The Presidential election is coming up and once again Americans have a difficult decision to make. Do we vote for Barack Obama? Do we vote for John McCain? Do we vote for a third party candidate? Do we write in a candidate? Finally, do we simply sit by and not vote at all? From a biblical perspective I am convinced that it is our obligation to vote and to vote for someone who reflects biblical values. Recently in a conversation with my dad, we were discussing the church’s obligation to vote for someone who reflects godly values. The refrain that I consistently hear from believers is that they may not love any candidate, but they will vote for the “lesser of two evils” in order to not “waste their vote”. This is an interesting thought process, and honestly, is one that I embraced for a while. The problem arises when it is pointed out, as my father lovingly did, that to do so is to admit that you are voting for evil, albeit “less” evil than you might otherwise vote for.

As believers we need to think and pray deeply about the upcoming election. We need to evaluate each candidate, not against each other, but against God’s Word. If a candidate is found that is suitable to consider voting for, do so. At the same time, if you are convinced that none of the candidates are viable, biblicallly, than write a candidate in. You might argue that to do so is to waste your vote. I would strongly disagree. Remember America is not our home, our allegiance is ultimately to the Kingdom of God and not to an earthly political process. To vote in amanner that would reflect the most politically expedient option is to unfortunately believe that pragmatism, rather than holiness, is our highest aim.

Our goal is to please God, and not man. It’s often difficult, in our political climate, to remember that. I’ll be honest with you that I have not decided, at this point, how I am going to vote. I am convinced, however, that I will study and pray and I will vote this year for the candidate that most reflects my commitment to God and His word, even if that means writing in the name that I think be represents those characteristics.

What do you think?

I have returned home after 3,000 miles of traveling. I know my minivan better now than I ever hoped to know it. It was an enjoyable trip and a relaxing one, even though we drove and drove and drove and drove and drove. Thankfully my daughters are good travelers.

I’m just now beginning to formulate my thoughts about the convention meeting last week. I’ve read the thoughts of others whom I respect and find them to be incredibly varied. Some have argued that it was the best convention they’ve attended in some 30 years. Others have argued that it was the worst. It’s interesting to me to listen to the various perspectives. I decided that I would throw in a few of my thoughts as well, not that you are all that interested in them. These are not exhaustive thoughts, and may be repetetive for a few of you, but I hope that can be helpful none-the-less.

My opinion of the convention would probably fall somewhere between the two opinions mentioned above. I am not of the opinion that the convention was the most incredible that has occurred in recent years. It was much too uneventful for that. At the same time, it was a good convention, in my opinion, for that very same reason. I don’t mean that the convention was pointless, but rather that there seemed to be a spirit of harmony that has been missing over the past few years. There weren’t nearly as many jabs at various subgroups in the convention which I appreciated greatly. There seemed to be an effort to rally together around a common theme, regardless of past disagreements, which I enjoyed.

Presidential Election: The presidential election obviously did not go as I hoped. I was supporting Avery Willis and was disappointed to see him not win the election. Having said that, I was not disappointed to see Johnny Hunt win the nomination. Based on the questions and answers that Baptist Press provided, the only candidates I would have been displeased with would have been Frank Cox and Wiley Drake. Johnny’s stated commitment to evangelism/missions as well as the inclusion of younger pastors resonates with me. I hope he remains faithful to his opinion that the new policies at the IMB are unwise. If he would continue to apply pressure, it might be that the trustees will continue to listen and consider the need for change.

Great Commission Resurgence: Over and over and over again we heard talk of a Great Commission Resurgence from speakers, entity heads and convention attendees. This is fabulous for a number of reasons. First it is about time that a majority of speakers recognized that our convention needs some change. That’s a bit of a different tone than we heard over the past few years where that theme has primarily been ignored. It’s good to hear, and see, the concern. Secondly, though, it’s good for me to hear the call to a return to GC principles. While we must have a commitment to the primacy of scripture it cannot be an academic call only. Academic information without appropriate application is merely intellectual pursuit and not reflective of God’s call in scripture. I’m thankful for the call to be a GC people. Aside from one fairly glaring exception, the speakers from the platform seemed to embrace the idea that we need change and that there is hope if we will attempt to address our culture with a biblically faithful yet culturally relevant message.

Convention Message: Al Gilbert delivered the convention message. In a message that surely upset a few people, he challenged the convention by asking us to perform a “death-check”. He called us to recognize our own state of decline and to make necessary changes to move forward. His call to address our “bloated and unfocused” as well as “top-heavy” organizational structure was music to my ears. I continue to be convinced that we need an overhaul at the associational, state convention and national levels. I hope that Gilbert’s message resonated with more people.

Beyond that Gilbert’s statements in reference to the next generation were interesting. This quote in particular should be a wake-up call to a few people. “Soon, we will be passing the baton to the next generation, and I don’t know about you, but they tell me they are not sure they want it,” Gilbert said. “That should make us sad and that should make us ask how we want to hand it off to the next generation.”

Resolutions: Most of the resolutions were the usual myriad of pointless meanderings, except for the resolution that was a combination of Tom Ascol, Malcom Yarnell and Bart Barber’s resolution on Regenerate Church Membership. The consistent pursuit of Ascol, Yarnell and Barber (who was at a microphone but didn’t get to speak) to get the resolution amended so that it would mean something was much appreciated. The overwhelming approval of the convention speaks well of our time together. I know many pastors who will be using this resolution to help their people understand the need to be more responsible in terms of church membership. I sincerely appreciate these men working together to insure that it was approved.

Additionally the resolution offered on Ethnic Diversity was fantastic. I thought it could have a little more teeth, but I appreciated it none-the-less.

Business: This year’s business time was fairly benign. Aside from one motion made, which I’ll mention more in a minute, it was a fairly insignificant meeting. The one motion which was interesting, was provided by Jack Wilkerson, who recently retired from the Executive Committee of the SBC. His motion was to restrict SBC entity heads from serving as President of the SBC. This motion was referred to the ExComm, I believe, for consideration. It is my hope that the motion, which would have to come as an amendment to the SBC constitution, would be allowed to come to the floor next year in the form of a motion for the convention to vote on. I would vote in favor of the motion wholeheartedly. The President of the convention doesn’t have a lot of actual power, other than to nominate the Committee on Committees which puts together the Committee on Nominations. If the president, then, was also the president of an SBC entity, he would then be in a position to appoint those who will be responsible composing the Nominating Committee which would in turn nominate the trustees of that president’s entity. In other words, the president would have direct influence in appointing his bosses. Although this has happened in a few instances throughout SBC history, it does not justify its continued existence. In my opinion this reflects, at a minimum, the appearance of a conflict of interest. In an effort to be above board it would seem to me that this is a no-brainer.

Friends: One of the greatest aspects of the SBC for me, is the ability to further relationships with some incredible friends and develop relationships with new ones. The opportunity I have to connect with these guys helps remind me of the potential in our convention. It always leaves me wanting more time to soak up these guys’ knowledge. I can’t get enough of it.

Misc: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few various and sundry items from the convention that I found interesting, comical, disturbing or some combination of all three.

- We’ve got to do a better job screening our music. When the Gaither Vocal Band got up and sang a song about being somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne I almost proposed a motion against poor music right then and there.

- Serving is a privilege and a blast. Somehow Dr. Frank Page decided to place me on the Committee on Committees. Serving on the committee was a blast but was also humbling. It’s intriguing to watch how our convention works. It’s definitely something of a science. The other added bonus was getting to sit on stage for a few minutes during our committee’s report. It’s impressive to look out at some 8-10,000 seats, only half of which were full. If you look closely at this picture, you can see me on the side. It’s something like a “Where’s Waldo” picture.

- Dr. Frank Page finished his two year tenure as SBC President this year, and handed off the reigns of the Presidency to Johnny Hunt. In my opinion, Dr. Page has been the greatest SBC president since I have been aware of convention life, which would be some 25 years. I am grateful for his peaceful, yet firm, leadership. We need more men like Dr. Page. I agree with Ben Cole at this point that John Marshall may soon be that man.

- Tony Dungy showed up, which was interesting. Nothing really profound here, other than it’s cool to see an NFL coach at the SBC annual meeting.

- My almost motion. A few of you know that I strongly considered making a motion to ask the President of the Convention to compose a Research Committee to study and report back to the convention next year about the feasibility of merging the IMB and NAMB into one organization. Although I was prepared to make the motion, I spoke to some individuals from both organizations and was persuaded to pause for the time being. I still remain convinced, however, that it is an idea we need to consider and will strongly consider proposing the same thing next year. In fact, if you would join me in praying about it I would appreciate it.

Conclusion: Well, that about sums up my initial thoughts. All things considered I think it was a very good convention, and one that left me encouraged and looking forward to next year. It was not a convention without faults, obviously, but I have hope for the future. Of course, I’m something of an optimist so that might have something to do with it as well.

Finally, in an unrelated but very interesting note, the Royals just beat the Cardinals in St. Louis, again! Tomorrow we go for the sweep with Greinke on the mound.

I have previously made my commitment to Avery Wills for 2008 SBC President clear. I believe he is the man who is best suited to lead our convention forward at this place in convention life.

One of the men in the IMB that I highly admire is Dr. Rodney Hammer. I first met Rodney while in training to go overseas with the IMB. Tracy and I lived side by side with Rodney, his wife and son. I learned then, while listening to Rodney teach during our training, to value his opinions significantly. Today Rodney briefly commented on SBCOutpost and offered his opinion about the upcoming SBC Presidential election. I enjoyed it so much I thought I would reproduce it here in hopes that even more people might consider his words.

SBC Friends,

I believe that Avery Willis is the one SBC presidential candidate that can bring what the SBC needs now…focus and leadership in spiritual renewal. Repentance and Revival will bring the fruit, the spiritual health, and the evangelism and mission results we so desparately desire. Beholdened to none except Christ, focused on the Kingdom, an Irenic conservative known and beloved throughout the Convention for his focus on spiritual health, revival, discipleship, evangelims and missions. It’s not his platform…it’s his entire life and ministry. The appointments and practical leadership will also see greater involvement of younger, more diverse, gospel and Kingdom focused Southern Baptists as well.
Bill Wagner is a good man. But Avery Willis is, I believe, God’s man for the hour and the model of what we need.

Amen Rodney, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Well, exactly one week from today my lovely wife Tracy and I will jump in our minivan (I know, I’m getting old) and make the 8 hour drive to Indianapolis, Indiana. Normally I prefer to fly, and it’s become cheaper than paying mileage, but since we are leaving after the convention to head to Wilmington, NC for my brother’s wedding, this year we’ll make the drive.

I’m excited about this year’s convention for a number of reasons. One of the chief reasons I’m excited is that I will have the privilege of serving this year on the Committee on Committees. This will be my first experience serving on the national level. I’m one of those strange individuals who gets a kick out of serving on committees so this should be an enjoyable and educational experience.

I’m also very excited this year as I watch what happens with the Presidential election. Two years ago I was thrilled to watch as Frank Page won the election on a first ballot to become the President of the SBC. This year I am convinced that it will take a second ballot for a candidate to to receive the necessary 51% approval. Nonetheless I am very encouraged to see a number of qualified Southern Baptists all placing their name into nomination to serve as our President. It’s indicative of an increased level of involvement from people who previously would not have been engaged in the process, and for that I’m grateful. I’ve had the privilege of meeting 4 of the 6 candidates but have not yet met Frank Cox or William Wagner. I count one of the candidates, Les Puryear, to be a very good friend and I could be satisfied with a number of the candidates being elected.

That being said, my vote will be cast for Avery Willis. I mentioned earlier that I had the privilege of building his website that conveys his desire for the SBC as well as his track record of success to this point. I would encourage you to run over and take a look at it. Beyond that, Avery has recently responded to a written interview request from Baptist Press that is very enlightening. I would strongly encourage you to read that interview as well as the interviews with each of the other candidates. I am convinced that Avery’s passion, track record, humility and plan is in line with what our convention needs to become an effective, Kingdom growing organization again.

Finally, I’m looking forward to Indy as I will get the privilege of spending a week with my wife without any children. I love my children more than my own life, but as anyone who has toddlers can tell you, they can be a bit draining at times when it comes to quality time with your spouse. Although the convention is a very, very busy time for me, I’m looking forward to enjoying it together with Tracy. This should be the longest amount of time we’ve had together, without children, since Grace was born almost 5 years ago. We’ve got our reservations set for the University Place Conference Center and Hotel and we’re excited about getting there.

Oh, and one more thing, one of the more enjoyable experiences of SBC gatherings since I started this blog 3 or 4 years ago now, has been meeting many of you who read this. Since you can see my picture at the top of the blog (I’m sorry about that, it’s not really nice of me to subject you to it, I know), if you see me introduce yourself. I’ve already received correspondence from a number of you who will be there and I’m looking forward to getting together in person. So, please take a moment to stop us and introduce yourself to Tracy and me. It would be a privilege to meet many of you.

Sometime ago I wrote concerning my thoughts about the upcoming SBC Presidential race. Yesterday it was announced that Dr. Avery Willis’ name will be placed into nomination for SBC President. It was also announced that Dr. Johnny Hunt will be announced as well. I don’t have time to write much at this point, and I will write more at a later date, but I will briefly say this. In light of what I have previously said I was looking for in a candidate, Dr. Willis is my candidate. I am very excited to go to Indianapolis and place my vote for Dr. Willis.

Many of you may not know as much about Dr. Willis as you do Johny Hunt, or others even. I helped build a website for Dr. Willis that went online last night. I would recommend that you go to his website and begin to learn more about him. He is the type of leader we need, I’m convinced, in SBC life.

Visit his website here.

My friend Marty Duren has written a well thought out, insightful article about our support of the Jewish nation and its relationship to biblical theology as well as eschatology. I would encourage you to run over and interact with his thoughts.

To visit the article, click here.

No, I’m not thinking about the upcoming US Presidential election. Instead I’m thinking, once again, about the upcoming SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis and the implications of the presidential election that we will take part in. There are two announced candidates, William Wagner and Frank Cox. Besides those men, Wiley Drake has announced he is planning to run but, as of yet, no one has been announced to nominate him.

This year’s election is an unusual one in SBC life in that no significant “name” candidate is running. Dr. Al Mohler was originally running but had to withdraw a month or so ago, and it could be argued that the most significant player in this election is the man set to nominate Frank Cox, evangelist Junior Hill, who stands as one of the most well known men in SBC life. Wiley Drake has become fairly well known as a convention gadfly but stands apart because he is most likely to be unable to garner any serious support for a substantial run at the presidency.

This year’s election is also unusual in that both major candidates have campaign websites. Frank Cox’s site does not announce itself as such, but it fits all the basic criteria necessary, and so in both cases we are operating with much more information about the candidates than we have in the past.

As I have personally found myself thinking about the convention, and the candidate I wish to support, I have put together a list of 5 qualifications that I find to be incredibly important. I thought I would list those and then share my plans in regards to presidential voting for this summer.

1. An irenic spirit: Over the past few decades there has been a significant amount of turmoil in SBC life. A difficult battle was waged for the prominence of scripture, and due to that we have a number of scars within convention life that are still open and festering. Beyond that we still seem to have tremendous difficult laying down the swords and moving towards Kingdom expansion. We desperately need to continue the pattern of peacemaking that Frank Page has established for us.
2. An open door: We have some pretty unique individuals in SBC life. We are made up of a number of people who look and act differently but who are united around the banner of the Bible and our distinct baptistic characteristics as seen in the Baptist Faith and Message. As an example we have Calvinists and non-Calvinists, Dispensationalists and Amillenialists, Elder-rule, congregational rule, traditional, contemporary and emerging churches, all within the framework of SBC life. All of these varying groups can stand within the borders of orthodox, baptistic theology and as such, each should be welcome to have a place the table of SBC life. I am committed to voting for a president who is committed to preserving the unity of the body while not attempting to divide those who stand in some sort of divergent stream from himself. For a more detailed description of my desire for greater diversity, you can read a previous article I wrote by clicking here.
3. A fresh perspective: It is important to me to elect a president who is committed to investing in the lives of those who have historically not been involved in convention life. There are a significant number of pastors and laypeople from faithful, conservative SBC churches who have given their lives to Kingdom work within the SBC. It is important to me that we find ways to utilize those people in the life of our convention. As I spoke with Frank Page this past week he shared with me how he has worked to do just that. We need to continue that pattern. In an article that I wrote almost exactly one year ago, I briefly highlighted the tight circle of leadership displayed for a while in convention life. If you haven’t read it, it might be a good place to start thinking about this process. You can read it by clicking here.
4. A new face: There are too many incredible, faithful men in SBC life for us to ignore. While it is more difficult to find someone who is not currently prominently known, it is worth it I think, to find a pastor or layman who is faithful where they are at and who would serve well in SBC life. In my opinion, we would do well to consider someone who is from outside the Bible belt, who is a racial minority or who is serving in a smaller church. All of these are fairly unusual characteristics that have not been true of an SBC President in a long time, if ever. It is important to me that we invest our time and energy to elect someone who has not been a part of the “system” up to this point.
5. A faithful man: Finally, although all of the prior thoughts are important to me, the most important is that the candidate be a faithful “Bible man”. A strong commitment to God’s word and an unshakable conviction regarding the application of that word are necessary components to me. While I think it is probably almost impossible for someone to be elected who is not a conservative in our current climate, it is important to me to emphasize that I won’t vote for someone who is not.

After thinking through these concepts, I have come to the conclusion that none of the announced candidates will receive my vote. After seeing my poll in the sidebar, it appears that at least a few of you agree. I plan to pray and ask God to bring a candidate to the forefront who is committed to these characteristics. I’m looking forward to what happens in Indianapolis.

My friend, Les Puryear, who is hosting the 1st annual small church leadership conference, was recently granted the privilege of interviewing Dr. Al Mohler, President of Southern Seminary and announced candidate for President of the SBC. Les does a good job interviewing Dr. Mohler and I think his answers are worthy of your consideration. I’ll be honest that although I love Dr. Mohler’s theology and appreciate to a great degree what he has done as President of Southern, I am struggling with his candidacy for President simply because I am typically opposed to entity heads serving as convention President. None-the-less, he is running and these answers offer insight into his thought process. You can access the interview by clicking here.