Baptists Are Ready

To feed 600,000 people in the aftermath of Gustav, should it become necessary. Say what you will about Baptists, it’s we who respond first and in force when natural disasters strike. Indeed, though the Red Cross never fails to take credit for feeding folk after a disaster, it’s Baptist Disaster Relief who prepares the meals. We Baptists can be proud of our immediate intervention.

Pray…

For the people along the Gulf Coast.

Bring Them In, Don’t Bribe Them In

That’s the idea an ethicist has presented to describe churches using raffles and giving away gas cards and other such ‘methods’ to draw folk to worship.

Robert Kruschwitz, director of The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, called the promotions “unseemly” and “misguided.” … David T. Olson, director of the American Church Research Project and head of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, said independent, Pentecostal and Baptist churches with nontraditional ways of attracting new members are more likely to use promotions like the gas raffles. But he said there are other more effective ways of drawing newcomers. “I personally would encourage them that having people from their church build relationships with their friends who do not attend church, and invite them as their friend, would be a much better strategy,” Olson said.

Indeed! You know, the way the early church did it…

Nathan White, an Atlanta-area Baptist, was troubled by a church gas card raffle he learned about at a Baptist church in Snellville, Ga. The corporate executive, who plans to become a pastor, thinks gas giveaways are shameful financial gimmicks that undermine the Gospel. “They are appealing to the natural corruptions in unbelieving people … . The Bible warns very explicitly about the dangers of greed, the love of money being the root of all evil,” said White. “Appealing to the selfish motives of people is not Christianity.”

Now there’s a fellow who understands theology far, far better than the pandering pastors now numbering in the thousands. The last sentence in his quote is right on the mark.

Kruschwitz worries that people who come to church because of the enticements won’t stick around long enough to listen to the preaching and join the worship. “Are they being tempted to think the church is about such gimmicks and external rewards?” he asked.

And they won’t. Trust me. As soon as the gimmick is gone, so are they- because such churches haven’t appealed to their need for spiritual development, but to their need for greed. You’d think pastors and churches would be smart enough to know the difference. Alas…

Discontentment: The Theology of Dissatisfaction

Drew Smith’s essay in Ethics Daily is worth a read. ‘Until God’s Redemption is Complete, We Must be Discontent‘. That is certainly true. As Drew pointedly remarks

We must embrace a degree of discontent that keeps us from becoming complacent and too comfortable about ourselves, the world and the delay of God’s justice and redemption. Three important and interrelated areas should express our discontent as those who seek to follow Christ. … First, we ought to be discontent about our failure to be who Christ calls us to be. … Second, we must always be discontent with the evil and injustice that remains in our world. … The third area is directly connected to the first two. We must remain discontent about the delay of Christ’s return and the full redemption of all of creation.

Yes, yes, three times yes. Contentment far too often becomes complacency. And while Drew is right that we ought to be content in Christ, we also must realize that contentment cannot be allowed to slide down the slope of self satisfaction. The key is to be content in Christ- not it circumstances or self.

A Book Worth Reading

The folk at Eisenbrauns Publications have sent me some fantastic volumes to read and review and among them is this gem-

Baptist Identities

And one of the essays that makes it such a gem is that of Karen Smith, whose ‘Preparation as a Discipline of Devotion in Eighteenth Century England: A Lost Facet of Baptist Identity?’ (pp. 22ff) increases the value of the volume.

Smith’s really important contribution to this volume prods Baptists to consider their devotional roots by reminding them that ‘… for early Baptists there was never a sense in which one was merely a believer alone, but one was always bound to Christ and thereby bound inextricably also to those who were within the covenant community and, as such, part of his body, the church’ (p. 22). Smith goes on to describe early Baptists and their understanding of conversion and commitment and how personal reflection and private devotion led them to prepare their hearts for church membership, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and, ultimately, death.

Private devotions with communal implications have disappeared for many Baptists under the cover of simply private devotions for personal sake. A community oriented devotional practice is much needed in these days of individualism and self centeredness. Smith’s work is a much needed corrective to much current practice.

Thought of the Day

Our life will be framed in best accordance with the will of God, and the requirements of his Law, when it is, in every respect, most advantageous to our brethren. The term neighbour comprehends the most remote stranger. Let a man be what he may, he is still to be loved, because God is loved.  — John Calvin

The 2008 SBC Compensation Study

Each year the SBC conducts compensation surveys to determine the compensation and benefits given to full time Pastors.  This years results for Churches in Tennessee are as follows:

By Attendance

Attendance	Number of Responses	Compensation			Pay Package
		Avg	High	Low	Avg	High	Low
1 - 24	1	$32,736	$32,736	$32,736	$38,736	$38,736	$38,736
25 - 49	1	$38,640	$38,640	$38,640	$43,540	$43,540	$43,540
50 - 74	8	$35,187	$55,100	$24,200	$39,767	$63,020	$26,403
75 - 99	11	$36,415	$54,900	$26,138	$41,785	$54,900	$26,138
100 - 149	31	$44,175	$76,500	$27,500	$52,636	$92,500	$33,350
150 - 199	33	$48,208	$66,772	$34,400	$58,552	$86,088	$41,200
200 - 299	25	$57,974	$90,423	$36,460	$67,441	$100,853	$38,020
300 - 499	30	$63,364	$90,000	$32,000	$78,264	$126,834	$41,800
500 - 999	6	$73,036	$101,000	$57,000	$92,552	$122,120	$72,900
1,000 and Up	7	$106,475	$195,000	$63,000	$131,048	$216,000	$90,600

By Education:

Education	Number of Responses	Compensation			Pay Package
		Avg	High	Low	Avg	High	Low
High School Graduate or Less	6	$41,313	$48,754	$35,000	$52,138	$64,317	$36,650
Associate Degree (two-year school)	5	$46,874	$65,000	$36,460	$51,042	$68,292	$38,020
Some College (no degree)	16	$45,327	$81,330	$31,800	$53,352	$96,190	$31,800
College Graduate (Bachelor’s degree)	26	$49,598	$70,204	$31,550	$60,439	$89,700	$33,350
Graduate Degree (Master’s degree)	59	$51,911	$90,423	$24,200	$62,143	$126,834	$26,403
Graduate Degree (Doctorate)	41	$65,555	$195,000	$26,138	$79,781	$216,000	$26,138

By Church Budget:

Budget ($)	Number of Responses	Compensation			Pay Package
		Avg	High	Low	Avg	High	Low
Up to 50,000	0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
50,001 - 75,000	3	$37,512	$48,000	$31,800	$40,112	$49,800	$31,800
75,001 - 100,000	9	$31,476	$43,400	$24,200	$34,760	$52,384	$26,138
100,001 - 150,000	26	$38,398	$54,900	$26,400	$44,237	$58,100	$32,640
150,001 - 200,000	16	$48,882	$65,000	$28,950	$59,034	$89,470	$38,368
200,001 - 300,000	28	$47,885	$67,190	$32,000	$56,841	$81,800	$41,800
300,001 - 400,000	23	$53,125	$76,500	$36,618	$65,533	$92,500	$46,977
400,001 - 600,000	19	$62,206	$73,000	$41,775	$74,548	$89,400	$60,250
600,001 - 800,000	9	$64,314	$90,299	$54,000	$82,309	$100,853	$72,500
800,001 - 1,000,000	8	$76,012	$90,423	$57,000	$92,349	$109,000	$62,558
1,000,001 and Up	11	$98,073	$195,000	$63,000	$122,441	$216,000	$88,500

And by Resident Membership:

Membership	Number of Responses	Compensation			Pay Package
		Avg	High	Low	Avg	High	Low
1 - 24	1	$32,736	$32,736	$32,736	$38,736	$38,736	$38,736
25 - 49	0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
50 - 74	0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
75 - 99	3	$40,333	$48,000	$31,800	$40,933	$49,800	$31,800
100 - 149	7	$39,500	$60,400	$24,200	$45,142	$74,671	$26,403
150 - 199	10	$45,586	$64,900	$27,000	$55,144	$89,470	$34,056
200 - 299	29	$43,541	$77,000	$26,400	$51,845	$103,200	$32,500
300 - 499	44	$48,264	$90,299	$26,138	$57,116	$100,853	$26,138
500 - 999	37	$58,370	$90,423	$36,618	$70,821	$91,823	$46,977
1,000 and Up	22	$82,520	$195,000	$41,775	$102,937	$216,000	$61,309

Her Tongue Was Cut Out And She Was Burned Alive

By her father. A Saudi. For the high crime of converting to Christianity. Israel News reports

A young girl in Saudi Arabia was brutally executed by her Muslim father this week after he learned his daughter had converted to Christianity. Middle East business news website Zawya.com reported that the man, who is a prominent member of a “virtue committee,” first cut out his daughter’s tongue and held a one-sided religious debate with her. He then burned his daughter alive.

Some reprehensible actions such as this don’t require comment. Such behavior can only be rightly described as pure evil.

The Ten (Modern) Lepers And the One Who Worships

Most folk are familiar with the story in the Gospel of John about the 10 lepers that Jesus heals and off they go to live their lives free of that which had formerly destroyed them.  Of the 10, however, only one had the civility and gratitude to return to Jesus and thank him.

That story isn’t just something that happened ‘once upon a time’.  Rather, it demonstrates quite concretely how people are, really are, even today.  It makes it quite clear that only one out of ten who are helped by God bother to worship him in gratitude or respect for what he has done for them.

Every week folk have difficulties from which they are delivered: but one in ten worships.  Every week someone goes to the emergency room for some terrible medical difficulty and are spared by God’s mercy: but one in ten worships.  Every week a tragic accident occurs and lives are mercifully spared by God when, by all rights, they should have perished in those wrecks: but one in ten worships.

I can name name after name of persons I know who have been helped by God through some really unpleasant circumstance- and I can count on less than one hand the number of those who show up for worship as soon as they are able.

The story of the ten lepers isn’t just a thing that happened to Jesus way back then.  It happens every day.  God intervenes in lives and one in ten has the spiritual depth and sense of appreciation to worship him.  It’s shameful, really.  And says a lot about the level of selfishness so operative in many people’s lives.

Thought of The Day

You are God’s worker.  He demands your service, not your sleep.  — Huldrych Zwingli