In an email exchange this evening with MBC Interim Executive Director David Tolliver, I communicated to him that I would provide a clarifying statement on my blog concerning the dialogue on the floor of the convention today. As such I would like to do so.

In my attempt to make a point this afternoon, as I addressed the convention, I referenced a statement by Dr. Tolliver from his sermon on Monday night concerning the position of abstinence only. I did not intend to infer in that position that Dr. Tolliver necessarily supported my position, although it appears that some may have assumed that was my purpose. Rather, my point was much to the contrary and was intended to show that even those who may take an opposing view to my own seem to have difficulty finding absolutely clear support for their position and instead must draw from inferences made in various passages such as Romans 14:13. As such I wanted to point out that asking for the convention to clearly mandate something that scripture itself does not clearly mandate is, in my opinion, a strike at the sufficiency of scripture.

In addition, as I now have opportunity, I would like to clearly state my personal position regarding alcohol consumption. Personally I assume a position of abstinence in regard to the use of alcohol and I lead my church to do the same. I am convinced, from the inferences made in Romans 14:13, among others, that abstinence is the biblically faithful position for a pastor in Missouri. I would much prefer to restrict my personal freedoms for the sake of non-believers coming to Christ and weak believers being strengthened in the faith, than to simply indulge for personal comfort. Having said that, however, I also recognize that the scripture does not clearly state that abstinence is the only option. I also recognize that there are a variety of views that exist regarding alcohol usage, even in Baptist life. I am of the opinion that to attempt to define a specific position on this topic from the floor of the convention is an unwise attempt to divide over a secondary issue and should be avoided. In my opinion this should be a local church issue. As such I will lead my church to hold to an abstinence position but will continue to partner with Missouri Baptist churches across the state.

Well, as I conclude my thoughts about the MBC I want to provide a few quick hits specifically detailing my perception of the events of the past few days. I would also like to clarify my points. I hope this provides a well processed conclusion to the last few articles.

• First and foremost I need to clarify that I am grateful to God for the leadership of Dr. Tolliver, among others. I am not unconvinced that his statements that I previously referenced were unnecessarily divisive, but that does not mean that I am not thankful for his leadership. I sincerely appreciate his heart for repentance and am grateful for the call to prayer that he offered as well on Monday night. We may disagree on a few issues but our partnership for the gospel with those whom we disagree on minor issues is one of the wonderful aspects of being a Missouri Baptist as well as a Southern Baptist.
• Getting to meet Darrin Patrick was a much more exciting experience than I imagined it would be. I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of guys who are very succesful in ministry and who lead fast growing churches, many of which are considered mega-churches and I have never met a Pastor more congenial and laid back as was Patrick. Beyond that what most impressed me, however, was his intense interest in the lives of young pastors/church planters. The way in which he attempted to interact with as many guys in a room as possible rather than waiting for them to come to him is almost unprecedented in my experience with successful Baptist pastors. I’m looking forward to getting to know Darrin more.
• Those affiliated with SOC won a major victory this week. As I previously mentioned, I was unconvinced that the initial election was because of issues rather than personalities and even after the rest of the elections, I am still not absolutely convinced that that is any more true, although I am much more so than I was before, but in reality it does not matter whether the end result was driven by personalities or issues, really. The fact remains that SOC candidates swept the elections by considerable margins and as such will be incredibly influential in the nomination process over the coming year. Although I never jumped on board completely with the SOC affiliation I am sympathetic to their concerns and would lean more heavily in their direction, particularly as opposed to that of the MBLA side of things. As such I believe the election results are positive developments in MBC life.
• God has blessed me with some wonderful friendships in MBC life. I am incredibly grateful for guys like Darren Casper, Tom Willoughby, Tim Cowin and others who continue to encourage me and help me to believe that there is a great future in partnership missions between Missouri Baptist churches.
• Well, now that the meeting is over it’s time for me to quit paying attention to it that much and pour all my time/energy into a much better opportunity - that is my church!

Well, Tuesday is in the books and I write this in the early hours of Wednesday wondering what will be coming today. You know, there are times when I wonder if the MBC can continue to be a viable organization with the fighting and the lack of unity that is unfortunately rampant in our midst. Then I get the chance, like I did this evening, to spend the evening with phenomenal guys who are pastoring or church planting and who share a great passion for communicating the gospel in Missouri and seeing the Kingdom grow and I am encouraged again. Having said that, here are some quick thoughts as I wrap up the day and head to bed.

• Missouri has some incredible guys in the church planting and student ministries departments. I have really enjoyed my time with guys like Rick Biesiadecki, Lyle Witcher and Matt Kearns. Missouri is in good hands with these guys leading the charge. Now if Matt would lose the Cardinal infatuation, life would be even better.
• I watched Roger Moran and Darrin Patrick have two separate conversations today without anyone raising their voice. What’s even better is that I have heard a rumor that Moran and Patrick have agreed to a public debate on the topic of the Emerging Church. I would encourage everyone to watch and see concerning that front. I am hopeful that “official” news will be released soon.
• I met Kent Cochran today. Holy cow he’s tall and that’s saying something coming from me.
• I enjoyed a conversation with Brian Baker. Although Brian and I have publicly disagreed more than a few times, I am reminded that our differences are far outweighed by our similarities and our shared commitment to seeing the gospel spread. It’s funny how that seems to be a common theme that I keep experiencing across the convention. I’m hopeful that others will realize it as well and put the swords down.
• I believe that I will be disappointed tomorrow at resolution time regarding the resolution I submitted.
• I am tired and I’ll try to see everyone tomorrow. I probably won’t be able to blog tomorrow until maybe in the evening. I’m checking out in the morning and my internet usage will be completed. Once I get home, however, we’ve got to set up our new house, which includes internet/modem/wireless connection, etc. As such it could be a while.

As I have been reflecting on the election of Gerald Davidson I have been asked whether that election accurately reflects the temperature of the convention concerning whether the convention is going to tend towards the side of the Save Our Convention group over and above the strategies of the Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association. After thinking through it, I am unconvinced that it at all reflects the temperature of the convention. While it may, it also may simply reflect the name recognition of Davidson against the relative unknown quality of Mike Green. The true test of philosophical viewpoints will be during the next election, I am convinced, as well known MBC pastor Jay Scribner (who is typically assumed to be on the side of the MBLA candidates) is placed in nomination against Bruce McCoy who is currently the Vice President and who is part of the SOC slate of candidates. If McCoy wins reelection it can probably be assumed that the philosophical position of the SOC has taken the day.

We will have to wait and see.

In a landslide vote, 800-300, Gerald Davidson has been elected as the next President of the MBC.

Well, the meeting has been interesting so far. Last night we essentially had no business and mostly listened to two messages. The first was by Dr. David Tolliver, the interim Executive Director of the MBC and the second was by Dr. Mike Green, the current President of the MBC. I was dissapointed in Dr. Tolliver’s address, in all honesty. It appeared to me that he took the opportunity to mention every hot button he could in order to gain a good response from the messengers. It sounded a bit like “playing to the crowd” to me. Now, that’s not to say that Tolliver’s message was not biblical. It appeared to me, however, that he made unnecessary statements that created unnecessary division that is simply not helpful in our current convention climate. Taking his message from Micah 6:8, he preached about the three topics in the passage. Unfortunately, however, his subpoints were not driven by the passage and were used by Dr. Tolliver to criticize younger pastors, blogging, “drinking” Baptists and his definition of legalism. His statement on legalism was most interesting to me. He claimed that he knew what legalism was and then proceeded to define legalism as requiring additional components for salvation. His statement essentially precluded any authentic believer from ever being a legalist, which we know to be inaccurate. He even went so far as to claim that there were no legalists in the MBC, when he said, “Legalism believes in a works salvation and we don’t believe that, none of us.” While I am sure that he is technically correct that there aren’t Missouri Baptists pastors trying to pomote works salvation, there is no doubt that there are those who are encouraging legalistic views of scripture. However, he has the right to communicate his opinion and I’m glad he honestly communicated where he stands.

I was hoping that Dr. Tolliver would attempt to bring about peace and reconciliation in his message. I was hopeful that he would consider the biblical injunctions about unity to communicate a desire that those who are “warring” against each other would somehow find a way to come together for the sake of the Gospel and the kingdom of God. As I said, however, he used his pulpit to drive an even larger wedge in between Missouri Baptists. It was disconcerting, to me anyway. The resolution that I submitted last night (see below) seeks to promote that need.

I was unable to hear Green’s message as I received a phone call at the beginning of his message and then was stopped by some individuals in the hallway.

In addition to those reports, I was also very discouraged while sitting in the Executive Board meeting to hear the report of the Theology Sub-Committee of the Exec. Board’s report on the Emerging Church. After all their exposure to the intelligent, academic research of Dr. Mark Devine, it is unbelievable to me that there report would be so blatantly irresponsible in its broad brushing of all who are involved in the EC movement, particularly when so many conservative SBC churches carry some affiliation with portions of the movement. Thankfully the Exec. Board voted to make copies of the report available to the public, along with copies of a minority report completed by Dr. David McAlpin who served on the committee and who disagreed with the findings of the report.

This morning I heard that the resolution that I submitted had been recieved by the resolution committee. The resolution is entitled, “RESOLUTION REGARDING THE CURRENT DIVISION AND FRACTIONAL DISPUTES WITHIN THE MISSOURI BAPTIST CONVENTION”. You can download a copy of the original draft by clicking here. The resolution was primarily drafted by Dr. Rob Ayers of Camp Branch Baptist Church in Sedalia, MO but when Rob was unable to be here, I submitted the resolution and am hopeful of its acceptance and passage.

We also just completed the election of President. Although the results won’t be known until this afternoon, I am feeling strongly that Dr. Gerald Davidson will be elected as President over current President, Mike Green. The nominating speeches for both were good, but the speech delivered by Kenny Qualls concerning Dr. Davidson as well as Davidson’s name recognition in Missouri probably cinched the election for him. I’ll let you know when it is announced.

Finally, as is always true at convention meetings, it has been very good to meet so many wonderful Missouri Baptists. I am constantly surprised by the number of people who come up to me and know of me because of this blog, but it’s been a wonderful introduction to many good people in our convention. I’ve also been very pleased to spend a little bit more time with some fantastic Missouri Baptists like David Krueger, whom I had dinner with last night, Darrin Patrick, who I spent some time speaking with and will be spending more time with him tonight, and others. This process of connecting with other pastors and leaders across the state is a highlight of the week.

More to come later….

Well, we have arrived at the beautiful Tan-Tar-A Resort in southern Missouri for the annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention, or as some MBC have been overheard to refer to it, “The Quake at the Lake.” :-)Although the trip is an important one and I’m looking forward to the business portions of the meeting, I’m also very excited that my wife has come along with me and we left the kids behind. This should hopefully be an enjoyable, restful experience, as well as a profitable one.

Some things I’m particularly looking forward to this week.

• The elections for officers of the MBC. Will the candidates who have long had ties to the MBLA win or will the new SOC candidates win? I’m unsure though I know who I hope wins.
• Getting to know the guys from St. Louis. I’ve been friends for a while with Darren Casper and I just met Darren Patrick a few moments ago and I’m looking forward to getting to know these guys better over the next couple of days.
• Conversations about the future of the MBC. Guys like David Krueger share my desire to see significant changes made to the MBC and its structure. I’m looking forward to fleshing out some of those recommendations this week.
• Resolution time. Together with Rob Ayers I will be submitting a resolution calling for peace among political factions and the dissolution of political bodies in MBC life. We’ll see if it makes it out of committee.
• Seeing in person so many of the people I’ve dialogued with online. Many should be here and it should be enjoyable to interact with them.
• Spending time with Tracy. This is #1 in priority.

4,000 occur each day in America.

It is the most common surgical procedure in our country.

God help us.