Marie,

Thanks for the details.

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SemperReformanda said:
John,

First, the "debate" that was supposed to happen between Dr. Al Mohler and Dr. Paige Patterson on Calvinism ended up being a mere dialogue called "Reaching the Lost through Differing Views on Election." No real Scripture was debated, it was just a statment of what each one believed.

Secondly, most of the speakers made shots at Calvinism, whether it was "Note it says Jesus died for the WHOLE WORLD!"or "We need to leave these side-street issues!" I'm naming names:

Dick Lincoln (called our doctrine of election "insidious"),

Johnny Hunt (not as bad as other things he's said about Calvinism- he's the one who made the whole world comment),

Ed Young ("I'm not a Calvinist, I'm not an Arminian, I'm a Baptist!" "I don't hold to systematic theology, I hold to Biblical theology!")

Morris Chapman (said Calvinism is ok to debate in academia but not ok to discuss in churches)

I find this very disappointing. It's sad that the whole debate has shifted to where things like "who did Jesus die for" is considered a "side-street issue".

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Tirdly, while Tom Ascol's resolution on integrity in church membership was struck down (they even struck it down before the convention could vote on it!), a resolution passed that condemned the use of alcohol and ruled that members of institution boards and appointed officers cannot use it.

Fourthly, the whole manner of the convention was focused on evangelism somehow being the main duty of the church. It was a "if we are not focused on evangelism as a priority then nothing else matters" mentality.

To be honest, I don't find these last two very surprising. In all the SBC churches I have attended, the use of alcohol was never considered anything except a sin. In fact, from the pervasiveness of that view in the churches I have attended, I just assumed (obviously incorrectly) that the SBC as a whole considered the use of alcohol as a sin. Hence, I assumed that members (and much more the leadership) would not be allowed to use alcohol as it would be indicative of a willful disobeying of God. As for evangelism, it also seemed to be the main goal of the churches I attended.

I agree with all your concerns, however, and will pray that God will give you wisdom in your decision to stay or leave the SBC.

John