Happy Independence Day

Sarah, my firstborn child, started a blog when she went to Greece recently to serve with missionaries from our church who work with refugees (primarily from Central Asia). Today she has posted a letter from John Adams to his wife, Abigail, written after the vote to declare independence from England, July 2, 1776.

Though he missed the day of celebration by 2 days, his sentiments about the significance of that action were prescient. The day, he said, "ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

Read the rest of his comments as well as Sarah's thoughts here.

FC 08 Update

The Lord has been incredibly gracious to us throughout the conference. Only two sessions remain. Tonight, Andy Davis will speak on the importance of Scripture memory. His discipline in this as well as his instruction on it are challenging and encouraging. Tomorrow morning, Phil Newton closes the meeting with a message on bringing reformation to a church. Phil has the unusual experience of having planted a church and then leading it through a significant reorientation in polity and doctrinal vision. It will be great to hear from both of these pastors who are capable, faithful expositors of Scripture.

The conference has been live-streamed and each session will be available via archive after this week. So far, over 2200 people have logged in to watch some or all of the sessions.

EDIT: Audio recordings of each message are being made available here. The first 5 messages are already up.

Each message has been substantive, helpful and warmly received. Ed Stetzer's talks on the theme were particularly challenging. But, don't take my word for it (or anyone else's for that matter), listen to them for yourself. It will be well worth your time.

FC 08

The 2008 Founders Conference begins today. Stetzer, Baucham, Nettles, Whitney, et al will speak under the theme, "Lengthening the Cords and Strengthening the Stakes." Our host church, Bethel Baptist in Owasso, Oklahoma, will provide a live stream of the sessions, which begin today at 3:30 PM Central Time. Click here for the link that will take you there.

Tim Brister is liveblogging the conference, so you can check out his report here.

Tue 24 3:30 PM--Ted Christman, Exposition of Psalm 1
Tue 24 6:30 PM--Andy Davis, Dangers in Reforming a Church

Wed 25 9:00 AM--Tom Nettles, Biographical Sketch of Daniel Marshall
Wed 25 10:30 AM--Voddie Baucham, Building a Solid Doctrinal Foundation
Wed 25 6:30 PM--Ed Stetzer, Keynote Address

Thu 26 9:00 AM--Don Whitney, Reforming Through Discipline
Thu 26 10:30 AM--Ed Stetzer, Keynote Address
Thu 26 1:30 PM--Tom Nettles, Leadership Dialogue
Thu 26 6:30 PM--Andy Davis, Importance of Filling Your Life with Scripture

Fri 27 9:00 AM--Phil Newton, From Planting to Reforming

Read this post!

Not this post. This one. It is by Nathan Finn, who teaches at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Finn understands the issues that are confronting modern Southern Baptists and articulates them as well as anyone. As a historian, he is not easily swayed by myopic characterizations of what Baptists have been or ought to be. His thoughts on the Conservative Resurgence (CR) are refreshingly free from any political posturing or fear mongering. The quotes that he provides from the two key architects of the CR (Paige Patterson and Paul Pressler) are very instructive for all Southern Baptists who desire to move forward in the ongoing effort to see Jesus Christ honored in our churches and His Gospel boldly proclaimed throughout our world.

Go read his article. Then pray that the Lord will grant Southern Baptists wisdom and humility to recommit ourselves to obeying the Great Commission without reservation.

SWBTS on Resolution #6

Even Southwestern Seminary, of which I am an alumnus (MDiv, 1983, PhD, 1989), has commented on the resolution on regenerate church membership. The following is taken from their June 20, 2008 e-newsletter.

Southwesterners contribute to SBC church membership resolution
by Keith Collier

FORT WORTH, Texas (SWBTS) -- Several individuals from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary made significant contributions to the resolution on regenerate church membership adopted at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, June 11.

One of the contributors to the resolution was Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas, and an alumnus of Southwestern. Barber's submission was taken from a resolution approved by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in November, which was originally drafted by Malcolm Yarnell, associate professor of systematic theology at Southwestern.

Yarnell was also responsible for helping amend the final resolution adopted by the SBC. Yarnell co-edited the book Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches, which addresses the need for regenerate church membership and church discipline.

To view the entire resolution, visit http://www.bpnews.net/blog/article.asp?ID=176.

Survey of Comments on Resolution #6

There have been many comments on Resolution #6 that was passed at the Southern Baptist Convention last week. Daily newspapers as well as religious news outlets have run stories about it. Several Baptist state papers have published the Baptist Press release about it and some have offered further commentary. Of course, many blogs have also commented on it.

Denny Burk told how the resolution was immediately useful in his ministry at First Baptist Church, Dallas:

"I am very grateful that the messengers voted in favor of this resolution. In the weeks leading up to the convention, I had been preaching through 1 Corinthians at the Wednesday evening worship service of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. On June 4, we made it to 1 Corinthians 5 and the topic of church discipline. I exhorted the members about the clear command that God gives to congregations to practice discipline.

By God’s wise providence exactly one week later, the convention passed resolution 6. That very night I was able to read the resolution in toto to the folks at First Dallas. I feel confident that the messengers to the SBC really served our church with the passage of this resolution."

Beyond these, I have received many phone calls and emails from pastors and concerned church members who are grateful to have the resolution as a tool to help teach their congregations about regenerate church membership and discipline.

While some think that the passing of the resolution is meaningless and a few (I have only heard about two) think that it is a bad thing, most of the responses that I have read or heard have been overwhelmingly positive.

For your convenience, below is a compilation of the sources that have been pointed out to me that have commented on the resolution (please feel free to add any others not mentioned here). Some of them discuss it at length, others touch on it briefly. What the 50 links below indicate is that the issues of integrity in church membership, regenerate church membership and church discipline are being widely discussed. The resolution is helping to get the conversations going in places where it might not otherwise ever be started. That is hopeful. And it is an encouragement to pray that the Lord will cause Baptists everywhere to reread their Bibles as they ask a simple question, "What does God call a local church to be?"

Baptist Press
Wyman Richardson
Strange Baptist Fire
Justin Childers
Thabiti Anyabwile
Denny Burk
Ted Olsen (Christianity Today)
Kelly Randolph
Ken Keathley
Nathan Finn (again)
Mike Corley
Tim Brister (again)
Associated Baptist Press
Kevin Rhyne
Norman Jameson
Micah Fries
The Charlotte Observer
Chadwick Ivester
The Tennessean
D.J. Williams
Kevin Schaub
Drew Dixon
John Killian
Danny Akin
R. Philip Blinson
Mark Kelly
Tim Rogers
Scott Gordon
Mike Lumpkin
Michael DeBusk
Terry Delaney (again)
Steve Weaver
Jerry Pearce (Southern Baptist Texan)
Anglicans United
Church Executive Magazine
Louisville Courier-Journal
Patrick McGill
Sweet Tea and Theology
Ben Wright
Tennessee Baptist and Reflector
Jim West
Seth Polk
Justin Nale
Don Brown
Wes Kenney
Ed Franklin
The Lakeland Ledger
Terry Leap
Arthur Sido
Ed Stetzer

Atheist Sloth Ethic

Kairos Journal (which is a very good online resource) has a great article about the simultaneous decline of belief and work ethic in Europe. A 2004 report by Harvard history professor, Niall Ferguson, entitled, "The Atheist Sloth Ethic, or Why Europeans Don't Believe in Work," is cited. If Ferguson is correct in his assessment (which builds on Max Weber's famous thesis in The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism), then "the European present is America's future."

On this same subject, an excellent book that I highly recommend to every Christian over the age of 14 is Wayne Grudem's Business for the Glory of God. It demonstrates the biblical foundation of starting and operating businesses that honor God, bless people and earn profit. In the growing anti-business ethos of our day, it provides a much-needed message for believers.

Founders Podcast

Tim Brister interviewed me in the first of what we hope will be many Founders Podcasts. You can read about it and download it over at his blog. We talked about the upcoming Founders Conference on church planting and church renewal next week in Owasso, Oklahoma (there is still time to register) and a little about last week's Southern Baptist Convention, particularly the issues surrounding Resolution #6 on recovering regenerate church membership and church discipline in our congregations.

Heritage Baptist Church Missions Conference

Here is a great promo video of an upcoming missions conference. For more information, click the banner on the sidebar.

BP on Eric Redmond's Message

Jeff Robinson wrote the Baptist Press report on the Founders Breakfast held last week at the Southern Baptist Convention. The excellent summary of Eric Redmond's message can be found here.

Pray for Iowa and the Midwest

Eric Schumacher, pastor of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has asked us to pray for those who are suffering due to the storms and floods in his state. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Teams are on the ground seeking to minister. Pray that the Gospel of Christ will be proclaimed in word and deed as brothers and sisters suffer with and minister to those who have been affected.

Eric Redmond at Founders Breakfast--free audio

Eric Redmond, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Maryland, and past 2nd VP of the Southern Baptist Convention in San Antonio, Texas spoke at this year's Founders Breakfast. His theme was, "The Reformation that Must Come!" It is available for free from Founders Ministries here.

This is a message that you do not want to miss!

KFUO AM, St. Louis, Radio Interview

Paul Clayton of KFUO in St. Louis will interview me today at 9:05 AM about the SBC annual meeting and Resolution #6. The program can be heard on the internet via their website at the link above.