Stand Up and Be Counted

I have received over 500 emails from people around the country who have expressed a belief that the new policies of the IMB on "tongues" and "baptism" are a mistake, and, as soon as possible, the IMB should revert back to using their former policies in screening missionary candidates (see The Old IMB Policies Compared to the New IMB Policies.

Many asked in their emails, for good reason, that they not be identified publicly. However, I believe it is important that I be able to give some kind of verifiable indication to my fellow trustees of how many across our convention are opposed to the new policies. In the end, I am not trying to convince my fellow trustees that the new policies are not Biblical (though I firmly believe they are not), but to show them that the Cooperative Program works because conservative Christians "cooperate" with each other, and when an entity, like the IMB, starts excluding people who disagree with the new policies from service, a large number of pastors, large churches, and lay people who support the Cooperative Program will be disenfranchised.

For this reason I am asking that everyone who is a Southern Baptist, has read up on the new policies (on this blog or others on the internet), and wishes to be counted in opposition to the new policies, to please sign this post. If you do not have a blog, simply click "other" at the bottom of the comment section and you may sign your name or initials and publish your comment. I will screen all comments before posting.

I am simply ask two things:

(1). You keep your comment on this post to one sentence or less.
(2). You sign your comment with name (or initials) and your place of Southern Baptist Church membership (city and state). You may list your church name if you wish, but that is not necessary.

As always, our spirits should remain gracious.

The principle is worth fighting for, but the people of God, no matter their position, are always worth loving.

Let's see how many sign this post before our next IMB Trustee meeting on January 9th-11th in Richmond, Virginia.

There are not enough votes yet on the IMB Board to revert back to the old policies on baptism and "tongues." In my opinion it is unwise to attempt to do so at the next IMB meeting in January.

However, this blog, simply indicates to those IMB trustees who are in leadership, that it can not, and it will not, be business as usual in the future. The IMB President and staff deserve the respect due their positions, and should always be allowed to speak their true feelings about policy changes to the trustees as a whole.

In His Grace and With Hope of Future Coooperation Among All Conservatives,


Wade Burleson