The Age Division at The SBC

I have been reading lots of posts lately by and about the young leaders at the Southern Baptist Convention feeling like they don't have a voice. Two of the best are Steve McCoy's and Adam Feldman's.

I think a little too much emphasis is placed on the whole age thing. I know the 20 and 30 somethings are finding positions of leadership in SBC churches, but are frustrated that they are not being offered positions of leadership at the SBC. The young leaders are frustrated that their voice is not being heard. I can understand their frustration, but I think the issue goes deeper than age. The emerging church isn't about age, or worship style, but rather about a difference in worldview. My question would not be where are the young leaders in the SBC leadership? But, where are the emerging leaders in the SBC leadership?

It shouldn't be looked at as an old versus young division, but a worldview division. I am probably looking at the issue from the wrong perspective, but when I hear the young leaders asking that type of question I also have to ask, where are the middle aged leaders in the emerging church? I know they are there, but I don't think they are taken seriously by either the SBC leadership or the young leaders in the emerging church. It seems like the lines are being drawn around an age division, when I believe they should be drawn around a worldview division. I guess I get a little sensitive when a person in their late 40s with an emergent worldview like me doesn't fit into either camp. I side with the emergent camp, but age shouldn't be the overriding issue in this battle.

Back Flips Off the Diving Board

Sometimes we make it so hard to trust what our heavenly Father tells us to do.

My family camps in our camping trailer most of the summer at a Christian campground about an hour away called Lake Williamson Christian Center. It is a wonderful campground, and the headquarters of the Illinois Disctrict of the Assemblies of God church, we discovered when I served as a camp counselor there for our church's kids kamp. During the summer I split time staying at home and making the 1 hour commute between camp and work a couple of days per week. The campground has an outdoor pool and last year my daughter learned to do forward summersaults off the diving board. This year she started working on back flips. She is absolutely fearless. And I am convicted about my fears every time I see her do a back flip. When she was learning to do a back flip she would asks me, "Dad, what to do next"? And I would tell her to jump in feet first a couple of times and then do a back dive and move on to the back flip. That lasted for about 5 minutes and now she can't be stopped. She trusted each and every word of mine, like I really knew what I was talking about.

I clearly hear the Lord's direction in my life, but unlike my daughter I let myself get caught up in the ramifications of doing what the Lord wants me to do. How will it affect my life, my family, my work? I long for those simple days of childhood where if you did what your parents asked you to do they would cover for you. I guess I'll just have to trust the Lord as if He knows what He is talking about.

Blogging from Virginia

I am on the last of 3 trips in 6 weeks. I am tired of being gone from home, happy that my travels are over for a few months, and eager to make it home tomorrow. I spent this week in Norfolk, Virginia, which is one of my favorite towns. I attended the Air Force's Installation Mapping and Visualization Council meeting and visited Langley Air Force Base.

While I was at Langley I ran into one of my best friends from Korea, Marcy, and her husband Nate. I was so happy to see them and they were very good short-notice hosts. Marcy cooked us a very tasty dinner at their beautiful house on Monday night and we went out on Tuesday night to the Cheesecake Factory in Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach has really rebuilt the area since the last time I was here about 6 years ago. March and Nate are such a wonderful couple that walk deeply with the Lord. Thank you for the hospitality. You are both great reflections of Jesus.

Our New Family Addition

We broke down and added a new member to our family. Wyatt is a 14 pound Black Lab puppy that we fell in love with on Monday. He is so cute!



Here's his brothers and sisters at Siever's Kennels in Meppen, Illinois. It was a hard to take Wyatt away from his family. This picture was taken last week, so we don't know which one he is in this picture. They are all so beautiful.

Are" Baptist" and "Biblical" Synonyms?

Thanks to Adam Feldman for linking to this great article by Ed Stetzer. Ed beings up some points that many traditional Baptists might find tough to think through, but need to be sorted out if we will have a future impact on today's generation. The article is located here. Link.

Here's a sample:

It’s interesting. As a denomination we’ve spent more than two decades telling young leaders that we must take the Bible seriously. Should we be surprised that they do? When younger leaders question some long-held traditions, we should not be surprised -- they are the result of the theological resurgence.

Blogging From Florida

Well, I am on leg 2 of my current travels. I am in Panama City, Florida at Tyndall Air Force Base. Man, its hot and humid (93 degrees, 83% humidity). When I talked to my wife today she said St Louis was in the 70s and dry. She also mentioned that the weather back home is perfect and you're not here to enjoy it (a direct hit to the heart).

I've been observing an Air Force exercise called SILVER FLAG where we learn how to deploy to overseas locations we haven't been to before. As you can imagine computer mapping and visualization can be a great help when trying to plan to beddown troops, equipment, and aircraft in new places. There is lots of opportunity for us to build our business for us in this area.

Panama City seems to be a fairly nice town, but it is too hot and humid for me. The beaches are nice, the traffic doesn't seem too bad, and tonight I had the best Burrito I have ever had at Moe's Southwestern Grill.

Tomorrow I'm off to Ft Walton Beach, Florida to do some relationship building with my counterparts at Air Force Special Operations Command.

I'll be home on Friday and stay around for a week and then off on leg three to Norfolk, Virginia for the Air Force's Installation Mapping and Visualization Council Meeting.

As Many Claim No Religion As Claim Protestant

Borrowed from the Ivy Jungle Campus Ministry Update:

As Many Claim No Religion as Claim Protestant: Results from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA show that and equal number of incoming freshman in the fall of 2004 checked "None" as claimed "Protestant" on the question religious identity. In total 28% identify themselves as Catholic. 17% say Protestant, 17% say "none", 11% say "other Christian," 4% Mormon, 4% 7th Day Adventist, 4% Unitarian, 3% Church of Christ, 3% "other religions", 2% Jewish, 1% each for Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic and Eastern Orthodox. (Spirituality Report, as reported in CPYU e - update #76)

God, Inc?

This Yahoo article seems to counterdict what I said in the last post about the misisonal-incarnational church being the model the church shcould be headed to. I guess it all matters whether or not you want numbers or depth. Good article, poor subject. Link.

Missional-Incarnational and Evangelistic-Attractional Church, So What's the Difference And Why Is It Important?

Adam Feldman has a super post on the difference between the Evangelistic-Attractional Church and the Missional-Incarnational Church. Seems as though we have been stuck in the Evangelistic-Attractional model for most of modernity and it is time to head back to the Missional-Incarnational model we find in the New Testament.

Adam's post is located here. Link.

Please let me knokw your thoughts.

Good to Be Back Home

Well, I got back home this afternoon. It is good to be back with my family. I'll spend a couple of days in the office this week answering the 300 or so E-Mails I have and then off to Panama City, Florida for another exercise. I don't like to be gone this much, but it pays the bills!