Plodders top ten for 2011

[Stephen Fox]

[Stephen Fox]

Interesting to compare it to Plodder's SBC world, though RD.org had an SBC story coming in at five.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archi ... E2%80%99t/

Meanwhile back at the plodder the comments to date seem to center on Mitt Romney and the SBC though the Plodder failied to tag the SC SBC Prez Atkins from Powdersville who gave Newt a pass and raised serious concerns about Mitt, though Billy Graham's pastor just up the road in Spartanburg endorsed Mitt in 08

[KeithE]

Speaking of the tenth story - Congratulations William (I'm envious).

[William Thornton]

[Stephen Fox]

Here is a great article I came across earlier this year and just now found in print. Should make a top 15 story in regard Baptists especially if somehow in Frank Page and Bryant Wright's conversations with BWA and the hopes framed by John Pierce Dec 12 blog on the matter they would engage this book.
And what if their integrity convicted them to call out Richard Land and Nelson Price and the Shorter Trustees when they bend truth toward fundamentalism, surely a Top Something story in the SBC

http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews ... loppenberg

As for Thornton's retirement. I've crunched the numbers and if there is a Chic Fil A opening anywhere in North Georgia in next 6 months, William I will bring a sleeping bag and crash on your floor. We get up early the next morning and be first hundred in line at the grand opening and get 100 free sandwich coupons for a year. At least it worked for me in Gadsden five years ago. Long run returns pays for my gas to make the trip. Something to consider; brightened my year considerably; I even shared some, almost tithed em

[Sandy]

The fact that there is a Calvinist influence in the SBC, and that it's making news right now is interesting, to say the least. Calvinism has always been an influence among Baptists, going back to the origins of the group, and the divides along the general and regular lines. I'm not sure that there is anything that can be pinned down that is causing it to become a "growing" influence, other than perhaps some Baptist Calvinists are coming to light in some of the mega-churches, or the result of Mohler's presidency at Southern.

The way Baptist churches call pastors, and exchange members, it would be difficult to track any specific kind of doctrinal influence. Essentially, a church could call a Calvinist leaning pastor, and he could organize a "reform" of the church that would last as long as his ministry there lasts, without it ever influencing the majority of the members.

The only way I would see this as a "danger" to the SBC is that the more extreme versions of it would put a dent in support for missions. But I don't see that as much of a "danger" as the growth of "do our own missions" mega-churches who substitute a few short term missions projects mainly paid for by the participants, for financial support for the Cooperative Program, in order to spend money on their own high dollar religious entertainment and PR.

[Stephen Fox]

http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/7035/53/

[Sandy]

Thanks for posting that, Stephen. Looks like being the anti-SBC is still the primary focus of the displaced former paternalistic insider leadership of the SBC. Half of its top ten stories of 2011 involved something or someone related to Southern Baptists, while only one involved something that CBF was doing. Comparatively, the SBC is considerably larger, and obviously generates more news, but yuo'd think ABP, with its support coming primarily from CBF, would have different priorities.

I thought ABP was going to provide the "real" news and analysis for Baptists as opposed to the propaganda put out by Baptist Press. Surely the failure of Jimmy Carter's New Baptist Covenant to attract much of a crowd (I guess you can't really apply the term "crowd" to the turnout) and to accomplish, well, actually the term "accomplish" doesn't really apply to the New Baptist Covenant, either. Other than providing a pulpit and a platform for a few no-longer-prominent, out of the spotlight Baptists, and for Carter, I think it is safe to say that it has failed to deliver on just about anything he proclaimed it would do at the outset. That should warrant a mention as a top ten for 2011. Then again, mentioning it might have a lot of people scratching their heads, wondering what they were talking about.