I find this thread of special interest because my current pastor is one of those Southern grads (or at least he will be when he finishes his theisis.). It is one of his greatest struggles not to alienate those with the congrgation who are not 'there yet' while being faithful to teach the word of God. This is not easy task since the very meantion of words like Calvinism cause some to become overly engergized and defensive. I have never understood why?

BTW I have been a SBC member my entire christian life and according to my dearest friend I have be a closet calvinist for most of that time... coming out was been a long painful and joyous journey. Having a pastor who gives me links to sites like the highway has been helpful. Honestly the average SBC memeber has no idea what they are. I attended what was at the time considered to be one of the more conservative of the state SBC colleges and until recently (the last 2 years and I am 15 years out of college) I was unsettled about most of the doctines of grace. The sad impplication of this is that most SBC memebers are so ill-informed that they will not see the importance of the debate.

I get the impression that there are not many SBC members on this forum. I could <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/flee.gif" alt="" /> or <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/surrender.gif" alt="" /> or maybe I'll just <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bow.gif" alt="" /> to all the wisdom of this place.