My dad used to tell a story about a pastor who went to visit an older woman who had been visiting his church. He encouraged her to join. She said,

“Pastor, I’m not physically able to be a Baptist.”

After being in the convention hall the last 4 days, I am beginning to wonder.

Am I physically able to be a Baptist messenger?

I was writing down the exact numbers when I got an emergency message from my wife. She won the Foundation money estimate and demanded I come out.

That’s about all I won this week.

The amendment passed by approximately 75% to 25% as many of us expected. It has to pass again next year.

I have two groups of SBCish friends.

I’ve got friends who think about the SBC the way Bilbo and Frodo thought about Mordor. Some have already left and others are engaging in quiet-quitting (not participating, giving less or designating). Many who have left are vocal in lambasting our denomination (or convention of churches) at every chance. Some get offended if anyone says anything positive at any time about anything in the SBC. Most of that is, frankly, related to the SBC’s failure to deal well with sexual abuse and its survivors.

I have other friends who are excited about the SBC, about it missions and missionaries, about the increased baptisms and churches being planted. We have six of the best seminaries in the land. Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong have shown strong offerings in recent years.

As I’ve listened to reports at the convention this year, there is a lot of good going on.

Which side is right? My answer – YES.

I think we have some serious problems, but I think that by God’s grace we are still alive and moving forward. Maybe we are a Dave Miller convention. Aging. A lot wrong with me. Perhaps facing major surgery and doggone it, everything hurts, but God is still at work.

I realize that this is going to anger everyone. Those who have soured on the SBC have soured hard and to say that “PBPGINFWUY” (Please be patient, God is not finished with us yet – remember those buttons?) is offensive to them. True SBC loyalists often recoil at criticism. I stand firmly in the center.

We have problems, but I still think we have a future.

So, to everyone who’s mad at me – be nice to me. I’m getting old and my mind is slipping.

Notice the French? I’m nearly 600 days into my Duolingo French! Impressive, right?

During the discussion as to whether we should go to Anaheim, I noticed another “Grumpy Old Man” moment I wanted to vent about.

A (likely perfectly nice) young pastor said that we should ONLY have SBC conventions in the DEEP SOUTH because that is where most of our churches are and that it would be cheapest. As someone who spent 32 years pastoring in Iowa and the last almost 4 in Nebraska, I say,

GET OFF MY LAWN!

The SBC needs to expand outside the SEC-territory base, and one way to do that is to support state conventions beyond our Deep South borders and raise our profile in what we used to call frontier states. I remember when World Changers used to come to Iowa, and we loved it. It made a huge difference, but then they told us it was too far to come.

I am sure that brother who said we should stay in the Deep South for the conventions is a good guy, but this Nebraska pastor disagrees with him strongly!

There are a couple of things I don’t like about SBC Orlando, and it has nothing to do with the massive amount of walking I’ve had to do. I’m going to turn 70 next year, so that’s just a problem for me! It’s life for us old codgers. I have a couple of serious gripes about the process.

The thing about the SBC is that it’s a 10,000-person business meeting, and it’s going to be messy. I get frustrated with some of the silly motions people make, but it’s one of the things that makes us unique. Any person can get up and brave the echo that makes them sound like a drunk and make any motion they feel like making. Bless their hearts.

ONE: I don’t like the new process we’ve developed to send these motions into outer darkness with a wave of our magic wand. Yes, it’s easier, quicker, and neater, but it’s not who we are. We send the motion to the EC, which ignores it! Once in a while, the EC gets a decent motion, and I don’t think this new process we’ve discovered of saying, “Avada Kedavra” to messengers’ motions is a good thing.

Doing business quickly isn’t necessarily our highest goal. Letting messengers have their say is.

TWO: This is a longtime gripe, and I know I’m fighting history and probably Robert’s Rules on this. It’s been going on for years. I hate what Colin Smothers did today. He had his say on the Mohler Amendment, and then, as his time was running out, he moved the question.

If I were king (and what a great world that would be, right?) you would NOT be able to speak your mind, then move the previous question. If you spoke your mind, you would have to let others have their say. If you wanted to move the question, that is all you would do. Move the question and sit down.

It seems grossly unfair to have your say and then prevent others from having theirs. Selfish. Wrong.

I know this is an unwinnable battle, but this isn’t about winning a battle, but telling you…

GET OFF MY LAWN!

Do you have any reasonable gripes?

It feels like old-time Conservative Resurgence power politics at the SBC Orlando. I attended most of the conventions from 1979 through the decisive election that settled the victory of conservatives about 12 years later. There were certain things that happened.

The conservative candidate always had a prominent place at the Pastors’ Conference. Lo and behold, Willy Rice was given a speaking slot at this year’s PC. It was pretty clear that this was an orchestrated attempt by the denominational power structure to promote his candidacy. Josh Powell is also conservative, but one side insists that they are “the conservatives.” Willy was their candidate.

The Mohler amendment debate this morning was quintessential power politics. Mohler, of course, was first to the mic on Tuesday to offer his amendment – could that have been an accident? Mohler was then allowed to speak to his amendment, which is normal, then one person was allowed to speak against it, then Colin Smothers spoke for it and moved the previous question. No debate allowed. No amendments allowed.

This was a major move. Dr. Mohler could have at least allowed the messengers to speak before he pushed it through. If you don’t think Colin and Dr. Mohler coordinated the effort to close debate, I have some swamp land in Arizona to sell you. Also, I was told that the Mohler forces convinced those who were going to bring a substitute motion to restore the original, harsher motion not to do so.

This was old-fashioned power politics. I don’t like it.

I think it will pass its first test easily. Friends suspect it will get through by 75%.

Personally, I supported the CR but always found the power politics distasteful. I found the orchestrated power politics today distasteful.

If you see Tiffany, and she’s not hard to spot, give her a word of encouragement and support.

Tiffany has a unique hairstyle, unlike any preacher’s wife I know. Bright pink. She made a motion Tuesday to establish a ministry to support pastors wives. It was one of the ones sent into outer darkness by the messengers.

Before that, though, she was the subject of some online trolling by people claiming to be pastors, because of her appearance.

If you see her, why not thank her for her concern for pastors wives, and let her know she is welcome among us. I chatted with her and Larry on the way out of this afternoon’s session. Nice people. A little aggravated but nice.

Say hi. Don’t let the trolls win.

This batch was a little less ordered than the morning sessions. Still no motion to disband the ERLC though we did get the obligatory motion for remote voting, which will go nowhere.

Gregory Mathis moved to end online preregistration Monday night at 11:59 AM.

Jared Long was our only 2x motioner. He asked for a written explanation on entity alcohol policy.

Josh Abitay(sp?) made a request of the EC, but I can’t read my own handwriting!

Michael Clary moved that employees of entities and their spouses be prohibited from serving as trustees.

Michael Scheider requested a review of IMB vaccination policies.

Wade Thomas requested a review of NAMB expenditures on ouside counsel and consultants.

Robbie Gibson offered a motion to amend article 3 of the constitution. If I understand it right, this is in hope that the Mohler motion will fail and this will be a compromise.

John Jones offered another motion about IMB vaccine policies.

Malcolm Yarnell moved for a study by LifeWay and the seminaries about the serious decline in biblical views of the deity of Christ, the person of the Holy Spirit, and other theological issues.

John Hudson moved a task force to study messenger participation.

Jeremiah Hayes moved that we use no music at the convention that promotes a false gospel.

Joseph Dugger moved for a study of lowering costs for the Pastors’ Conference.

Jim Cummings moved for smaller churches to be allowed to attend and vote remotely.

Dean Schuler offered several Order of Business related motions.

Brant Long offered a motion about ministry to the hearing impaired.

Juan Cabella (?) gave a motion/resolution about kinism. It will be ruled out of order because it was essentially a resolution.

John K??? made a motion about EC accounting.

Jared Walls moved a task force to study trustee functioning.

I predict many of these motions will meet the fate Ben Cole set forth today.

I have been coming to conventions since 1979, though I certainly haven’t attended them all, and we did something today that I didn’t know we could do.

Several of the motions were automatically referred but grouping of about 5 of them were up for a vote. Ben Cole recommended that we NOT refer them to the EC. We overwhelmingly voted not to refer them. Then, by the motion of the same Mr. Cole we sent the motions into parliamentary limbo. They had a term that I do not remember.

I have never seen this happen before. Ever.

I suspect it will happen again. Often.

In the Recording Secretary election:

Jonathan Greer received 1875 votes for 24.27%.
George Schroeder received 2957 votes for 37.79%.
Travis Kerns received 2944 votes for 37.70%.

The runoff was has taken place. Probably announced in the morning.