"It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satisfied; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
C.S. Lewis, author/theologian

 

Diversion note: We  have just finished posting our archives on why we have left the Southern Baptist Convention. Please click under the SBC category .

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Yesterday, a commenter named Shorter conveniently posted the Georgia Baptist Convention's anti-blogging resolution on our blog. As I looked at it, I realized that each of the points is significant and some of the points are unbiblical. (Just what are they teaching in seminaries these days)? Interestingly, it appears that the Ergun Caner debacle became a national story  as a direct result of a small group of bloggers who were concerned about the apparent lies of this seminary president. Here is quote from the Associated Press article that has been published nationwide regarding this scandal.

 

"An unlikely coalition of Muslim and Christian
 bloggers, pastors and apologists has led the charge with video and audio
clips they claim show Caner making contradictory statements. Caner has since changed the biographical information
on his website and asked friendly organizations to remove damning clips
from their websites, but the questions are not going away".

 

The response of the entrenched evangelical bureaucracy in this matter has been nothing short of fascinating.

 

-Norman Geisler has spoken against this attack on a "Christian brother." "I am also convinced that whatever ambiguous or misstatement that may have been made, Dr. Caner has done nothing heretical, immoral, or illegal."

– Tom Guthrie, a pastor, decried Christian bloggers sayng, ""For several weeks a few minions have been trying to go after a Christian brother. In doing so the words of our Lord pertaining to conduct have been tossed aside by the ego driven vitriol of a few with nothing better to do with their time and so called calling than to attack a brother in Christ." I personally love the word, "minion." When will these "loving and godly" pastors ever learn that they have already lost their battle when they resort to name-calling?

 

There are so many of these examples, it would be cumbersome to list them all.But, all I can say is, "HUH?" Even my non-Christian mother knew that lying is wrong and I got punished for the whoppers I told in my day. For example, I would tell my brother (then 4 years old) that he wasn't really part of our family and that mom and dad were considering sending him back to the orphanage.I was sent to my room without supper. So, Caner's contention that he was raised as a jihadist in Turkeyis either true or it is not true. We happen to know that this is not true. So, in anyone's book, "NOT TRUE=LIE!!!!!!!  Lying is IMMORAL. Do I really need to spell out all the Bible verses on this subject?? Once again, what are they teaching in seminaries these days????

 

The following Georgia Baptist Convention resolution was written to countermand the effects of Doug Pittman's blog which was called "Purify the Church." In this blog, he documented his discovery of pornography on the computers of pastors at his church. He attempted to resolve this internally, to no avail. So, he wrote about what happened. Read about this under Doug Pittman in our category section.

 

In the meantime, Tom Rich began to blog about the excessive lifestyle of his pastor, Mac Brunson. The extremes that the church went to in order to intimidate Tom and his family have resulted in a First Amendment lawsuit that has potential to become a landmark case. You go, Tom! This full story may be found under Tom Rich's name in our category section as well.

 

There is undoubtedly a new movement at hand. 500 years ago, the Gutenberg Press and Martin Luther burst onto the scene. The Pope, used to complete control, was shocked by the ability of one man to sway public opinion when Luther's 95 Theses and the Gutenberg Press created a doctrinal version of the "perfect storm". The pope attempted coercive methods to stop this priest from condemning the practices of the church butLuther kept writing and the Gutenberg Press kept printing.  For a number of years, the majority of the printings from the press came from Luther. The Reformation was born.

 

For the past 500 years, pastors have been in the enviable position of controlling information via the pulpit. The secular press has had some sway and have exposed some of the shocking missteps of churches-Swaggert and Haggard come to mind. However, the Christian laity was limited in their ability to expose the issues within their churches. Swift church discipline, often unfairly applied, had a chilling effect on those who might speak out.

 

Unscrupulous pastors have used their positions in their communities to squelch any disagreement…until now. Finally, there is a resource that is available to all and that is the Internet. Suddenly, pastors who would cover up pedophilia, pornography and other immoral acts, have found themselves "outed". And they don't like it.

 

There has been an unhealthy attitude that has permeated the church that the pastor is always right. Congregants fear the pastor, acting as if he is God's perfect representative. Christians have forgotten two things. First, the Holy Spirit resides in each of us-giving each Christian the ability to hear and interpret God's voice. Secondly, believe it or not, there are pastors who have lost their way,using the pulpit to amass wealth and power. That's right. pastors can be just as sinful as the rest of us slugs. But, they rarely talk about this.Yeah, they give inane examples of being impatient or forgetful but rarely talk about their own serious issues.

 

Such pastors surround themselves with sycophants who love to call themselves elders or deacons. Unfortunately these "leaders" exist to do the bidding of their flawed leader.Many are fully led and have abrogated their responsibility to counteract the sinful impulses of the pastor. I have seen elders and deacons who lie, spread rumors, and fall on the sword for the pastor. Some churches have become corrupt. The SBC and other denominations have held tightly the reins of control because it is nice to be in charge, make money, and keep others from learning about what's really going on.

 

Well, those days are over and many leaders don't like it. I believe that God has allowed the Internet to become a purifying agent in the church. And, I have many reasons why I believe that to be true. I plan to explore this in the days to come, using the GBC resolution, printed below, as a template for this discussion.

 

However, one of the reasons that I believe that this movement is a work of God comes from the bloggers themselves. I had planned to  do this series for a week. Just as I started writing, I decided to check things over at Tom Rich's site,http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com. Lo and behold, he has just reprinted this resolution and is discussing Christian blogging! Cynics will say that I am lying and this was planned.  I can only assure you that both of us planned this series independently.

 

This same sort of thing happened with the Ergun Caner situation. I read one story and decided to write about it. Then, as a wrote, I found that dozens of others were doing the same thing.

 

 I became aware that there seemed to be a lot of doctorates held by certain Christian leaders, like the inimitable Dorothy Patterson,  that seemed to be obtained from institutions that are less than intellectually rigorous. We even mentioned it in a post on this site over a year ago. I have been planning on writing on this subject. Lo and behold, Wade Burleson addressed this subject on his blog a couple of weeks ago. Doug Pittman also brought this up. And a commenter on this site, who goes by the name of Victor, wrote that he had some concerns about this matter regarding a well-known professor at Liberty.

 

I find it hard to believe that this is all coincidental. Could it be that God is using these "minions" to purify the church? Time will tell. In the meantime, I can assure you that TWW is committed to bringing the truth to light. We are imperfect, subject to both sin and mistakes, but we are forging ahead with a God-given zeal, born out of personal experience, to see the church of Christ shining as a light on a hill because darkness has been exposed and expunged. But, it might get just a little bit uncomfortable.

 

So, read the resolution. It may be coming to a denomination near you.

 

Resolution on Blogging

Submitted by Rev. Wayne Bray and Rev. William Harrell
Beulah Baptist Church, Douglasville, GA

WHEREAS, the American people have the distinct privilege of freedom of speech as provided by our United States Constitution, and this resolution is not intended to limit that freedom of speech we all value so much; and

WHEREAS responsible blogging can be a means of promoting the flow of information and encouragement of our people, but certain people use this tool for divisive and destructive rhetoric at the expense of peace among the Brethren; and

WHEREAS blogging is also being used by some as a tool for personal attacks upon other Christian Brothers and Sisters, and this critical and divisive use promotes a negative view of the Southern Baptist Convention in the eyes of the society we are striving to reach with the Gospel (James 3:6,14);

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the messengers of this convention oppose blogging when it is used to cause division and disharmony among the members of our Southern Baptist Family (Proverbs 6:16-19; I Cor. 1:10); and since personal differences should not be dealt with in public view,

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that all personal attacks should cease immediately (Proverbs 17:27 -28; John 17:21-23 ); and

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that we reaffirm the historic method of administering our agencies and institutions through elected boards of trustees, and we call upon bloggers to cease the critical second-guessing of these elected leaders; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Georgia Baptists respectfully request and expect that individuals who disrupt the fellowship through blogging repent and immediately cease this activity and no longer cause disharmony for the advancement of their own personal opinions and agendas; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that we set our eyes once again on the fields to which we are called to labor, refusing to dishonor God with activities that militate against harmony and good will.