Deliverance. Ah, those were the good old days.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The new code of conduict for IMB trustees, according to trustee Mike Smith, is not intended to stifle honest differences between board members. At least, that's the story today from the SBTC Texan.

“We really got started on this two years ago, way before Wade Burleson or anything like that,” Smith told the Southern Baptist TEXAN in a phone interview March 23, referring to the Oklahoma trustee whose board status was in question until the board’s vote March 22 to rescind an earlier action requesting his removal. “We ourselves said we need something (drafted) in a concise way for being accountable when attending meetings and being faithful (as trustees).”

Why the rush? It's obvious to everyone watching what the rush was -- "we have a problem we need to take care of ASAP, before it gets out of hand."

Later in the article, Smith says that "we just do not want continuous open criticism." I think that a measure that effectively turns the trustee board into a group of yes men will certainly ensure that trustees don't criticise. It also means that nobody will pay any attention to what the trustees say publically about a decision ever again. It means that we're going to have to look at things for ourselves.

An new SBC, full of people who take an interest in what is going on at the national convention level? Who are involved and vocal? Who knows what we might be able to accomplish when we ALL are involved in the process. I'm starting to think that the IMB trustees have done us a favor.

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Amanda Griffin is a woman on the run. And trouble seems to keep following her, everywhere she goes. But now, the trouble has found her family, and she has to make some hard decisions regarding her own life: does she keep on running, as she has been for the past eight years, or does she come in out of the cold?

I've never read Dee Henderson before, though I know people who read her regularly. The Witness is a great mystery/thriller -- it's a page turner, with a lot more action that I expected. I never thought I'd get as caught up in the book as I did -- there were nights when I literally could not make myself put the book down. It was always "One more chapter. One more chapter."

The character relations are a bit too convenient, though. Police chief and two detectives fall for three sisters who are all involved in this mystery, one of whom is on the run from organized crime in New York. Some of the pieces seem to fit together a little too well, some of the situations a little too contrived. But the book flows very well, and is a really quick read -- fast paced, just like life on the run. This will be a great beach book this summer, and is a good front-porch-reading book (you mean you don't do that??) right now.

There's even a study guide in the back of the book for your Christian fiction readers club. But whatever you do -- don't read it until you finish the book. One plot twist is hinted at, and one fatality is totally mentioned. I made the mistake, and it ruined the shock for me.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A few days late, but here it is!

I'm adding a new one this time: Antihero for Hire. Perfect time to start reading this one, as it's the very beginning of a new story arc, involving the King of the Ice, 'The Froster'. The comic is set in a future time where Canada has waged an "Unexpected War" against the United States:

See, what happened was that Canada, tired of the way the US was running their country, sent wave after wave of genetically modified dinosaurs trained to attack only military targets. Not one non-resistant was killed, and all of the states that bordered Canada became provinces. Word is people living there don't really mind, which is one of main reasons it was so successful. The other was, of course, that the US was so busy protecting themselves against Weapons of Mass Destruction that they never made anything to protect against dinosaur attacks.

Questionable Content: Faye heads home to Savannah for a couple of days. Favorite line this week: "Suave dudes alwys smell like aftershave and Old Spice. It's pretty gross." Today we get to meet Faye's Mom.

Theater Hopper: Guest comics with an unplanned theme -- minor characters with secret crushes on Tom! Tom joins the fun in today's strip.

User Friendly: A.J.'s quest for blog traffic.

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Yesterday, I expressed my disappointment in the IMB trustees' decision to not allow public dissent by trustees. I am still disappointed, but I now have hope, and that hope has come from Wade Burleson.

His 'Ten Terrific Things'has encouraged me, especially this point:

(3). Bloggers other than trustees are now going to do all they can to be at the important meetings of the IMB.

(4). I met 20 young people for the first time who attended the IMB meeting simply to ATTEND. Not to be appointed, not to see family, but to simply ATTEND. When is the last time that many young adults attended the IMB meeting for no official reason but to participate in missions at the grass roots level.

(5). This participation of young adults in the Southern Baptist Convention is exciting. The SBC has long needed involvement from the generation of evanglical, missional minded young peole from our convention.

The light is on. We're watching.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I wish I had never heard about the new policies at the IMB, which effectively closed the door on many missionary candidates for non-essential differences.

I wish I had never heard about the IMB trustees' efforts to silence Wade Burleson, to the point of actually seeking his removal from the board of trustees.

I wish .... but I did hear. And what I found out today grieves me even more.

A proposed new conduct guide for IMB trustees. A proposed manual that would state " ... trustees are to speak in positive and supportive terms as they interpret and report on actions by the Board, regardless of whether they personally support the action."

In other words, the average Southern Baptist shouldn't know that there are people who disagree with "established policy." And the rest of the world shouldn't think that there are Southern Baptists who would actually disagree with said established policy.

Well, guess what? The rest of the world holds a pretty low opinion of Southern Baptists already -- something about us being a bunch of Jesus freaks or something. And the average Southern Baptist needs to know what is going on where their money is being spent. Without Bro. Burleson's dissent, nobody would have known what was going on -- maybe that's the intention. Keep the proles in the dark.

This is a gag order. It's no secret who this is designed to silence, and Wade Burleson is a man of enough integrity that he will abide by the board's decision, to the extent that he won't air his disagreements if the new manual is adopted.

I've seen groups run by 'yes men' before. Growing up in IFB land, I saw men of integrity, but I also saw men who were afraid to condemn the actions of certain "Men of God" when they were wrong. They didn't want to be kicked out of the camp -- one thing you'll find out quickly is that the I in IFB may stand for Independent, but it doesn't always mean independent. There are camps and cliques, and you don't want to be in the wrong one. So you put up a front, and deny that there are any problems -- at least in public.

We need principled dissent. Baptists have historically been the voices of principled dissent. And now we are going to lose that. We are going to stifle that voice so we can shore up a facade of unity that everybody knows isn't there to begin with.

Who are we trying to kid? We are not fooling anybody, not even ourselves. Vacating the Board of Trustees of the IMB now seems like a reasonable solution.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 05:23 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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From "A Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus," translated by John Skinner, included in The Confession of Saint Patrick more...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 07:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK, so I'm stealing this idea from Joe Kennedy. Won't be the first time, won't be the last time. And it's a good idea.

I am a big proponent of podcasts -- I'm even writing a book on it, and why churches should be doing it. So it stands to reason that I listen to a bunch of them. So here are some, but not all (I'm subscribed to 39, including both of my own). more...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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From the Centuri0n his own self:

I want to go on-record today to say that I don't want to merely be a "god blogger", or even a "God blogger".

I want to be a Christ blogger. Who's with me?

{edit -- I can't BELIEVE I didn't link to him the first time. Color me embarrassed.}

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So Isaac Hayes has quit South Park because (ready for this one?) the show is insensitive toward religion.

I agree with Daniel Pulliam over at GetReligion -- has he really only just now noticed this??

How about this episode? Or what about this one? I guess they played nicely with religion, huh? (H/T to Andrew Sullivan for those references, btw.)

Even the folks at South Park noted the hypocrisy:

“In ten years and over 150 episodes of ‘South Park,’ Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim[s], Mormons or Jews,” Stone said in a statement issued by the Comedy Central network. “He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show.”

So I can understand why Hayes left South Park. I just wish he'd have been a bit more consistent with his stand on mocking religion, or at least said he was mad because it was his religion this time.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 05:34 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Did you hear the one about the Muslem, the Jew, and the Christian....

Posted by: Greg at March 16, 2006 08:07 AM (PZjIq)

2 Wha? I thought South Park was a cartoon.

Posted by: Ryan DeBarr at March 16, 2006 03:24 PM (OyH8+)

3 I imagine Isaac's Scientology handlers got to him.

Posted by: James Manley at March 18, 2006 03:16 PM (nLSdw)

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And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The ultimate goal of Christianity is world domination. Our Prime Directive, our Great Commission, is to reach the world. We recognize that not everyone will believe, but our goal is still global evangelization.

So when Pat Robertson says that the goal of Islam is world domination, I say, "So what?" The goal of any belief system that teaches absolute truth must be to have the entire world recognize that absolute truth. Otherwise, your "truth" can't be that important to you.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 07:39 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I found out today that Dr. Nash passed away Friday morning. Russell Moore has a great article about him at The Henry Institute.

I had Dr. Nash at Southern my first full-time semester there, in the fall of 2004. I was a little intimidated at first, because of the ammount of reading we were going to be doing -- and all his books. I learned quickly that there was a good reason for that -- the books are valuable resources. I read them all, cover to cover, and still refer back to them frequently.

I was also a bit nervous about the class. I took Philosophy at Liberty my sophomore year, but wasn't a very diligent student. I had to work hard for that C. By the time I reached seminary, I'd forgotten most of what I'd learned.

Dr. Nash made the class not only bearable, but fun. I actually looked forward to 11:20 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the weeks we had class. He was able to engage everyone in the class, no matter how much we didn't want to be engaged, no matter how busy we were with everything but philosophy.

Dr. Nash made the classes fun. Dr. Moore mentions his hip-swaying, as he quoted someone he thought was wrong. I think that's one of the things that I'll remember about him -- that and his profound relief at George Bush's victory in the 2004 election. Dr. Nash pulled no punches -- you always knew where he stood. He didn't like liberal theologians, Aristotilian philosophers, or Democratic politicians -- and he would let you know in no uncertain terms.

Whenever I read Augustine, whenever I read Plato, I'll remember Dr. Ron Nash -- the greatest philosopher to ever come out of Cleveland, Ohio. At least, that's what he told us, and how could he have been wrong about something like that?

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:45 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Dr. Michael Haykin has posted a brief biography of Andrew Fuller as part of his series on Eminent Christians. Go read it.

I've had Dr. Haykin for two classes at Southern -- one on Baptist history and one covering the life and ministry of Andrew Fuller. Any class that Dr. Haykin is teaching is well worth taking. It's all his fault that I've become fascinated with Fuller.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 11:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So I've seen the iPod jackets, with the headphones that pull out of the collar and the connection in the inner pocket. And I've seen the MP3 player sunglasses, and even those make sense.

But now I've seen everything.

New from LL International Dada Shoes: the MP3 sneaker.

The Code M System is a proprietary wireless technology application for footwear that delivers both audio and data. The initial application of the System is a shoe that delivers music to a wireless headset. The delivery system consists of two key components built into Dada shoes, offering easy access to music with no wires and no digital music device to carry.

The Code M system is integrated into the shoeÂ’s heel and tongue. Its memory gives the device the ability to hold up to 100 songs with a six-hour battery life. A USB port on the lateral side of the shoe allows downloading of music and re-charging of the battery. Another important element in the system is the wireless headset, which picks up music from the shoes as far away as 30 feet.

Dada will sell Code M products primarily through the companyÂ’s normal retail outlets, but Willis also intends to market shoes through electronics retailers and catalogs where consumers are comfortable buying technology-based products. Suggested retail for DadaÂ’s basketball line employing the Code M system will be $199.99.

But shoes?? Do we really need that?

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 11:47 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I just received this in my email:

Our friend and colleague, Professor Ronald Nash, is suddenly at the point of
death. I just talked to Betty Jane, his wife, at his bedside. He is expected
to live only another few hours. This comes as shocking news, but he had been
declining in recent days. He is now in a skilled nursing facility in the
Orlando area.

I know you will want to pray for Dr. Nash in these final hours, and for his wife
Betty Jane and the entire family. They are gathered there in Orlando together.
Pastor Bill Haynes, our trustee and the Nash's former pastor, is also there with
them.

Betty Jane expressed her confidence that God has "a better plan" for Ron than
what they would have chosen, and she looked in hope to his relief from
suffering. I assured her of our love, concern, and prayers.

Faithfully,
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President

I had Dr. Nash for Intro to Philosophy my first full semester at Southern. His class had to be experienced -- listening doesn't do it justice. You can hear him at http://www.biblicaltraining.org/

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 04:40 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Everyone knows I read webcomics. And I hadn't really given a lot of thought to writing about what I read -- partially because there are a TON of blogs devoted to nothing but Webcomics, but mainly because Donald Crankshaw does such a good job of it over at his blog, and I thought it would look like I was ripping him off (well, I kind of am, but ...).

But I decided I'm going to do it anyway. And though I read three comics that Donald reviews on his site, I won't be duplicating him (unless I disagree with him, of course). There are a few comics that I love reading, that I look forward to, and I want to talk about them. So this post is where I introduce you to them, and talk a little about the plot to this point. And don't worry -- I'm only doing three.
more...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 11:15 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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From the "If it sounds too good to be true ..." department.

We've all seen the ads for "mystery shoppers." "Get paid big buck for shopping -- just send us $50 and we'll get you set up!" And it sounds good, but we all know that it's a scam.

I know it's a scam because I have done mystery shops, and never had to pay anyone for the privilege. My wife makes a BUNCH of money each month mystery shopping, and never paid a dime to anyone. We get free movies and free dinners (after reimbursements, of course).

Go to Volition.com. They have a few hundred mystery shopping companies that want people to work for them, and don't charge you a dime. If anyone asks you to pay to mystery shop, tell them to take a hike.

There's money to be made. We live in apretty rural area, and never have a problem getting mystery shops. Hardees, Arbys, McDonalds, gas stations (FREE GAS!!!), more. Texas Road House. Buffalo Wild Wings. We eat places that we otherwise couldn't afford, because we're getting reimbursed.

You're going to eat there anyway -- do it for free.

And no, I don't get anything out of this. No affiliate programs, no finders fees. Just trying to let people know so they don't get ripped off.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 07:22 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Christianity is a confessional faith. Even those who proudly proclaim "No creed but Christ" are, in fact, living by a creed of sorts. After all, "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:9-10, ESV) Confession is as important to our belief.

Throughout history, the Church has put together documents that set forth essential Christian beliefs. These creeds are important parts of our history, because we can see how people thought about the Bible, and how important doctrines were formulated and defended based on Scripture.

There is a part of Protestant Christianity that doesn't like creeds -- "too Roman" they say. This is a book that I'd like to get every single person who thinks that, because it will change their minds. In this book, Ray Pritchard goes to great lengths to show that the Apostles' Creed is based solidly on the Bible, and that it is as relevent for us today as it was to the Christians in the 3rd century when it was written.

The book is not a church history text, nor is it a theological treatise. In fact, it reads like a sermon series (which it is most likely based on, as Pritchard mentions in the book that he has preached through the Apostles' Creed before).

He starts off with a great chapter on how the Apostles' Creed came to be, and why it is so important. This is an important starting point, since many evangelicals have abandoned the ancient creeds in favor of something more "relevent" or "modern." Pritchard does a good job in establishing exactly why a look at the Apostles' Creed can be valuable to the church today.

Then he takes us through the creed, phrase by phrase. This is an outstanding way to lay the book out, and I think that as pastors read this, they'll be taking notes and making outlines -- I know I was.

The only weak point in the book was chapter 10, covering "He descended into Hell ...". I've always thought that this part of the creed was a later addition, and that it lacked Biblical support. Pritchard makes a good case for its inclusion, and shows how to teach this part of the creed, but I'm not sure the case is made for it's inclusion in the creed to begin with.

Credo is an outstanding book. At a time when Christians are increasingly ignorant of what they believe, and why they believe it, more people need to read this book. The essentials of Biblical Christianity are in the Apostles' Creed for everyone to read. And believe.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I promised in another post that I'd link to other IMB trustees' blogs if they started one. And one of them has done just that.

The Most Excellent Way is a blog by IMB trustee Jerry Corbaley. According to Marty Duren, he was the person who sent the trustees into Executive Session shortly before the motion to remove Wade Burleson was made, so he should bring the other side of the story to the blogosphere at last.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 11:28 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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My wife reminded me of a piece of history that I'd learned and then promptly forgotten. In the early 1800s, in New Orleans, there were bands of aristocrat's sons who would roam the streets looking for duels. They had been well-trained in fencing, some by the top fencing instructors in France, and looked for opportunities to show their skill, and show off who their teachers were. Of course, the better fencers were trained by the better (read, more expensive) teachers.

These kids would walk around looking for opportunities to take offense with something that someone said or did, and challenge them to a duel. And the duel would begin in earnest -- unless the challenge was refused. If the challenge was refused, the challenge-ee was considered a wimp (or at least the 19th century equivalent of a wimp) and roundly mocked. more...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 04:32 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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