baptist Convention in Houston, Texas.
A 2011 LifeWay Research survey of 1,000 pastors found 62% of them believe less than 10% of men in their churches viewed pornography on a weekly basis. Dennis believes the figure is more like 80 percent.
Most churches, he said, respond to the problem of pornography by denying its reality, while others are aware of the problem but are not specifically dealing with it. Instead, pastors must “admit there is a problem and urgently address” pornography by helping men overcome it.
The “Join 1 Million Men” campaign started as a ministry in Dennis’ church. He wrote the initial materials – based on a pursuit of purity rather than pleasure – and taught them in six Wednesday evening sessions for men. To date, 1,300 men in the church have committed to live pornography-free lives by affirming 14 statements on a commitment card. The cards are displayed prominently at the church.
Dennis is taking the campaign to a national level with the help of Southern Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Both entities will help promote the campaign at this year’s SBC annual meeting in Houston, and WMU’s New Hope Publishers has produced resources to support the movement. The goal is for one million men to take a public stand against pornography, and for one million women to commit to pray for them.
Other news:
Faith may aid psychiatric treatment
A study of patients at Massachusetts’ McLean Hospital found those that believed in a higher power “do significantly better in short-term psychiatric treatment than those without, regardless of their religious affiliation,” said hospital clinician David H. Rosmarin. “Given the prevalence of religious belief in the United States – over 90 percent of the population – these findings are important in that they highlight the clinical implications of spiritual life.” Read more at www.BPNews.net.
SBC site blocked by U.S. military
FoxNews reported earlier this month the official website of the Southern Baptist Convention (www.SBC.net) was blocked on some U.S. military bases due to “hostile content.” Roger S. Oldham, a vice president for the SBC’s Executive Committee, urged Christians not to jump to conclusions.
“Though there have been several instances recently in which evangelical Christians have been marginalized by the broader culture, we think that a rush to judgment that the United States Military has targeted the Southern Baptist Convention as a hostile religious group would be premature.”
A military official later said software filters detected malware and blocked the website. The malware since has been removed and http://www.SBC.net is unblocked. Read more here.
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