Brown Hudson’s notes and drawings
From the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger
January 26, 2006

The Baptist Mess

Burleson:  “We are at a crossroads as a convention.”


Burleson

    I am the central figure amid a growing controversy among Southern Baptist.  I was elected by messengers at the SBC last June in Nashville to serve a four-year term as a trustee of the IMB.  Now I find myself virtually a pariah on the board because I object to the new trustee’s guidelines involving baptism and a “private prayer language.”  The IMB trustees have a new policy that missionaries will terminated that have not been baptized in a SBC-approved church that teaches “eternal security” or uses a “private prayer language.”

   The issue I am addressing is, “When will the SBC cease narrowing the parameters of cooperation for evangelism and missions?”  All of us Southern Baptists are conservative, evangelical, Bible believing Christians, but many of us disagree on interpretation of minor, non-essential doctrines.

                 When will we stop saying, “You must interpret Scripture the way I do in order for you to cooperate with me on the mission field?”

                 I support the SBC 2000 Message, but these new policies on tongues and baptism are just an illustration of minor , non-essential doctrines of Scripture. The (Pressler-Patterson Oligarchy) trustees attempted to keep me silent on this issue. I was ssquelched in ways I’m not yet free to tell you about .  I went to those who squelched me, which is always my policy, to see if it could be worked out.  It could not be worked out. (You don’t work out issues with the Pressler-Patterson Coalition.)    

                 There is a small group of IMB trustees (Pressler-Patterson-approved) trying to control the IMB and set direction contrary to the leadership of Jerry Rankin.

     I told the IMB trustees before I was hired that I had a private prayer language.  This puts me in a very difficult position.  I am IMB president that’s not qualified to be a missionary within the organization over which I preside.


Rankin


Burleson

    My mission as a pastor is to preach the Word of God.  But, What you do in your prayer closet is your business.  The new IMB policies go way beyond what Scripture and the SBC 2000 Message teaches.  IMB places emphasis on baptism identifying you with a certain church or doctrinal teaching rather than baptism identifying you with Jesus as his follower.  This violates the autonomy of the local church. 

      I am shocked that the IMB is now telling me that a baptism --- good enough for our church--- is not good enough for them.  I think the IMB sees me as a trouble-maker.   ( With Fundamentalists, it’s their way or the highway.)

      The IMB was really upset when I eventually  began a Web log (blog) or online diary about my concerns.  The IMB saw me as a person rocking the boat.  I knew there would be discomfort over my going public (online), but I have a responsibility to the SBC. 

      I maintain that a growing problem within our convention is the removal from leadership and service those who do not conform to specific interpretations of the Bible. My desire is to capture the interest and commitment of a younger generation of SBC pastors who are increasingly feeling disenfranchised because of attempts to demand conformity to interpretations of the Bible with which even reasonable, conservative innerantist may disagree. 

   Our God-given right to life has been undermined in our “culture of death.”   Human embryos are being produced and harvested for the purpose of removing their stem cells....destroying pre-born human beings.   Abortion ends the lives of more than 1.3 million unborn children every year. 

   Human life should be highly valued at every stage from the “womb to the tomb.”   The final five of the Ten Commandments  sets forth the protection of people’s rights and preservation order in society. Scripture prohibits murder and commands that we protect human life.


Kenyn Cureton, VP, SBC relations for CEO


Curious

    Does this include “character assassination?”  How many of the 40 million aborted human beings would have been saved from an eternal burning hell prepared for Satan and his angels?  What happened to Bold Mission Thrust?

     The SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is an excellent resource for dealing with the moral issue of abortion, cloning, embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia. 

     The SBC doesn’t  condone sin, but cares for sinners, leading churchfolk to repentance and restoration.   Churchfolk need to support pregnancy support centers and the Psalm 139 Project, which provides ultrasound equipment.   Politicians are feeling the heat and beginning to see the light.  Bush signed a bill against pulling a baby out of the womb by suctioning the brains out and crushing the skull.   Fall on your knees and pray that God will change the direction of this nation that has launched out into a sea of innocent blood.


 Cureton

= = =   P  E  R  S  P  E  C  T  I  V  E   = = =


 (From AJ)
 

   The ploy or strategy that fascinates me is that of thieves who drive a car through a mall doorway or store window and then load up. Embezzlement is done quietly and in secret, but the embezzler is a thief nonetheless.  

   Stealing from the house of God has to be the all-time low!  Stealing is taking something without permission like the Fundamentalists taking over the SBC in 1979 and singing “Victory in Jesus.”   Remember how the Fundamentalists stole Russell Dilday’s job as president of Southwestern Seminary?  Thievery begins with a mental decision that the robber’s needs are more important than the needs of others.   Paul Pressler meditated for 20 years on how he could takeover the SBC. And he did it.  

  In Scripture, God points his finger toward you churchfolk and calls you thieves. You have failed to return your tithes to the Cooperative Program and my Falls Creek Project. I wonder how many thieves I sit beside each Sunday morning.   You can be transformed from robbing God by deciding each week to give the Cooperative Program the first 10 percent of your paycheck.
 


Unavailable for Caricature

 

Todd Pauley, BGCO     public affairs consultant

  

   BGCO churchfolk must pray for their Religious Right Republican legislators and elected officials at the state Capitol and distribute a list of upcoming political issues... especially the BGCO prepared sheet about the sanctity of life.  Leave your card or letterhead in the Governor’s and Lt. Gov.’s offices.  

 

"M" is for Missions

   On our trip to Acapulco, Mexico, we got to see sights, enjoy foods and meet warm and wonderful people.   We knocked on more than 3,000 doors and left packets. Eternity’s population increased by one when a man accepted Christ.

   Ten team members paid $900 each for the trip. 


Alan Day
Edmond First 
 

 

Bisango

     I’m Johnny Bisagno.  I put 140 of my most requested sermons on CD. Too many sermons leave out the great doctrines of the faith.  The apologetic is missing as well as the application.   I decided to influence pastors through leading.   Sermon titles include: “How to Keep Your Son from Becoming a Homosexual,”  "Five things God Does Not Know," "When You Come Home From the Cemetery," "Counterfeit Religion," "Submissive Wife," and "The Sermon on the Amount."
   I’m Anthony and I think Bisagno’s ability to call churchfolk to action should be copied extensively.  Bisagno has preached at Falls Creek.


Anthony
 


Draper
 

     I’m James Draper, SBC LifeWay, CEO.  Your church can now contract with Steeplecom to provide use of your church steeple to serve as cell phone towers.   I have partnered with Steeplecom, a company with sole purpose of assisting churches in negotiating profitable contracts for steeple towers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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