If There Is Just One Biographical Book You Read in 2012 It Should Be Evidence Not Seen

Our friends Gail and Herman Hackett dropped a Christmas gift by the office last week for Rachelle and me. Included in the gift was a small 200 page book entitled Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of WWII. It is the autobiography of Darlene Deibler Rose, a missionary wife working in the jungles of New Guinea prior to the outbreak of hostilities in World War II. Darlene is from Iowa, and was a young, newly married bride when she arrived with her husband on the missionary fields of Far East, just a couple of years prior to Pearl Harbor. Her well-written and gripping account of being captured by the Japanese, enduring four years of brutal hardship and torture at an American POW camp, and the incredible intervention of God--time after time--to sustain and carry Darlene through her ordeal, is a must read for every Christian. I read it in one sitting, using Google Maps to trace her missionary work, imprisonment, and incredible rescue. I am privileged to be friends with Louis Zamperini, the subject of Laura Hildenbrand's #1 best-selling book Unbroken, and have recommended Unbroken to every person I know. Evidence Not Seen is different from Unbroken in that Darlene assumes the reader knows Christ, understands God's Word and is willing to rest in His promises. For those of you who know Christ and want to be incredibly encouraged that no matter the obstacles you face, God's mercy and grace will sustain you, then Evidence Not Seen is a must read. We live in a soft, comfortable age and think nothing can (or should) go wrong. Suffering sometimes suprises us, and one of the ways to be prepared for whatever comes is to read the biographies of those saints who have gone before you. If there is just one biographical book you read in 2012 it should be Evidence Not Seen.

Marquis James: A Tribute to the Unqualified Master of Understated Metaphors

Today, August 29, is the birthday of Marquis James. Marquis, raised in Enid, Oklahoma, won the Pulitzer Prize twice. The first Pulitzer Prize was awarded him in 1930 for James' epic biography of Sam Houston entitled The Raven. It is said that President John F. Kennedy was so captivated by The Raven that the book became one of the first gifts he gave to his fiance Jacquelin Bovier.  The second Pulitzer was awarded eight years later, in 1938, for the massive two volume The Life of Andrew Jackson. Marquis James would eventually write sixteen epic historical books.

A Yale University textbook of the late 1940's declared, "The greatest masters of the understated metaphor are Marquis James and William Butler Yeats." When told of the quote, Marquis James allegedly replied mildly, "Who is this man Yeats?" 

Many of you might be saying,  "Who is this man Marquis James?"  

Marquis James is a literary giant and a master of the understated metaphor, and it is through reading his books that I have learned the importance of adding the color of metaphor to both speaking and writing.

A metaphor is a figure of speech which expresses the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar. For example, the metaphor "love is a rose" takes the abstract concept of love and makes it understandable by using the visible, tangible and familiar rose (i.e."love blossoms and grows over time, is sweet to the senses, is in close proximity to the pain of thorns, etc...). The imagination is illumined to understand life better by use of metaphors.

The best speakers and writers are those who most often and most naturally use understated metaphors. Marquis James was a master, and anyone who speaks or writes for a living ought to be familiar with him.

120 year ago, on August 29, 1891, Marquis James was born to Houstin and Rachel Marquis James in Springfield, Missouri. Marquis' father would leave his bride and young son two years later to participate in the infamous September 16, 1893 Cherokee Land Run. With the services of a swift horse, Houstin James became the 15th settler to file a land claim at the government land office in Enid, outracing between 90,000 and 100,000 other land seekers. Houstin laid claim to a quarter section of land located two miles southeast of Enid on the banks of Boggy Creek (SE Quarter of Section 17 Township 22 N, R6W).

Two months later Houstin's wife and son joined him in Enid. Marquis, called Mark or Markey while a youth,  attended the Enid public schools,  graduating from Enid High School in 1910. Marquis only attended one year of college at Oklahoma Christian University in Enid (later called Phillip's University) before leaving Enid and traveling the country working for the next five years as a reporter for various newspapers in major cities including Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago, winding up in New York City as a rewrite editor for the New York Tribune.

Marquis formal education was limited to his one year of college, but his enthusiasm for self-learning and his natural abilities led him to become a successful writer. Marquis turned down a job  at the start of World War One to be the Tribune's war correspondent and he volunteered for the American Expeditionary Force and fought on the front lines in France. Marquis was wounded in battle and received the Purple Heart. Upon his return to the United States in 1919, Marquis took a job as the National Publicity Director for the newly formed American Legion. It was in 1925 that Marquis James and Harold Ross, an editor for the American Legion monthly magazine, joined together to found The New Yorker.  Marquis then went to work as a writer for the magazine he helped found.

In 1925, while covering the Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee for the New Yorker, Marquis took a break from the coutroom and went to the local library where he came across a large collection of books on Tennessee's native son, Sam Houston. Reminded that he once met Sam Houston's son, Temple Houston, when living in Enid, and that Temple Houston regaled him with stories about his father, Marquis James determined in that Tennessee library to write a biography on Sam Houston. James spent the next four years researching the life of Sam Houston, and then published his manuscript The Raven in 1929. He won the Pulitzer Prize the following year.

Marquis James eventually wrote sixteen epic books, two of which won the Pulitzer Prize, but his favorite book of all was his autobiography of growing up in Enid, Oklahoma within what was formerly known as the Cherokee Outlet. The book, entitled The Cherokee Strip: A Tale of an Oklahoma Boyhood, was published in 1945, and though it did not win a Pulitzer, it remains one of the finest first hand accounts of early Oklahoma life.

Marquis James died suddenly of a brain aneurism on November 19, 1955 at his home in New York. He was working on the definitive biography of Booker T. Washington at the time of his death. After his death, his wife donated James' original manuscripts of The Raven and The Cherokee Strip to the Enid Public Library, where they remain encased and on display in the Oklahoma Room. One of these days someone is going to write a biography on the master biographer we know as Marquis James.

Happy Birthday, Marquis James. Thanks for illustrating how history can be told in a colorful style with metaphorical flair. We would all be better if we turned off the television for a while and read The Raven or The Life of Andrew Jackson or The Cherokee Strip: A Tale of an Oklahoma Boyhood. Maybe this little birthday wish will point a reader in the right direction.

"Megashift" and "Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem"

If there are two books I would encourage you to read in 2011 it would be Megashift and Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem.

Author Jim Rutz writes in Megashift that Christianity is overlooked as the fastest-growing faith in the world because most surveys only poll traditional Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church while ignoring Christian believers who have no part of either.  Rutz says there are 707 million born again evangelical Christians who compose the fastest growing "religion" in the world,  increasing by 8 percent a year, and none of these individuals are part of Protestant denominations or the Roman Catholic Church. So fast is this group growing, that were current trends to continue, the entire world will be composed of evangelical believers by the year 2032.

Biblical, evangelical Christianity is sweeping through places like China, Africa, India and Southeast Asia – making it, by far, the fastest growing faith on the planet.  Most news reports suggest, and most people believe, that Islam is the fastest growing "religion." Not true, says Rutz. It is the faith in Christ that is the fastest growing "religion." Rutz calls these disciples of Christ "core apostolics" – or "the new saints who are at the heart of the mushrooming kingdom of God."

Whether you agree with Rutz or not, his research and conclusions are thought provoking. Combine Rutz's work with the second book, Jay Richard's Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem, and you might begin to understand why the fastest growing economies are in those regions where Christianity is exploding.

It has become fashionable for young evangelicals in the United States to advocate a form of socialism as the epitome of Christ's teachings. In Richard's brilliant book--written by an author possessing theological acumen, biblical understanding, and financial prowess--Richard's convincingly shows the reader that capitalism is consistent with, and the economic product of, Christ's teachings. One reviewer writes of the book and its author:

"Like so many people of faith, Jay Richard's path to a Biblical view of money and economics went through the pietistic town of socialism. But even more so than most secular books on the subject, Richards uses a basic checklist of economic errors to methodically walk through the pertinent topics. If only every believer would take the time to evaluate their own thinking in the light of these common economic fallacies! Richards tackles every popular objection in circulation to the idea that the Bible provides the foundation for free market prosperity and incentive. He decimates the intellectual error of Communism, and lays out the step-by-step case for an integration of modern capitalism with the Christian faith. His treatment of the subject is simple, but filled with profound insights. The book is inundated with Scripture, yet he does not sacrifice economic literacy for the cause of Biblical fidelity. There is a tremendous nod to the great champions of capitalism (Adam Smith and F.A Hayek, in particular), yet he avoids the error of suggesting that their insights are somehow superior to the text of Scripture. Rather, he shows through careful reasoning and persuasion that the invisible hand of the marketplace is a God-created phenomena, and that the current practice of maligning the pursuit of wealth is not at all compatible with the Bible. I believe the book is absolutely read-able for high school age students, and yet the vast majority of adults I know ought to read it as well. It is balanced, comprehensive, and irrefutably logical. I can not recommend it strongly enough, and I truly do pray that it will gain the audience it deserves before the cause of freedom and opportunity is completely monopolized by the forces of secularism."

The Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

Let me tell you about an excellent book I have just finished reading. The Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola is a great primer on the supremacy and sovereignty of Christ. Frank sent me a copy a few weeks ago and I read it through quite quickly and enthusiastically. It used to be people had a difficult time seeing the humanity of Christ, but it's just the opposite today--even among those who consider themselves "religious." The average person has lost sight of the deity of Jesus and the incredible implications of not hearing and obeying Him. Jesus is the ultimate expression of divine truth, the incarnate God Himself, and The Jesus Manifesto reminds us that our belief in the person of Christ is what true Christianity is all about.

For just a short time the book can be purchased at a 45% discount on Amazon.com. Currently the book is #6 in terms of sales out of the 7 million advertized on Amazon. The book lends itself for small group discussion, both among new Christians and established believers. With a very readable style, and a content worthy of multiple rereads, it is a can't miss for your library.

Fifty Ways to Leave Left Behind - Roger Snow

One of areas in which I find refreshing disagreement among Southern Baptist theologians and pastors is over discussion of the end times. We have a healthy mix of dispensationalists, amillenialists, historic premillenialists and preterists in our midst, and as I have said for years, eschatology ought not be one of those areas over which any of us should divide in terms of our cooperative ministry. I have recently come across a book that offers a simple, yet effective way for Southern Baptists to be challenged in their end time belief system.

FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE LEFT BEHIND is a book by Southern Baptist Roger Snow and presents an opposing presentation to the views represented in the LEFT BEHIND series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. FIFTY WAYS traces fifty parallels between Exodus and Revelation to demonstrate that Revelation follows the pattern of Exodus from beginning to end.

Both Exodus and Revelation begin with tribulation, both books begin with a prophet in exile, both prophets have a burning bush experience, both prophets tell of a promised-land, both lead to great plagues on the wicked, both feature two prominent witnesses, both show a woman escaping from a dragon on the wings of an eagle after which she is married to the LORD. The first book begins with twelve tribes and ends with seven lamps in the new tabernacle, the second begins with seven lamps and ends with twelve tribes in the new temple.

Seeing these parallels enables one to see that Revelation follows a consistent story line and makes it untenable to break the book up into different segments for different eras of history or for different nationalities as is necessary for the logic of the LEFT BEHIND series.

There are a couple of reviews posted at Amazon.com and there is a review by Dr. Walter G. Nunn printed in The Alabama Baptist January 17 issue. Endorsers include Dr. Frank Page (recent president of the SBC), the late Dr. Robert G. Witty (Founder and first president of Luther Rice Seminary), and Dr. David Garland (Baylor University). I would highly recommend you at least read the book to broaden your perspective regarding end time discussions.

Some of the questions author Roger Snow raises include:

Should we expect that babies will be raptured from the earth before the Great Tribulation begins?
• If babies are raptured to avoid the harsh events of the tribulation, would it be reasonable to conclude that no babies would be born for the next seven years for the same reasons?
• Would that indicate that God showed more mercy to those babies than to Holocaust babies or babies down through history who died in wars or famines?

Why did the Apostles think it so urgent to name a new apostle to replace Judas?
• Were they expecting to rule on twelve thrones?

When Jesus said the vineyard (kingdom of God) would be taken away from them and given to those who would produce its fruit, to whom was he speaking?
• To whom was that vineyard (kingdom of God) given?
• If the stewardship of the vineyard (kingdom of God) changed hands, how could it be thought of as being postponed?

If we regard these times as being the worst of all times because of the evil we see, what period in the history of the world would we regard as being better?
• When did the world begin to get worse and worse? Is this a proper way for us to think?

If sun, moon and stars were regarded as symbols of the Jewish family in Joseph’s prophetic dream, why wouldn’t we think that failure of the sun, moon and stars in Jesus prophecy or in John’s vision referred to the blotting out of the Old Covenant Jewish Order?

If John’s being caught up to Heaven in Revelation 4 represented the rapture of the church, wouldn’t it be logical to say that John represented the church at the coronation of Christ in chapter five?
• If John represents the church in both those places wouldn’t one have to conclude that the church will be forced into extreme weeping immediately after entering Heaven?
• Associated with this line of thought one would have to ask how any angel in Heaven does not currently know that Jesus is Worthy? How could such a question remain unanswered long enough to reduce John (the church) to weeping?

Should the woes pronounced by Jesus in Matt. 23 and 24 be considered a curse on Jerusalem and Judaism?
• What did Jesus mean when He told the women of Jerusalem …weep for yourselves and your children…?

When Jesus held “this generation guilty of all the blood from Abel to Zechariah” was He including those of “this generation” of Matt 24:34?
• Are all generations equal in righteousness or evil?

Did the believers just after Pentecost sell houses and lands anticipating the destruction that Jesus had predicted? Were they selling while the times were still good?

If branches were broken off and Gentiles were grafted in, what were they grafted into?
• What did the tree represent?
• If the tree represented the holy remnant, then who was the remnant in the first century?
• If the believing Jews represented the remnant in the first century, then how did we come to think of unbelieving Jews as representing the remnant in the twenty-first century?

If Pentecost was the “last days” spoken of by Joel the prophet, then what was it the last days of?

If Jesus made clear to the Apostles that their rule was not to be like the Gentiles (lording it over people) then why do our models of end times demand that the kingdom come that way?

If Paul said that the gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven (Col 1:23) then wasn’t Paul saying that Jesus words about the gospel being preached to the whole world had been fulfilled in his day?

How could the writer of Hebrews speak of living at the consummation of the ages?

If Revelation 20 and the Great Judgment are followed chronologically by the descent of the New Jerusalem (heaven) and the literal presence of the throne in chapter twenty two, then where do the barbarians of chapter twenty two come from, since all the wicked were cast into Hell in chapter twenty?

If we can only have success after Jesus is physically present, then why did He tell the disciples that it was better for Him to go away?

One of the reasons we must work hard to keep the Southern Baptist Convention free to debate, discuss and disagree over tertiary matters is to help create and foster an environment where authors like Roger Snow can challenge us to examine what we say we believe. In the end, we are all better theologians when we are challenged to think through our areas of beliefs. I just hope and pray we have a spirit of love toward those with whom we may ultimately disagree.

In His Grace,

Wade

Where Do We Go From Here? by John Blanchard

Those of us interested in the conversion of souls through faith in Christ are always looking for well written tracts that succinctly articulate the gospel to the lost. For years our church has exclusively used Ultimate Questions, a tract written by Christian apologist and author John Blanchard. Over fifteen million copies of Ultimate Questions have been sold.

Next week Evangelical Press will release in the United States the tract Where Do We Go From Here?, written by the bestselling Christian author John Blanchard. The tract is 40 pages long, very well written, and is the absolute best gospel tract I have read in terms of articulating the gospel for a person facing impending death.

Let me encourage you to read the information about the tract and order at least 100 copies for your evangelistic efforts at your church. Our church will be ordering them by the thousands and will leave them in hospital rooms, jail cells, and in the brochure packets that tell people about our church. In a day when the gospel is often presented in a cartoon or puerile manner, we should be grateful for an indepth, scholarly, but readable presentation of the good news by John Blanchard.

Sectarians Focus More on the Church Than Christ

It seems when any struggle against theological liberalism ends, Baptists will invariably begin to withdraw from former evangelical allies in an attempt to preserve what Baptists believe to be a true, ecclesiogical "Baptist" identity. In other words, when the religious landscape is dotted with the carcasses of dead churches that have been overrun with the disease of theological liberalism, conservative Baptists recognize the foolishness in arguing with fellow evangelicals over lesser issues than the gospel. But when the circle of evangelical fellowship has been so narrowed institutionally as to exclude any who deny the true gospel, then the regrettable tendency of evangelical, conservative Baptists is to move away from discussion with other evangelicals over what it means to be "Together for the Gospel" into a struggle against each other over what it means to be "Separate" for the sake of church and ecclesiological purity.

I believe we are living in a very dangerous day for evangelical Christians and churches - particularly those of us who are conservative, evangelical Baptists. In a time when the world is succombing to aggressive and unbending Islamic ideology proliferated by the religious fanaticism of Islamic fascists, some Baptists, including Southern Baptists, are dangerously turning their wary eye toward fellow evangelicals in a battle for "church purity." Instead of recognizing the danger approaching externally, and the threat to destroy any vestiges of institutional evangelicalism, some conservative Baptists are removing their own evangelical brothers from fellowship - believing them to be either disruptive, unrepentant or ultimately illegimitate Christian brothers.

Fascinating Reading

I would like to offer five articles that will illustrate the point I am making above. Southern Baptists particularly will be hearing in the next five years from certain leaders about the importance of maintaining ecclesiological purity and a strict Baptist identity. I'm not sure why - in a day when we should be moving toward more evangelical cooperation and fellowship - that some among us are pushing toward strict separatism, but I will do my part in continuing to sound a needed alarm. The enemy is NOT among us.

Wayne Grudem, a man of incredible intellect and passion for Christ, seems to have been pushed by others to edit his Systematic Theology textbook. Strangely, the only section that is completely rewritten in the new edition is the section entitled "Do Churches Need to Be Divided Over Baptism?" In a textbook that numbers over one thousand pages, and in a day when many other subjects are in sore need of attention among evangelicals, why rewrite that section? I would hazard to guess that a couple of letters and phone calls from strategic people in the SBC who are pushing for a stricter and tighter Baptist identity sent Grudem to the edit room to change the wording of his textbook to reflect a tighter and "purer" ecclesiological viewpoint consistent with the resurging Baptist identity movement in the Southern Baptist Convention. (Update: So as to not have to guess I called Dr. Grudem and had him read this blog and he graciously told me that the rewrite was precipitated by some Southern Baptist elders in a former church where he was a member and another Baptist pastor who called him from out of state to urge him to rethink this question. He acknowledges that the debate is a serious one, but he rewrote the chapter of his own accord and not because of pressure.) One can read Grudem's rewrite of the section in question here.

Grudem's close friend, and fellow evangelical Baptist pastor, Dr. John Piper, responds to Grudem's rewrite, disagreeing strongly with Grudem, and carefully addressing the problems Grudem's textbook changes bring.

Dr. Grudem responds to John Piper's article with a personal letter published (with permission) here.

I appreciate the gracious spirit exhibited by both men, but don't let the kindness displayed by Wayne Grudem and John Piper cause you to miss the very important issues at stake.

To help you understand the consequences of the debate - which shall be ongoing in the Southern Baptist Convention for at least the next couple of years - you ought to read Southern Baptist theologian and fellow church member Sam Storm's excellent analysis on what is at stake in this debate between Grudem and Piper.


In His Grace,


Wade Burleson

A Great Book on Marriage For Use In Counseling

As a pastor of a fairly large congregration, I am always looking for books that I can recommend to couples who come to me for marriage counseling. When I meet with a couple for the first time I usually try to give them an assignment of reading a good book on marriage, and tell them to complete the task before they try to schedule a second appointment. This helps me see very quickly who is, and who isn't, serious about getting help for their marriage.

Needless to say I am always looking for good books on the subject of marriage, particularly helpful books that give practical, Biblical advice on how to restore a broken marriage. I have recently discovered an outstanding book on the subject of marriage entitled The Pursuit of Pleasure in the Pleasure of Another: A Christian Hedonist Guide to a Happy Marriage by F. Darby Livingston. I believe this book will be extraordinarily helpful to those couples who find they have no more 'feelings' for the person they married. Darby provides a virtual 'how to' manual for those couples whose relationship has grown cold - and the reason I like the book so much is because it doesn't contain a list of 'dos' and 'donts' for the husband or the wife. Rather, the book shows couples with brilliant clarity how God has designed marriage to magnify the truth and worth and beauty and greatness of God. Darby shows that a passion for the supremacy of Jesus Christ displayed in the gospel is the fountain that sustains a God-glorifying, enjoyable and durable marriage. No marriage that rivals God's glory is going to be a happy one.

In short, this book will show every husband and wife that marriage will not be deeply pleasurable - in every good sense of the word - until both the husband and wife quit looking at each other to find his or her pleasure.

Stephen Davis, Executive Director of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana commends this book saying:

"Is your marriage blessed, joyful, delightful, intoxicating? That’s how God wants it to be. God has provided everything husbands and wives need to experience this kind of intimacy and bring Him glory at the same time. This book shows how a passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ is the fountain that sustains a Godglorifying, enjoyable and durable marriage. “Looking for fresh insights on the joy and glory of marriage as God intended? Then this book is for you. Pastor Darby brings excellent biblical scholarship and thoughtful, practical, wholesome ideas for improving your marriage relationship. None of that syrupy stuff with no real substance, but wise counsel from God’s Word challenging couples to experience God’s best as He designed it to be.”

Darby Livingston is the founding pastor and a counselor at Come as You are Fellowship in Union City, Ohio. Darby is also co-founder of Joyful Hope Ministries, a cell-church planting ministry, and a Christian author. He is happily married to Amanda and they have five young children.

Order "The Pursuit of Pleasure in the Pleasure of Another: A Christian Hedonist Guide to a Happy Marriage" here.

You'll be glad you did.

In His Grace,

Wade Burleson

A New Book by Alan Cross and Dwight McKissic

Alan Cross is the pastor of Gateway Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and writes a blog called downshoredrift. Alan and Dwight McKissic are talking about possibly writing a book representing a Baptist view on the continuation of the gifts and miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. Alan has noticed many missionaries writing amazing stories on this blog, albeit anonymously, about what God is doing in Africa and most recently in China. Alan believes it is important that someone take up the task of documenting what many Southern Baptists claim that God is doing around the world. He recently wrote me an email as follows:

Wade,

As I have participated in the debate between cessationists/semi-cessationists and continuationists, I have run into the argument that God is not performing miraculous signs and wonders today in the same way that He did in Biblical times. I have heard cessationists ask for proof and have said that if healings are occuring and if the dead are being raised, then why are we not hearing about it? At the same time, I have read several "Anonymous" IMB missionaries write in with stories claiming that they have seen the dead raised in Africa and the mute speak in China, among other stories. I was especially impacted by the missionary in China who recently wrote in describing what was happening there. Could this be documented in some way? What kind of a denomination are we to suppress these wondrous acts of God and hide them away because they do not fit our paradigms? I understand why they are posting anonymously, but I wonder if they would be willing to talk with me or send me their stories? I promise that I would protect their identity, but I really feel that these stories need to get out in some form or fashion. I am wondering if a book or journal article on the continual miraculous work of the Holy Spirit among Southern Baptists in the areas of healings, miracles, divine intervention, guidance, and other Biblical manifestations would not be helpful to the Body of Christ? I have many stories of my own to share, but I am thinking that it would be amazing to collect some of the things that Southern Baptists are experiencing around the world in a way that would begin to open people's eyes to God's activity. We have made many biblical arguments on the blogs to describe the continuationist perspective, but these stories from Southern Baptist pastors and missionaries on the field would be very beneficial to add in as a testimony to the truth of Scripture.

The purpose of this is not to "prove" something to the IMB Board of Trustees. That ship has sailed. Rather, the rest of us need to know what God is doing in people's lives as He continues to work miraculously to bring glory to Himself. If you know who these people are, could you contact them or let them know that I am interested in pursuing such a project? Again, I promise to protect their identities, but I really feel that these stories need to be told. You can contact me at alancross@charter.net .

Grace and Peace,

Alan Cross

David Rogers has a very interesting post that complements much of what Alan is saying from a different angle. If you are interested in helping Alan and Dwight please contact him.

In His Grace,


Wade Burleson

Too Great A Temptation and Too Great A Story

I just finished reading for the third time Too Great a Temptation: The Seductive Power of America's Super Church, an autobiography of Dr. Joel Gregory's life and ministry, particularly his calling to, and short tenure at, First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas. Every time I read the book I come away with anecdotes that I must have missed before. For instance, when Dr. Gregory first took a role in national Southern Baptist politics, he was called on by Paige Patterson, Paul Pressler and others to give the presidential nominating speech for Ed Young.

Gregory writes of the events at the June 9-11, 1992 Southern Baptist Convention in Indianopolis on page 292

Thus came time for The Meeting. Each year on Monday night of the Southern Baptist Convention was The Meeting. Attendance was by invitation only. It was usually hosted in the presidential suite of the sitting president. Security was tight with the meeting often taking place on an elevator-keyed floor. This was the strategy meeting for the next day's election. The heroes of the conservative resurgence led the meeting. Adrian Rogers by force of personality usually became the unofficial chair. Around the room sat the major voices of the conservative wing of the Southern Baptist Convention. With three candidates seeking to lead the sixteen-million-member denomination amidst a thirteen-year-long war for control, certainty was not a guest at this gathering.

I was seated on a couch in the middle of thirty or so conservative powers, most of them friends of the years. I read to them my thoughts of a nominating speech for Ed Young the next day. It was not well received. Paige Patterson, Paul Pressler, Adrian Rogers, Bailey Smith, Jerry Vines, and Charles Stanley all began to submit their ideas for a better direction of thought in the speech. Then the second rank of younger leaders around the periphery of the room added their opinions. As I took notes on my lap-top, it began to look like a speech by committee. Since Ed was perceived by some as an elitist, some wanted to emphasize his populist roots in Mississippi. Others wanted to underscore his astonishing achievement at Second, Houston. Some said this, some that, and some something else. Finally, Adrian made the suggestion that since they had asked me to do it, they must have thought I had sense enough to write the speech. As usual, his wisdom carried the day. Dr. Charles Stanley of First Baptist, Atlanta, approached me as the meeting broke up. With his gaunt presence and basset-hound eyes, he laid his hand on my shoulder to say, "Joel, this may well be the most important speech of your life."

I was not sure if this was an affirmation or a warning. This was the second of three times in as many years that Charles would say something like that to me. During the Paige Patterson airport meeting described earlier, Charles told me something of the same ilk concerning my stand to save Paige's job. A year later and months after my resignation from the church, I presented the new candidate for the presidency of the Foreign Mission Board. Again, Charles informed me of the uniqueness of the moment.

For thirteen years the anointed candidate of the conservatives had won. NO one, but no one, wanted to be the nominee or the nominator who lost that election. The stakes were sky-high. If there was ever one conservative loss, the left wing of the denomination could gain momentum again. There was a domino theory that the whole Baptist civil war could reverse itself. Whether or not that was true, no one knew, and no one wanted to find out."

Fifteen years later the domino theory is being tested. The ordained candidate did not win last year. The first domino has fallen in the election of Frank Page. However, it is my personal belief that the Southern Baptist Convention will only become broader, more missions oriented, and less focused on the non-essentials through the election of Frank Page. We shall remain conservative. We are all conservative, Bible believing Christians. We all hold to the fundamentals of the faith as historical Baptists have always done, and we unite for the purpose of missions and evangelism.

I think the SBC in Greensboro, June 2006, a quarter of a century after the beginning of the 'conservative resurgence,' will go down as the beginning of a needed pendulum swing back toward a brand of irenic conservatism that focuses on missions and evangelism more than sectarian ideology and demands for conformity in the interpretation of tertiary doctrines.

San Antonio will only build on that trend.

And, contrary to what some might believe, the SBC will not reverse course - we will only slightly alter our direction toward a more important destination.

In His Grace,

Wade

That Friend Down Inside Me Is What Matters

It is my usual custom to read three books concurrently on three separate subjects: theology, history and fiction. My current historical read is Roy Adkin's Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World, a compelling account of the 1805 sea battle between Napolean's combined French and Spanish Navies against the world renowned British fleet led by Vice-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson.

Admiral Nelson is considered by some to be the greatest naval commander in the history of modern sea warfare. To this day his tactics are studied from Anapolis to Portsmouth, and his life is recounted by no less than one thousand biographies. Admiral Nelson was known for his fearlessness in the face of death, his creative seafaring against insurmountable odds, and his resolute leadership. This genuine hero of England lost an arm in his thirties, an eye in his early forties, and eventually his life in the Battle at Trafalgar that ultimately saved England from Napolean's planned invasion of the island.

There was a short paragraph in Adkin's new book that caught my attention the other evening as I read it. It seems that Admiral Nelson strayed from his marriage vows on regular occasions, and even had a longstanding affair with Emma Hamilton, the wife of the English Ambassador to Sicily, by whom Lord Nelson fathered a child. Adkin's said that the people of England were aware of their hero's moral failure, but . . .

"The relationship between Nelson and Emma has often been portrayed as that of a vulnerable hero seduced by a calculating courtesan -- a view that stemmed from the Victorian need to explain away a 'fault' in an otherwise exemplary man. The truth was somewhat different."

I think there is something in all of us that leads us to often turn a blind eye to the faults of our heros. There is even a blatant attempt by some to cover up the moral ineptitude of our beloved leaders. It's as if we carry the Victorian attitude, "Those who have led us so effectively cannot have a penchant for inappropriate behavior, for if that were the case, how could they have accomplished all the great things they have done?"

It can be said that Admiral Nelson was a great commander, but it cannot be said he was a great man. May Christian people never be blinded by the world's tendency to turn a blind eye toward unethical behavior or immoral activity simply because the perpetrator of such activity is considered a hero. And may those of us who are considered Christian leaders never fall into the trap of living like Lord Nelson, growing in fame and reputation for our successes, but neglecting the more personal issues of integrity, faithfulness and moral fortitude.

"I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside me." Abraham Lincoln

Conservatives Without Conscience

At the recommendation of a commentor on this blog I am reading John Dean's new book entitled Conservatives Without Conscience. Dean dedicates the work to the late and former United States Senator Barry Goldwater, whom some have called the father of modern conservatism. Senator Goldwater wrote a thrice-weekly column on conservatism for the Los Angeles Times for almost four years, but is best known for his book The Conscience of a Conservative (1960).

John Dean says that Goldwater is known for his ability to define conservatism, a task that is far more illusive than some might imagine. Goldwater became a student of Robert Taft and Herbert Hoover, two of the more well known conservatives of the 1920's and 1930's, and then began to articulate the foundations of conservatism for Dean's generation and beyond. On page 17 of Conservatives Without Conscience, John Dean writes of Goldwater:

He defined conservatism as the belief that "the solutions to the problems of today can be found in the proven values of the past." As for the conscience of the conservative, he wrote that it was "pricked by anyone who would debase the dignity of the individual human being."

Dean said Goldwater later told him he should have written that the conservative conscience was 'pricked by anyone or any action that debases human dignity." And for the true conservative, human dignity is found in the Declaration's phrase, 'All men are created equal . . . "

"Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order," Goldwater wrote in The Conscience of the Conservative, "and the conservative's first concern will always be: Are we maximizing freedom?"

John Dean's thesis is his book Conservatives Without a Conscience is that since the early 1990's an authoritarian conservatism has infiltrated American politics. Rather than maximizing freedom, authoritarians demand conformity in all nuances of ideology. When fellow conservatives refuse to tow the line, the authoritians go into 'attack' mode and will use all means, both foul and fair, to bring down 'the enemy.' These authoritian conservatives are so sure that they are not only right, but holy and pure, that they are bursting with indignation and a desire to smite down their enemies.

Dean says that conservatives hyperventilating about liberalism is surprising, because it is so unnecessary. Liberalism is a straw man conservatives love to attack, in fact, there are not enough liberals to be a true threat to conservatism. A recent Harris Poll found that only eighteen percent of Americans called themselves liberals. In truth, says Dean, conservatives attack liberals, or those they label or perceive as liberal as a means to rally the troops. The exaggerated hostility also apparantly satisfies a psychological need for antagonism toward the 'out group.'

I am not through reading John Dean's book, and I am not necessarily saying I agree with everything that he writes, because I don't, but I have read enough to know that there seems to be a striking parallel between the American political landscape in the last fifteen years to that of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"Conservative governance within the agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for autonomous churches that is consistent with the fundamentals of the gospel of Christ and Baptist distinctives as we cooperate for the purpose of missions. The question that every true conservative Southern Baptist should ask is: Are we maximizing this freedom?" Wade Burleson

Think about it.