Ronnie W. Rogers, “Taking every thought captive…”

Messengers to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention approved a motion June 12 to affirm the Baptist Faith and Message as the SBC’s “…only consensus statement of doctrinal beliefs”.  The motion was offered by Rick Garner, pastor of Liberty Heights Church in Liberty Township, Ohio, and is, in part, as follows:

“I move this Convention adopts the statement of the Executive Committee … found in the 2007 Book of Reports … which reads: ‘The Baptist Faith and Message is neither a creed nor a complete statement of our faith nor final or infallible. Nevertheless we further acknowledge that it is the only consensus statement of doctrinal beliefs approved by the Southern Baptist Convention and as such is sufficient in its current form to guide trustees in their establishment of policies and practices of entities of the Convention.’”

Although this motion passed, 2,137 (57.7 percent) to 1,565 (42.2 percent), I must admit that I am a bit troubled by its wording. Particularly disquieting are the words, “only” and “sufficient”.  My uneasiness is due not only to what the words mean grammatically, but also what they may have been intended¹ to mean in light of the context of what I think prompted such a motion; and what some may infer from them both today and in the future. (more…)

1. see comments made by Dwight McKissic and Bob Cleveland [↩]

As you probably have heard, I am going to be a participant again in the Oxford Round Table this summer.  This time it will be held at Harris Manchester College in Oxford.  I will be presenting a paper entitled, “The Decline of Religion in Public Education and The Decline of Public Education”.  As a part of my presentation, I included an argument in support of the validity of “religious arguments” in the public marketplace of ideas like education, politics, law and morals.  Although I am not quite through with the argument, I thought I would share it with you before I leave on vacation. 

As you know, I am a strong proponent of Christians going into the public domain and presenting “the truth in love”.  Hopefully, the following will help you be better equipped to do that in even the most secular of forums. 

Secularists summarily dismiss religious arguments from the public square simply because they are religious, which they define as being associated with supernatural religion or anything non-secular.  In addition, an opinion is determined to be religious and therefore unworthy of public policy because it is either a part of a religious worldview, is derived from one’s religion, there is an element of faith involved, it is partly based on religion, or because it is merely consonant with religion. 

The context of the discussion concerning the appropriateness of religious arguments and their influence upon public policy may be considered from the vantage point of historical precedence, constitutionality, morality and rationality, or spiritual mandate for adherents.  The following is intended to addresses only moral and rational considerations.  Thus, the question is, “Is it moral to exclude religious opinions from a democratic public marketplace of ideas just because they involve an aspect of faith—a faith assumption?”  For the following reasons, my answer is NO.  (more…)

Oh I know, VBS means Vacation Bible School; but each time I see our VBS, I am absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of work that our people pour into making it the best in decoration, teaching, spirit, fun, and environment.

Each year, it is evident that you truly seek to produce an excellent VBS, and this past week was no exception.  Your heart, soul and love is seen in the decoration of every site, heard in every teaching and felt throughout the week.

Someone remarked, that Trinity’s VBS “Is the best bar none” and I concur. 

Thank you for your labor and sacrifice in order for the children who come to have a par excellent week of spiritual growth, excitement and love.  I am always amazed.

Consequently, while it will always be known as Vacation Bible School, and rightly so, I also remember it as a week of watching THE VERY BEST SERVANTS!!!!

Indebted, A Very Grateful Pastor

Ronnie W Rogers