1.28.2006
What do a Rockstar, a former Strip Club Bouncer, a Tattoo Artist and a Preacer have in common?
Yeah, we are all friends... great time hanging out with Josh Smith, Rob Cranford and Norm Wright yesterday. Ain't the Body of Christ beautiful? I think so...
1.24.2006
Wade Burleson is cool...
As mentioned in my previous post, the saga over the IMB (International Mission Board) of the SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) and their attempt to add to Scripture is astounding. :( But all I can say... the more I read, the more I love Wade Burleson. This guy rocks!
---
Burleson: ‘We are at a crossroads’
Monday, 23 January 2006
by Bob Nigh
Managing Editor, Baptist Messenger
TULSA—“We are at a crossroads as a convention,” Wade Burleson told about 80 persons gathered for a Tulsa Metro Association luncheon Jan. 16 at the Radisson Inn.
BGCO president Bob Green, pastor of Broken Arrow, Arrow Heights (in red sweater) leads prayer for Enid, Emmanuel pastor Wade Burleson as Tulsa-area pastors lay hands on Burleson after he spoke at a Tulsa Metro Association luncheon Jan. 16. PHOTO: Bob Nigh
Burleson, pastor of Enid, Emmanuel and president of the Baptist General Convention from 2002-2004, is the central figure amid a growing controversy among Southern Baptists. While he was elected by messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention last June in Nashville to serve a four-year term as a trustee of the International Mission Board, Burleson now finds himself virtually a pariah on the board after he spoke up concerning new guidelines for the appointment of IMB missionaries. On Jan. 10, the IMB board voted to recommend that Burleson be removed as a trustee at this year’s SBC convention in Greensboro, N.C., June 13-14.
Passage of that recommendation will require approval by a two-thirds majority of SBC messengers. The missionary personnel policies Burleson objects to involve baptism and a “private prayer language.” Under the new policies, missionary candidates who admitted to using a private prayer language or missionaries not baptized in a Southern Baptist church or one which teaches “eternal security” would not be approved for appointment.
“The issue I am attempting to address is an issue that is not personal, but I believe is an issue that will determine the direction we will go; it will chart our course for decades to come as the Southern Baptist Convention,” Burleson said. “The issue is not tongues. The issue is not a new policy on baptism. It is not Wade Burleson.
“The issue is, when will we as a convention cease narrowing the parameters of cooperation for evangelism and missions?”
He explained further.
“What I mean by that is this. We as Southern Baptists are all conservative, we’re evangelical; we’re Bible believing Christians, but many of us disagree on interpretation of minor, non-essential doctrines,” he said.
“When can we come to the place of realizing that we are all conservative, evangelical people who love the Lord Jesus Christ and are concerned about winning the world for Christ, and 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?’
“The Baptist Faith & Message is a great fleshing out of those essential doctrines that we hold to, and I support it. I am afraid that we are now moving beyond the Baptist Faith & Message, and these new policies on tongues and baptism are just an illustration.
“I am fighting for us as a convention to cooperate even though we disagree on the minor, non-essential doctrines of Scripture.”
Wade Burleson
Burleson said he feels there is a small group of IMB trustees trying to control the entire board.
“I believe there is a subset of trustees attempting to set direction,” he said. “I believe with all my heart that is happening at the IMB. And that direction is contrary to the leadership of (IMB) president Jerry Rankin and staff, who are doing, I believe, a fine job in leading our convention in the area of missions.
“I asked them if they were aware that Miss Bertha Smith, the greatest missionary we have ever had, a missionary to China who lived to be 100 years old, died in 1988 and led thousands of people to Christ, had a private prayer language? Are you aware that Rankin, before he was hired, told the board and search committee that he had a private prayer language?
“The old policy stated if you spoke publically in tongues on the mission field, you would be fired because the missions agency is determined to make sure the Gospel is shared with clarity. That’s a policy I can live with.”
Burleson told the Tulsa-area audience that attempts were made by IMB trustees to keep him silent on the issue.
“I believe because I was new they felt like I should be silent,” he said. “As a result, I was squelched in ways I’m not yet free to tell you about at this time. 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.”
As for the issue of tongues, or a private prayer language, Burleson said, “I don’t have a private prayer language. My mission as a pastor is to preach the Word of God. But, what you do in your prayer closet is your business.”
He said he especially disagreed with the new policy on baptism.
“The one policy that really bothered me was the new policy on baptism, which essentially said this, ‘you can not serve unless you were baptized in a Southern Baptist church or a church that teaches eternal security,’ Burleson said.
“There are three things that bothered me about the new policy on baptism. First, it goes way beyond what Scripture and the Baptist Faith & Message teach concerning baptism. Second, it places emphasis on baptism identifying you with a certain church or doctrinal teaching rather than baptism identifying the convert with Jesus as a follower of the Christ. Third, the IMB is now telling local Southern Baptist churches that a baptism good enough for them is not good enough for the IMB. 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 they see me as a troublemaker. But, this is a matter of conviction; it is a matter of policy.
“For weeks, I spoke out, and I was not alone. Others did, too. What we were trying to do was to convince the trustees that this was going way beyond the parameters of Scripture and the BF&M.
“I was not even trying to convince them that I was right. I don’t care if they believe that way. I just don’t want them telling me that I can’t cooperate with them on the mission field because I don’t believe like them. That’s the bigger issue.”
IMB trustees reportedly were upset when Burleson eventually took his concerns beyond the board room and began a Web log (blog) or online diary.
“So, persistently, passionately, graciously to people, I spoke up,” he said. “And I think they saw me as a person who was rocking the boat.
“They ended up voting for the new policy in November and here’s where the rub comes . . . since my accountability is not to my fellow trustees, but to the Southern Baptist Convention; since my responsibility is invested in me not by my fellow trustees but by the SBC, I have the privilege to take this issue to the SBC.
“I did, through a blog—every day for several months, never using names, never attacking people. It’s all been (a matter of) principle; we have to see where we are headed, draw a line in the sand and say ‘no more.’
Burleson said he knew going public would not be well received by fellow IMB trustees.
“I knew there would be some discomfort over me going public, but I believe I have a responsibility to the convention, so I continued,” he stressed.”
Burleson expressed dismay that the board’s new policy put Rankin in an awkward position.
“This put Rankin in a very difficult position,” he pointed out. “You now have the president of an organization not qualified to be a missionary within the very organization over which he presides!
“I believe if I just let this thing slide, I’m afraid 10 years from now, it will be the death knell of our convention.”
On his Jan. 11 blog, Burleson said, “I have consistently maintained 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 has been to capture the interest and commitment of what I believe is a critical mass of conservative SBC members in general, and a younger generation of SBC pastors in particular, who are increasingly feeling disenfranchised because of attempts to demand conformity to interpretations of the Bible with which even reasonable, conservative innerantists may disagree.”
---
Burleson: ‘We are at a crossroads’
Monday, 23 January 2006
by Bob Nigh
Managing Editor, Baptist Messenger
TULSA—“We are at a crossroads as a convention,” Wade Burleson told about 80 persons gathered for a Tulsa Metro Association luncheon Jan. 16 at the Radisson Inn.
BGCO president Bob Green, pastor of Broken Arrow, Arrow Heights (in red sweater) leads prayer for Enid, Emmanuel pastor Wade Burleson as Tulsa-area pastors lay hands on Burleson after he spoke at a Tulsa Metro Association luncheon Jan. 16. PHOTO: Bob Nigh
Burleson, pastor of Enid, Emmanuel and president of the Baptist General Convention from 2002-2004, is the central figure amid a growing controversy among Southern Baptists. While he was elected by messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention last June in Nashville to serve a four-year term as a trustee of the International Mission Board, Burleson now finds himself virtually a pariah on the board after he spoke up concerning new guidelines for the appointment of IMB missionaries. On Jan. 10, the IMB board voted to recommend that Burleson be removed as a trustee at this year’s SBC convention in Greensboro, N.C., June 13-14.
Passage of that recommendation will require approval by a two-thirds majority of SBC messengers. The missionary personnel policies Burleson objects to involve baptism and a “private prayer language.” Under the new policies, missionary candidates who admitted to using a private prayer language or missionaries not baptized in a Southern Baptist church or one which teaches “eternal security” would not be approved for appointment.
“The issue I am attempting to address is an issue that is not personal, but I believe is an issue that will determine the direction we will go; it will chart our course for decades to come as the Southern Baptist Convention,” Burleson said. “The issue is not tongues. The issue is not a new policy on baptism. It is not Wade Burleson.
“The issue is, when will we as a convention cease narrowing the parameters of cooperation for evangelism and missions?”
He explained further.
“What I mean by that is this. We as Southern Baptists are all conservative, we’re evangelical; we’re Bible believing Christians, but many of us disagree on interpretation of minor, non-essential doctrines,” he said.
“When can we come to the place of realizing that we are all conservative, evangelical people who love the Lord Jesus Christ and are concerned about winning the world for Christ, and 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?’
“The Baptist Faith & Message is a great fleshing out of those essential doctrines that we hold to, and I support it. I am afraid that we are now moving beyond the Baptist Faith & Message, and these new policies on tongues and baptism are just an illustration.
“I am fighting for us as a convention to cooperate even though we disagree on the minor, non-essential doctrines of Scripture.”
Wade Burleson
Burleson said he feels there is a small group of IMB trustees trying to control the entire board.
“I believe there is a subset of trustees attempting to set direction,” he said. “I believe with all my heart that is happening at the IMB. And that direction is contrary to the leadership of (IMB) president Jerry Rankin and staff, who are doing, I believe, a fine job in leading our convention in the area of missions.
“I asked them if they were aware that Miss Bertha Smith, the greatest missionary we have ever had, a missionary to China who lived to be 100 years old, died in 1988 and led thousands of people to Christ, had a private prayer language? Are you aware that Rankin, before he was hired, told the board and search committee that he had a private prayer language?
“The old policy stated if you spoke publically in tongues on the mission field, you would be fired because the missions agency is determined to make sure the Gospel is shared with clarity. That’s a policy I can live with.”
Burleson told the Tulsa-area audience that attempts were made by IMB trustees to keep him silent on the issue.
“I believe because I was new they felt like I should be silent,” he said. “As a result, I was squelched in ways I’m not yet free to tell you about at this time. 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.”
As for the issue of tongues, or a private prayer language, Burleson said, “I don’t have a private prayer language. My mission as a pastor is to preach the Word of God. But, what you do in your prayer closet is your business.”
He said he especially disagreed with the new policy on baptism.
“The one policy that really bothered me was the new policy on baptism, which essentially said this, ‘you can not serve unless you were baptized in a Southern Baptist church or a church that teaches eternal security,’ Burleson said.
“There are three things that bothered me about the new policy on baptism. First, it goes way beyond what Scripture and the Baptist Faith & Message teach concerning baptism. Second, it places emphasis on baptism identifying you with a certain church or doctrinal teaching rather than baptism identifying the convert with Jesus as a follower of the Christ. Third, the IMB is now telling local Southern Baptist churches that a baptism good enough for them is not good enough for the IMB. 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 they see me as a troublemaker. But, this is a matter of conviction; it is a matter of policy.
“For weeks, I spoke out, and I was not alone. Others did, too. What we were trying to do was to convince the trustees that this was going way beyond the parameters of Scripture and the BF&M.
“I was not even trying to convince them that I was right. I don’t care if they believe that way. I just don’t want them telling me that I can’t cooperate with them on the mission field because I don’t believe like them. That’s the bigger issue.”
IMB trustees reportedly were upset when Burleson eventually took his concerns beyond the board room and began a Web log (blog) or online diary.
“So, persistently, passionately, graciously to people, I spoke up,” he said. “And I think they saw me as a person who was rocking the boat.
“They ended up voting for the new policy in November and here’s where the rub comes . . . since my accountability is not to my fellow trustees, but to the Southern Baptist Convention; since my responsibility is invested in me not by my fellow trustees but by the SBC, I have the privilege to take this issue to the SBC.
“I did, through a blog—every day for several months, never using names, never attacking people. It’s all been (a matter of) principle; we have to see where we are headed, draw a line in the sand and say ‘no more.’
Burleson said he knew going public would not be well received by fellow IMB trustees.
“I knew there would be some discomfort over me going public, but I believe I have a responsibility to the convention, so I continued,” he stressed.”
Burleson expressed dismay that the board’s new policy put Rankin in an awkward position.
“This put Rankin in a very difficult position,” he pointed out. “You now have the president of an organization not qualified to be a missionary within the very organization over which he presides!
“I believe if I just let this thing slide, I’m afraid 10 years from now, it will be the death knell of our convention.”
On his Jan. 11 blog, Burleson said, “I have consistently maintained 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 has been to capture the interest and commitment of what I believe is a critical mass of conservative SBC members in general, and a younger generation of SBC pastors in particular, who are increasingly feeling disenfranchised because of attempts to demand conformity to interpretations of the Bible with which even reasonable, conservative innerantists may disagree.”
1.18.2006
Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K
Ted once said, "Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K." :lol: Well, it would seem that the same is true for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. What strange things are afoot at the IMB? Well, there is a move to prohibit anyone that has a private prayer language from serving overseas, and there is a move to now require that all IMB personnel be baptized in a Southern Baptist Church.
WHAT???
One primary target in this (and in every shakedown, there is always a scape goat... just ask Jesus) is Wade Burleson, a pastor of a church in Enid, Oklahoma and a trustee on the IMB. There is a move to remove him from the Board because he has been vocal about these new changes. Now, I could wax eloquent about all of this, but I thought it best to simply quote from the scapegoat himself. It's good stuff...
Wade Burleson:
Never Forget It's About Missions
The International Mission Board is the one agency that causes all of us as Southern Baptists to get excited about cooperation. Though I have discovered that there is a wide variety of beliefs regarding ecclesiology, eschatology, missiology, soteriology and other interpretations of Scripture among the IMB trustees, I can guarantee you every trustee I have met is interested in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
Some of us just disagree on how to get it done.
I have tried to remind everyone in this blog that the major issue for me is NOT so much the new policy forbidding the appoint of missionaries who have a private prayer language, or even the policy that rejects prospective missionary candidates who are not baptized in a Southern Baptist church or in a church that teaches eternal security. Sure, I believe both new policies go beyond Scripture and the Baptist Faith and Message, but they are only symptoms of a deeper problem.
The real problem?
We are continuing to narrow the parameters of fellowship and cooperation in the area of missions and evangelism by demanding conformity and agreement on non-essential doctrines. Now you must be a cessationist and very close to a Landmark in order to be a Southern Baptist missionary.
We have lost sight of the gospel.
The gospel is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The gospel is the good news that God saves sinners through the work of His Son. We are called to preach Christ. We are commissioned by Christ Himself to be ambassadors of this good news. We are to go far and wide, or at least support those who do go far away, in the sharing of this good news that God saves sinners through Jesus Christ His Son.
I am still trying to understand why we are now EXCLUDING Southern Baptist missionary candidates who have a clear grasp of the gospel, who are members in good standing of Southern Baptist churches, and who in every way would have been qualified to serve as an SBC missionary for the past 161 years, but are now persona non grata (an unwelcome person).
I have received several emails with heart wrenching stories of missionaries who are now not able to serve with the IMB because of these new policies. Allow me to tell you one without going into the specific details of names and locations.
There is a very dark region in Central Asia, a place where missionaries and trustees have been praying for a gospel presence for the past three years. This very, very dark place is dangerous for anyone who names the name of Christ.
Recently, a young Southern Baptist couple felt God's call to this very region. They would never be recognized for their service because of security reasons. Their lives would be in constant danger, and frankly, there would be no guarantee they would ever make it back to the States alive. They passed all of the candidate interviews with flying colors, impressed all the IMB staff and trustees, and brought a surge of excitement and anticipation to the CA region as an answer to many prayers.
When the new policies were past by the trustees November 15, 2005 the Candidate Consultant went back to the young couple and asked, "Do either one of you have a private prayer language?"
The wife, unbeknownst to her husband, had prayed privately in ecstatic utterances for years. With full integrity she answered, "Yes."
This young couple was then rejected as SBC missionaries while in training at the Missionary Learning Center. Many tears were shed. The Candidate Consultant was heartbroken. The Central Asia region was shocked.
Why were they declined? The trustees, not the staff, declined them.
I propose a dark region in Central Asia is still dark because we trustees lost sight of the gospel, and our mission, and went way beyond Scripture, the Baptist Faith and Message, and our duties to keep our eye on world missions and evangelism.
That's the issue.
I have been criticized because I have stated the reason why private prayer languages became an issue among the trustees two years ago. It is not conjecture for me. What I have been told makes me very sad.
The baptism policy makes me just as sad. There are trustees who have said to me, "I am a Landmark and proud of it." Listen, I can cooperate with a Landmark any day of the year in the area of missions, but the essence of Landmarkism is to separate from everyone who does not view the administrator of baptism as important as Landmarks do. Our convention split over Landmarkism back in 1850 and if we are not careful we will soon face a simlar problem in 2006.
We must stop narrowing the parameters of cooperation in missions and evangelism.
So, I don't want to get bogged down in a debate about "private prayer languages" or the proper administrator of baptism. I don't even want to get into a debate on whether or not I should stay as a trustee of the IMB.
I want us as Southern Baptists to realize we have no higher motivation for cooperation than the mission field. We must WORK to keep the doors of cooperation open.
We must not forget that it is all about missions.
In His Grace,
Wade Burleson
--
To read his blog in total, see http://www.kerussocharis.blogspot.com/
WHAT???
One primary target in this (and in every shakedown, there is always a scape goat... just ask Jesus) is Wade Burleson, a pastor of a church in Enid, Oklahoma and a trustee on the IMB. There is a move to remove him from the Board because he has been vocal about these new changes. Now, I could wax eloquent about all of this, but I thought it best to simply quote from the scapegoat himself. It's good stuff...
Wade Burleson:
Never Forget It's About Missions
The International Mission Board is the one agency that causes all of us as Southern Baptists to get excited about cooperation. Though I have discovered that there is a wide variety of beliefs regarding ecclesiology, eschatology, missiology, soteriology and other interpretations of Scripture among the IMB trustees, I can guarantee you every trustee I have met is interested in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
Some of us just disagree on how to get it done.
I have tried to remind everyone in this blog that the major issue for me is NOT so much the new policy forbidding the appoint of missionaries who have a private prayer language, or even the policy that rejects prospective missionary candidates who are not baptized in a Southern Baptist church or in a church that teaches eternal security. Sure, I believe both new policies go beyond Scripture and the Baptist Faith and Message, but they are only symptoms of a deeper problem.
The real problem?
We are continuing to narrow the parameters of fellowship and cooperation in the area of missions and evangelism by demanding conformity and agreement on non-essential doctrines. Now you must be a cessationist and very close to a Landmark in order to be a Southern Baptist missionary.
We have lost sight of the gospel.
The gospel is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The gospel is the good news that God saves sinners through the work of His Son. We are called to preach Christ. We are commissioned by Christ Himself to be ambassadors of this good news. We are to go far and wide, or at least support those who do go far away, in the sharing of this good news that God saves sinners through Jesus Christ His Son.
I am still trying to understand why we are now EXCLUDING Southern Baptist missionary candidates who have a clear grasp of the gospel, who are members in good standing of Southern Baptist churches, and who in every way would have been qualified to serve as an SBC missionary for the past 161 years, but are now persona non grata (an unwelcome person).
I have received several emails with heart wrenching stories of missionaries who are now not able to serve with the IMB because of these new policies. Allow me to tell you one without going into the specific details of names and locations.
There is a very dark region in Central Asia, a place where missionaries and trustees have been praying for a gospel presence for the past three years. This very, very dark place is dangerous for anyone who names the name of Christ.
Recently, a young Southern Baptist couple felt God's call to this very region. They would never be recognized for their service because of security reasons. Their lives would be in constant danger, and frankly, there would be no guarantee they would ever make it back to the States alive. They passed all of the candidate interviews with flying colors, impressed all the IMB staff and trustees, and brought a surge of excitement and anticipation to the CA region as an answer to many prayers.
When the new policies were past by the trustees November 15, 2005 the Candidate Consultant went back to the young couple and asked, "Do either one of you have a private prayer language?"
The wife, unbeknownst to her husband, had prayed privately in ecstatic utterances for years. With full integrity she answered, "Yes."
This young couple was then rejected as SBC missionaries while in training at the Missionary Learning Center. Many tears were shed. The Candidate Consultant was heartbroken. The Central Asia region was shocked.
Why were they declined? The trustees, not the staff, declined them.
I propose a dark region in Central Asia is still dark because we trustees lost sight of the gospel, and our mission, and went way beyond Scripture, the Baptist Faith and Message, and our duties to keep our eye on world missions and evangelism.
That's the issue.
I have been criticized because I have stated the reason why private prayer languages became an issue among the trustees two years ago. It is not conjecture for me. What I have been told makes me very sad.
The baptism policy makes me just as sad. There are trustees who have said to me, "I am a Landmark and proud of it." Listen, I can cooperate with a Landmark any day of the year in the area of missions, but the essence of Landmarkism is to separate from everyone who does not view the administrator of baptism as important as Landmarks do. Our convention split over Landmarkism back in 1850 and if we are not careful we will soon face a simlar problem in 2006.
We must stop narrowing the parameters of cooperation in missions and evangelism.
So, I don't want to get bogged down in a debate about "private prayer languages" or the proper administrator of baptism. I don't even want to get into a debate on whether or not I should stay as a trustee of the IMB.
I want us as Southern Baptists to realize we have no higher motivation for cooperation than the mission field. We must WORK to keep the doors of cooperation open.
We must not forget that it is all about missions.
In His Grace,
Wade Burleson
--
To read his blog in total, see http://www.kerussocharis.blogspot.com/
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