LA 4 JD

[Jon Estes]

The conversation at "sbcvoices" concerning Louisana's use of CP funds to campaign for Ken Hemphill is interesting.

If you have an interest in seeing the hoopla - click your way to that site and chime in.

At the upcoming campaign cookout using SBC Disaster Relief crews to do the cooking is out of bounds (IMPO). This is just a part of the story.

Maybe if we can get a couple of thousand folks to show up wearing a tee like the one below would send a message and cause a stir.

The tee is not for sale it is just a mock-up of an idea.

[Sandy]

Here is the last sentence from the blog post about the Louisiana Baptist disaster relief meetings.

"May God raise up men in this state who will help us throw off the shackles of this ungodly and worldly tyrannical mindset. Will it ever change?"

So there's this kind of animosity surrounding the selection of who is going to serve as the next president of a Christian denomination? Just because someone within a state convention likes one of the candidates better than the other, and is organizing support among a particular group of individuals with whom he has immediate and personal contact, the Louisiana Baptist Convention is being run by an ungodly and worldly tyranny?

First of all, this kind of good-ole-boy, favor granting, personal use of church and denominational resources is a common M.O. among Southern Baptists in particular. It stems from the belief that "of course everyone thinks the way I think," and "nobody will mind if we have a political rally for Ken Hemphill while we are 'practicing' how to fire up our disaster relief kitchen and feed a few hundred people." Southern Baptist entities and groups make rules for themselves that not only allow this type of thing to happen, but which actually set it up, and require it to happen. It is a very ineffective and backward approach to organizing and efficiently conducting business, but the fact that it is suddenly an "ungodly and worldly" tyranny is related solely to the fact that this is being done for a candidate the critic doesn't like. I guarantee, if J.D. Greear were the beneficiary, you wouldn't hear a peep from this source.

Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace.

[William Thornton]

I think you are a bit out of touch here. If JDG were the recipient you'd see a lot more folks with their hair on fire. The writer is an LBC pastor or something. There's history....

Looks like, sadly, another hot denominational war. Mods warned of it. I think there is a disgruntled minority rather than a sizable grassroots movement capable of winning a string of elections. We'll see.

[Sandy]

[Jon Estes]

[Sandy]

There would be some who would speak against a state convention or entity supporting J.D. Greear, perhaps at that particular site.

Apparently, last time J.D. Greear ran, he got endorsements from David Platt and Russell Moore. It doesn't appear that there was support in terms of resources, but definite perspectives from them. And no one mentions the letter writing and campaigning done to endorse state convention leaders and within the SBC by Paige Patterson after he secured his SBC entity posts.

[Jon Estes]

[William Thornton]

Talking points from the anti-Cals make an equivalence between the private, homemade, humorous rap piece on JDG that had clips of a couple of entity heads saying, "It's tricky" and a state convention ED offering the state convention's server and technical expertise to the candidate touted by the anti-Cals. After this was exposed claims were made that no CP funds were used. Questions remain. Looks bad.

No question about that state convention hosting campaign rallies for one candidate.

It's going to be interesting but hopefully not ugly.

My mod lib friends probably rejoice that they are out of such messes although the CBF/LGBTQ mess is more likely to sink that ship than the CalTrad SBC mess.

[Sandy]

[William Thornton]

The SBC hasn't had a Calvinist prez in scores of years. All the CR presidents were highly non-Calvinistic. I don't think electing noncal presidents will change anything. If I had to make a prediction I'd predict a JDG victory.

Louisiana, particularly of the colleges there, has had a lot of acrimony. The ED is rather militant against cals. There is history with the guy who exposed the LBC server thing.

[Sandy]

Hemphill isn't one of the rockstars, but maybe the "traditionalists" are out of them for the time being. Frank Page was similar in terms of that kind of status. Hemphill has been pretty loyal, though. Though Southwestern went through a pretty steep decline from its days of being the crown jewel of Southern Baptist theological seminaries to being number 3 under his tenure, he seems to have recovered from that.

[Tim Bonney]

All the above makes me glad my denomination doesn't have a single denomination wide President. It seems like a flash point for differences. And, as autonomous as Baptists are, it seems odd to invest one person with that much, at least titular, authority.

[William Thornton]

[Sandy]

[JE Pettibone]

[Tim Bonney]