I would encourage each and every Southern Baptist to pray regularly for the our Southern Baptist President --- Dr. Frank Page. There are illustrations throughout Scripture of God's people being girded up by the intercessory prayers of others, and Frank should be added to your prayer journal as one in need of this type of undergirding. 
Just a few hours after Frank Page's election as President of the Southern Baptist Covnention, several of us congregated in at the Sheraton Hotel in Greensboro and gathered around Dr. Page and committed him to God's care and safekeeping. Those who were present in the room for this prayer service will tell you the presence of God in that room was very evident.I have been struck by Frank's humility, gracious spirit, yet determination to do exactly what he believes God would have him do. We must not only pray for him, but for his family, church and ministry to Southern Baptists as well.
May God give Dr. Page wisdom, fortitude and courage during this next year.
In His Grace,
Wade Burleson
9 comments:
We are praying for Frank Page and thanks for the encouragement. We are excited about hearing him at our South Asia annual mtg in a week. Praying that God will use him to minister to us as we meet together.
IMB M
I would like to draw attention to Joshua 1 (Yes, the whole chapter), in honor of Dr. Page.
Be Strong and Courageous brother! Be Strong and Courageous!
Let the Presence of the Lord walk with you. Let him lead you in everyway. Let the Word of our God indwell you. Meditate on it, let it not depart from your heart.
Becareful with the followers. Remember, some will exhort you to "only be strong and courageous, and we will follow you. We will follow you, just as we did your predecessor!" Remember, how well they followed Moses... :o) *coughorthelackthereofcough*
Be Strong and Courageous. Help to make it a place that I and my Brothers will want to be a part of it again... Please...
Tim
Bro. Burleson,
I have been completely on the other side of all of this from you. I hope that won't prevent you from hearing me when I endeavor to step outside of this controversy and suggest something that I believe to be important.
Your blog has played a significant role in this year's story of the Southern Baptist Convention. That makes its content, in my estimation, a valuable primary source for the people who (if the Lord tarries) will be trying to sort all of this out in 100 years.
Yet blogs are nothing more than electrons--very ephemeral. Considering the way Blogger seems to run on occasion--very, very ephemeral. Have you considered taking any sort of action to preserve the content of your blog in a more permanent fashion? I should think that a suitable solution would contain both your posts and the comment log.
The archivists at OBU's Mabee Learning Center would probably be as much help to you as anyone would. They also might constitute a suitable repository for the material. Another option to consider would be the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville.
For whatever it is worth...
In Christ,
Bart Barber
WADE,
Some people have a problem understanding "GOD'S" Irresistable "GRACE" and just don't get it. I wonder why they just pass it by.
LOVE
Your Brother in CHRIST looking forward to meeting you someday.
Tommy Sunderland is our youngest son. He is Minister of Music at First Baptist Church, Richmond Hill Georgia, a few miles outside Savannah.
They are at the front gate of Ft. Stewart. Thousand of troops pass through the base to Iraq.
They have a ministry to families left to wait for husbands and wives to return.
Tommy was saved and baptized at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Enid.
He was 5 years old.
Wanda was in the choir, and I was preaching.
Every Sunday he sat by himself on the front row with his Bible. The Bible was almost as big as him.
Each Sunday, he came to me at .
invitation time.
I always sent him back. "You are too young Tommy. We will talk this week."
Each week he would come forward, and each week we had a talk.
One week I prayed, "Lord, if Tommy comes forward this week, he will pray and ask Jesus to save him. He will be baptized and become an active MEMBER of this church. I can not send him back anymore. Lord, I am trusting you to correct this if I am making a mistake."
Tommy was saved and baptized the next week. He has been one of the most committed Christian I have ever met.
He has taught the FAITH witness training developed by Bobby Welch for years. He is a soul winner.
He served in Augusta, Georgia at Abilene Baptist Church during the same time Frank Page was at Warren Baptist Church.
Since they were in the same city, Tommy observed Dr. Page and his ministry.
He reads people well, and says Dr. Page is a good choice to lead Southern Baptists at this turning point in Baptist history.
Please greet the saints at Emmanuel Baptist for us.
Best regards, Bobby Sunderland
Atlanta Georgia.
I am really surprized to see a comment from Bart saying he is "on the other side". I have not detected anyone on this blog is "taking sides" so I find Bart's comment misplaced.
To the extent that someone percieves there are "sides" involved in the recent results at the SBC annual convention what would these "sides" be?
It looks to me like the goal was to actually work together on a common agenda to reach the world for Christ. I didn't pervieve that there were "sides" to be staked out.
However, the idea of saving the content of various blogs for posterity is excellent. These blogs animate history in a way that would otherwise be impossible.
Roger Simpson
Oklahoma City OK
Wade:
I would like to commend to Dr. Page, one thought from Joseph Garlington's sermon of some years ago (God's Strange Ways). In it, Rev. Garlington told of a 3-D picture that he had great trouble seeing. Eventually after 2 trips, finally un-focusing and crossing his eyes, he saw what was in the picture. In fact, he saw things no one had told him were there.
God told him that sometimes you have to learn a new way of looking at things, before you'll know what you're looking at. My prayer for Dr. Page is that he will see things as God wants him to see them, and not as merely an accumulation of all that's been said, and preached, and concluded by others, before.
I asked God to do that for my Bible reading and teaching, 4 or 5 years ago, and the effect has been indescribable.
May God's blessings be upon Dr. Page.
Below is the e mail I sent to my friend Frank Page following his election. I've known Frank since our college days and have had him in Revival services. He is humble in spirit, gracious with all persons, gentle in his actions and reactions and firm in his convictions.
I believe Frank will mature into a genuine Baptist Statesman. We haven't had many of those in the past 27 years since the leadership model has been the strong "pastoral authority-dictator" instead of "servant leader".
Frank,
Congratulations!!!!! Miracles still happen......
May the Lord lift you up and give you strength beyond your need.
May He protect you with His bountiful grace.
May He give you wisdom in all decisions when you'd rather do it your way.
And when you speak from personal conviction do so as President Roosevelt said,
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."
I covenant to pray for you.
Wade,
I want to attest to your statement that the presence of God was very evident in that hotel room when we laid hands on Frank Page and prayed for him. I believe that if the spirit of humility and unity that filled the room that night were to spread across the SBC that God would use us in ways far greater than we could ever dream to carry out the work of His Kingdom.
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