Developments in the Florida Baptist Convention...

Earlier this year there was considerable stink caused in the Florida Baptist Convention over a proposal to make belief in total abstinence from alcohol (Res. #5 for those of you in the know) a requirement of all those who would serve on the various boards of denominational leadership.

Now, I bring this up not to re-open old wounds but to highlight that those crazy Florida Baptists are at it again. Just today I read on Tom Ascol's blog that the executive director of the Florida Baptist Convention was involved in sending a "care package" to pastors in that state. Included in the package were a series of sermons by Jerry Vines called "Baptist Battles." In that series there is a sermon entitled "Calvinism: A Baptist and His Election" which is quite forceful in its anti-Calvinist rhetoric.

The fact that Jerry Vines preached a sermon and some people listened to it is not the issue for me. What really gets me is the fact that the Executive Director of the Florida Baptist Convention was directly involved with sending this out. The state convention's money was used in this endeavor. I find myself asking the question of whether or not the state convention would send out sermons to pastors from a different viewpoint.

It is this sort of thing that really frustrates me about the SBC. I feel a bit of heat going to my cheeks when I hear about things like this but when I sit down and think about it I get more sad than angry. The consistent opposition to the theological tradition of the founders of the denomination just boggles the mind. There is either ignorance of this fact or some sort of historical revisionism is going on.

Although I am both saddened and angered by this, I am also resolved in my mind that I will not yet abandon the denomination to this type of thinking. It is up to those of us who remain to stand for the truth of Scripture in the midst of those who would deny it and sell our rich heritage for something shallow and false. Keep the faith and fight the good fight!