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The Southern Baptist Convention will hold its annual meeting next week in Nashville. The meeting is one of the most significant gatherings of the convention in many years. Last year’s meeting was cancelled because of overblown concerns regarding the pandemic. Registration for messengers is over 14,500 for this year, about double the attendance in recent years. You might ask, why the dramatic increase? Rank and file Southern Baptists are, it seems, concerned about a new and pressing liberal drift in our seminaries and other entities. As a trustee of one of our institutions (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) I have become aware of a subtle but sure drift toward more liberal approaches and compromise with culture (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB-DrUrBoEQ&t=23s)
We are also aware of the complete and utter failure of the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission (ERLC) to accurately represent Southern Baptists as the public policy arm of our convention. Dr. Russell Moore, who recently resigned as a head of the ERLC, has left the denomination spewing hatred and ill will toward anyone who dared disagree with his liberal politics. He was really nothing more than an operative for the DNC. The last time the convention met was in Birmingham in 2019. The convention messengers, uninformed and lied to, made the tragic error of passing a resolution that was positive toward Critical Race Theory (CRT; it was known as Resolution 9). A new resolution, titled Resolution on the Incompatibility of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality with The Baptist Faith and Message, drafted by Pastor Mike Stone, is in the plans for this year’s convention which will hopefully be passed to correct the missteps of the previous one. Pray that it will be accepted and presented without changes by the Resolutions Committee.
I am looking forward to our continued study of First John. This week looking at chapter one, verses 6-10), and consider a message “If We Say.” John’s concern was that our profession be equaled by our practice. We can have a profession of deception. John says “if we say” one thing and do another then we are lying, or worse we are deceived. There is an answer and we’ll cover it Sunday.
FAMILY WOW (Worship on Wednesday)- continues this week and we have doubled our average attendance! This is a great opportunity to invite friends and family to join us. We will continue our study in the book of Hebrews this Wednesday, June 9.
As always, I am looking forward to what God will do at Tabernacle this coming Sunday! Please be present with your Bibles in hand as we worship the Lord together!
Blessings, YFJS, Bro. Tom