SBTC Convention 2007 Session 1

Juan Castro from Longview addressed the SBTC annual convention in the first theme interpretation Monday evening in the Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, Texas. Juan brought a great challenge and his presence broke many stereotypes many Texas Baptist hold concerning Hispanic immigrants. Juan came to America from Honduras. He holds a graduate degree in economics and came to USA soil to work in the banking industry. After a time in the states he accepted a position at East Texas Baptist University teaching in the School of Business. Currently he teaches business courses at LeTourneau University in Longview. About three years ago Juan started a Hispanic congregation as a mission of Oakland Heights Baptist Church. In these three years the Lord has broken his heart for the Hispanic population among us.

Many times Hispanic immigrants are often stereotyped as poorly educated and granted some have not had the opportunity for an education. Juan holds a doctorate degree. Most Texans stereotype Hispanics as from Mexico, Juan is from Honduras and reminds us that immigrants are coming from all over Latin America. I thank God that He brought Juan to the states to influence our young adults in higher education and reach out to other immigrants with the Gospel. May his tribe increase!

2007 Bible Conference

In keeping with a commitment to Scripture, the SBTC Bible Conference preceding the annual convention was an uplifting time of solid biblical preaching. We were taught from the Word, we were challenged from the Word, and we were encouraged from the Word. Don Willis and committee brought a great conference together and we owe them a great debt of gratitude.

There is so much to take away from the conference biblically that I don’t have time this morning that I am short of time to do justice to each speaker. Two actions were taken by those present that are well worthy of note here. First, the attendees agreed to use the name Bible conference rather than pastor’s conference again next year and perhaps bring a motion next year to let that be a continuing name. This is a commitment that goes beyond pastors to include laity as well. This is a great move. The second was the election of Greg Matte, pastor of FBC Houston as the president of the conference for next year. Greg is a young enthusiastic pastor and his election should result in more youthful communicators and a higher attendance by younger pastors. Again, a great move. I am marking my calendar now to attend the 2008 Bible Conference of the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention that precedes the annual convention meeting.

Bible Conference

Challenging Encouragement

First Baptist Church of Fort Worth served as the host church for the Bible Conference held by the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention as a prelude to the annual meeting. The combined choirs from Tarrant County churches set the tone for what appears to be an encouraging time of worship filled with great music and strong biblical preaching.

Dennis Baw brought the first theme interpretation from Isaiah 43 reminding us that God will be with us through the waters. Joe Lightener brought a powerful message from 2 Peter 3 pointing out that global warming will be God's way of ushering in the new heaven and new earth. To close out the evening Earnest Easley challenged us all to stroll around in the fire just as did the three Hebrew children in the days of Daniel.

It was especially good to fellowship with ministry friends and evangelists we have had the privilege of serving along side over the years. The fellowship and spirit among the pastors attending brings great encouragement to fellow travelers.

The Bible Conference continues tomorrow with the business session beginning in the evening.

Biblical Insipiration

Prior to the gavel falling to begin the annual business meeting of the BGCT, many were attending workshops led by various convention leaders and seminary professors. One was led by Dr. Dan Stiver who teaches theology at the Logsdon School of Theology on the campus of Hardin Simmons Baptist University in Abilene, Texas. While reading the comment section of another blog yesterday, I saw where someone commented that Dr. Stiver was teaching open theism. Below you will find a paragraph from his soon to be released book that may have fueled the accusation.

A third issue is then to understand the historical development that takes place through the Old Testament and into the New Testament. A basically Christian understanding is that the fullness of God's revelation is in Jesus Christ. It implies that previous to Christ there was not the fullness of that revelation. While some would come to the Bible as a “flat Bible,” this is a very ahistorical and unincarnational way to approach the Bible. If we think in terms of what is called "progressive revelation," then we can understand that God is being revealed to people throughout the Old Testament in ways compatible with their ability to understand. John Calvin spoke of this as God “accommodating” the limitations of their understanding.10 At best, he thought, God speaks baby talk to us because of our limitations. We should always be aware, therefore, that revelation does not mean utter and thorough explanation, but it is accommodated to particular places and cultures and languages and translations and concepts. What this looks like is that there were places where there was dramatic understanding, and there were places where they pretty clearly did not understand the way God is later understood in light of the revelation in Jesus Christ. For example, polygamy seemed to be understood by many in the Old Testament as consistent with God's will. Jesus pointed out in the Sermon on the Mount that the understanding of divorce in the Old Testament was not really God's intention. Genocide, under the name of holy war, was understood to be consistent with the will of God in some of the Old Testament, which is difficult to reconcile with the perspective of Jesus in the New Testament. Unless we have some idea of God changing in God's basic character, which is almost universally considered unorthodox among Christian theologians, then it is difficult to think that what happened was that God changed; rather, what it looks like is that the understanding of God changed and developed over the course of time. This is the meaning then of progressive revelation. While this approach enables us to avoid seeming contradictions in the Bible and to make some aspects of interpretation quite a bit easier, it does represent a challenge. It puts a burden upon the believing interpreter to discern in light of the whole canon what is consistent with the nature of God and the purposes of God in places where it is not clear. For example, in the Old Testament, we have the commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5) and also “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18) It is fairly easy to see these as revelatory of God in the full and universal sense. It is much more difficult to see holy war, the practice of polygamy, or God hardening someone's heart (as with Pharaoh, Ex. 10:1) as consistent with the understanding of God conveyed in Jesus Christ. Another case is Psalm 137, where the prayer is that God will dash the enemy's children against the rocks. (vs. 9) In the context, there is no hint that there is anything wrong with any of this sentiment, and one can imagine someone taking from the Psalm that this is the kind of attitude that we are supposed to have. It is only in light of the wider message of the whole Bible that we would have a more critical perspective.

The article can be found in its entirety at the following link. http://www.bgct.org/texasbaptists/Document.Doc?&id=4408.

Others have mentioned this seminar in their blogs or comments.

See, Aaron on SBC Outpost as a comment on the story of the BGCT electing a female president.

See this note at Waves of Truth under his blog BGCT thoughts and concerns.

http://tree4lifetx.blogspot.com/

Is this a conservative approach, a moderate approach, or a neo liberal approach?

McBride and the Bull

How about that 90 point ride by Justin McBride to place third in the 4th round of the PBR finals? Justin leads in the point standings but had gone 0-3 in the first three rounds. Marchi and Mauney were closing in on his point lead. Tonight, they buck off and Justin places third in the round. Never count a champion out. Round 5 begins at 9:00 PM Eastern time and will be broadcast on VS. If McBride draws the bulls well he continues to be the favorite to win the world title.