whistleblowers leaving

[Blake]

First and now . I hope its just an EBC Enid thing and not going to spread outside of there. SBCers can't afford to lose anymore whistleblowers.

[RyanHale]

Wow. Blogging does require a lot of work, time and effort ... dare say as much as daily print articles. Still, the reach of a blog is expansive, though not as profitable. Don't read more into that statement than is there as I am only saying it is profitable to get something published (for now).

I remember a few years ago when the GA Baptist Convention worked to get a resolution passed to condemn bloggers for fostering a divisive spirit, i.e., making waves and having an audience the could make trouble for the powers that be, rightly or wrongly.

Are bloggers who are leaving inadvertently giving in to the demands of the current power structure, again, rightly or wrongly?

Just thinking out loud ...

[William Thornton]

[Tim Dahl]

I guess that everything has it's season. Perhaps it is time for a new season for those that are leaving the blogosphere.

Tim

[Tim Bonney]

It is hard to keep up with blogging as I'm sure William and others can attest too. I have blogged and then dropped blogging on more than one occasion because of the time involved.

[Sandy]

I've been reading Debbie Kaufman's blogs for about four or five years, I guess, when she wrote Thoughts of a Christian Woman, and then changed directions a bit with Ministry of Reconciliation. I met her and her husband for the first time at Dwight McKissic's church about three years ago, I guess, when he hosted the Baptist Conference on the Holy Spirit. She was there with several other Baptist bloggers, including Ben Cole and Wade Burleson. Bart Barber was also in attendance, along with some other SBC flag wavers.

Debbie has been through a lot. She's always shown compassion and grace in her handling of the issues related to the Christian faith that she addressed on her blog, and never strayed from the boundaries of sound Biblical interpretation, which often brought some very unchristlike criticism from certain segments. Her willingness to continue to bring facts to light related to the Ergun Caner issue, in spite of some of the most caustic vitriol spewed by critics was quite courageous. I don't know how long ago its been, but about a year or so ago Debbie's son in law was killed in a motorcyle accident, leaving several young children.

Wade has demonstrated unwavering integrity in responding to his critics. Essentially, he became an enemy when he didn't play by the unwritten rules of the IMB trustee board. They sacrificed a lot of their own integrity in the process of getting rid of him, and it looked even worse because he also never strayed outside the theological boundaries that had been set. He solidified his position in his blog and in his book, but the way he was treated, and the way his departure came about certainly left a lot of people with questions about what's going on with the trustees.

I'm sure that's been distracting when it comes to pastoring his church. There are a whole lot of pastors and church leaders in the SBC who wished their church were in the same place as Emmanuel Baptist is in, in terms of the vitality and life of the congregation. I think Wade is sending a clear message about what his priorities are, and where his heart is. If the SBC keeps shoving leaders like him out the door, they'll never pull out of their current funk.