2009 Southern Baptist Convention - Tuesday

This is a brief recap of Tuesday June 23 at the Southern Baptist Convention. I’m pretty sure that every person has a different experience there, and some things are more emphasized depending on the crowd around you, but some things are hard to ignore. Where I was, there was one major subject of conversation and controversy.  The Great Commission Resurgence right?  Nope.  Then maybe it was the IMB report and the news of what to do about the economics that have caused us to close down certain missionary efforts.  Nope.

In fact, the number one topic by a mile was Mark Driscoll.  There was a paper published by the Missouri Baptist laymen’s association, and distributed by Truett-McConnell college that was a polemic against Mark Driscoll and the Acts 29 Church Planting network.  It indicted Southeastern Seminary and Ed Stetzer and generally caused an uproar.  There were dozens of people around me reading this paper, and when time for introduction of new motions came, there were at least 5 motions taking aim at Mark Driscoll (not a Southern Baptist), Lifeway for selling his books, SEBTS, Ed Stetzer, and Alvin Reid.  I was a bit saddened by this vitriol but more than that I was surprised.  I definitely did not see this coming.  Before you judge me too harshly, I’m not saying I endorse Mark Driscoll.  In fact I have steered people away from him in the past because I know his style turns off so many.  I also am bothered by his attitude toward alcohol and I believe that overly crude language detracts from the message he is delivering about a holy God.  He is, however, orthodox, and to say Lifeway can’t sell his books because he drinks alcohol I just can’t understand.

There were some other interesting motions brought forth.  There was one wanting to rid the convention of the HCSB.  One or two aimed against president Obama on his view of abortion.  Another suggesting that Lifeway be certain that all VBS materials are made in the USA.  I found this particularly interesting in light of a question previously addressed to Thom Rainer during the Lifeway report that VBS stuff needs to be cheaper and supported for more than one year.

The Great Commission Task force was, not surprisingly, the second most significant issue of the day.  It was passed, but not before someone attempted to change it to have the NAMB and IMB do self-studies.  That amendment failed and the task-force passed overwhelmingly.  In fact I only saw 3 votes against it.

The vote to declare Broadway Baptist Church in Ft. Worth not in friendly cooperation passed virtually unanimously and without discussion.

Johnny Hunt was reelected as president by acclimation.  He will lead the GCR task force

Attendance was better than last year, no surprise.  At the time of the election of Hunt there were 8.587 messengers registered.

I also want to say something about Wade Burleson and Bart Barber, but I won’t.

Finally, it wouldn’t be the SBC without protestors.  There were a few demonstrators from PETA outside the gates.  They were dressed as animals and wearing sign that say “God loves me too.”  I think that’s what they said anyway.  It was hard to read.

Feel free to destroy me in the comments because I don’t want to tar & feather Driscoll.

Technology and the Church (part 1)

Yesterday I spoke at the NSRBA pastor's conference.  For years I have been attending that meeting, but I usually stay quiet.  Most of those men have been pastoring longer than I have been alive, so I often feel unqualified to contribute. I always thought that when I had something to contribute, I would.  Back in December I realized that I did have something to add to the conversation in that room, so I asked to speak. I taught on technology and the church.  It was very well received, and since it's already written, I thought I'd post about it here on my blog.  That concept works for Ed Stetzer, why not for me?

We'll begin with a video. You've probably seen it before, it's been posted on many a blog.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8]

To me, largely a product of the information age, this video is a bit frightening.  But I think it illustrates the neeed for the church to embrace technology.  We are already losing ground in the culture wars, and without tech, soon we will find we are fighting a war on different terms.  (Mennonites and Amish likely live fulfilled lives and people admire them to some degree, but they are not evangelizing the world.)

What is Technology? It's hard to define, but I'd call it the use of engineering to interact with our world differently.  For almost everyone there is a certain era of technology beyond which they never advance.  Some folks never get beyond movable type, invented by Gutenberg.  (Though I'll admit, I've never heard anyone say, "Scrolls were good enough for Isaiah, they are good enough for me.") Some maybe never advance past the television.  Even though they are no longer made, some people may be stuck on the VCR even though the DVR is superior in every way.  And many preachers especially never got past the wireless phone.

Why does technology matter to the church? Well for one thing because it is changing the way the youngest generation interacts with the world.  According to neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, our brains are literally being rewired.  I think I can demonstrate the way technology has changed your life with just a short quiz.  When is the last time you memorized a phone number?  I literally only know one phone number today that I didn't know when I was 15 years old.  When you are searching for a Bible pasage, how often do you use a software or internet Bible instead of your concordance?  I wrote a blog post about this quite a long time ago I call the phenomenon, the death of remembering stuff.

If it's afecting me, in my 30s, what about the millennial generation?

Is the digital divide equal to the generation gap? What I am asking in this question is; is the inability for one generation to relate to other generatons caused by, or even equal to, the differences in the way we use technology.  Barna published a recent study that highlights the digital divide and the generation gap.  The younger you are, the more central tech is to your life.  The moral of the study is that the digital divide doesn't cause the generation gap, but it highlights it.

Is the technological takeover wrong? In short I would say that the technology is morally neutral.  Surely there is a moral component to the utter dependance upon tech to communicate and function, but the technology itself is neutral.

Can't we just call the younger generations stupid and get on with our lives? Certainly you can, but you might as well be telling them to go to hell.  Jesus died for kids who only know how to talk through a cell phone, just like he died for fogies who think putting hymn lyrics on a screen was thought up by Satan.

If you are of a certain generation and simply cannot understand the mind of millennials, maybe you should view them as a people group to be reached.

Tomorrow in part two, I will address some specific ways your church can use technology.

Twitter For the Masses

In predictions for 2009 I said that I thought Twitter would catch on and finally become popular with "the kids".  What I mean is that non-geeks will begin seeing it for the incredible tool that it is.  Later when listening to the Buzz Out Loud prediction show, I heard Tom Merritt make the same prediction. I know a lot of my regular readers read my twitters (they are supposed to be called tweets, but that is just so stupid that I refuse to) because I can see when you click on the links from my feed in the sidebar.  So my goal today is to get you to try out Twitter, and explain what it is exactly.  Next week I will post about different ways of using it, cool apps and stats, and some ways not to use it.

Twitter is microblogging, for lack of a better term.  You get 140 characters to say whatever you want.  Here's how it works.  You sign up, choose people to follow, then participate.  Your page will automatically show you all the updates of the people you follow.  Likewise, everyone who follows you will see all your updates.

You can update it from the web or by text message.  You can also post pics to twitter using twitpic.com.  It allows people to see into the lives of those you follow.  And in turn your followers can see what you are up to.  You can use it for prayer requests, to send out information or to keep up with old friends.  I follow people I know from college and from seminary.  And if you sign up, let me know and I'll follow you as well.

You can keep track of your twitter feed on the twitter.com website, but  the best way to use twitter on your computer is http://www.twhirl.org/ Twhirl works with Mac & PC and is a very handy tool.  (You will also need to install adobe air)

Here's a list of a few cool people to follow to get you started.  (I don't follow the last few)

me - https://twitter.com/jmmath Ed Stetzer - https://twitter.com/edstetzer Mark Hall (from Casting Crowns) - https://twitter.com/markhallCC Tom Rainer (Pres. of Lifeway) - https://twitter.com/ThomRainer Alvin Reid - https://twitter.com/docreid7 Darth Vader - https://twitter.com/darthvader Natalie Grant - https://twitter.com/NatalieGrant MC Hammer (Can't touch this) - https://twitter.com/mchammer Shaquille O'Neil - http://twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ Greg Grunberg (Weiss from Alias) - http://twitter.com/greggrunberg

You can always just sign up and try it out. Let me know how you feel about it in the comments.