My take on the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force Report

Providence and a desire to be as thoughtful as I can have kept me from posting my thoughts on the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force (GCRTF) report presented by Chairman Ronnie Floyd to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) on February 22, 2010. The report has received much attention, as you would expect and as it rightly should. Some of the assessments are very helpful and some are absurd, again, as expected. A helpful compilation of nearly everything on the web about the report can be found here.

From the outset I have been hopeful about and supportive of the GCRTF and their work. I encouraged our local association to express support for this effort. I was interviewed by the Missouri Baptist Pathway two weeks ago and answered some questions about the GCRTF report. The story accurate reflects my thoughts. Rather than repeating what I said then, I simply refer you to the link.

Overall, I am encouraged with the work of the GCRTF. I believe that the team that Johnny Hunt assembled has done a great job of assessing our current SBC structures in light of what ought to be our fundamental purpose for existing (as the report puts it, "to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations"). The report consists of 6 "components" including 8 "core values." It is worth reading, or watching the video presentation of it, on the GCRTF website.

The task force has also been very open with Southern Baptists about their work and have sincerely solicited input. The job they undertook (and are still undertaking--this is an "interim" report; the final one will be released May 3, 2010) is monumental. Their recommendations, if approved and implemented by the SBC, will have implications for years to come. If nothing else, the GCRTF report should serve as a call for every Southern Baptist church to pay careful attention to the next 3 months and to send informed messengers to Orlando to vote on the recommendations with discernment.

Following are some of my thoughts on the report.

1. The call for repentance is refreshing to hear, coming as it does from respected pastors and denominational servants. It is a call that every Southern Baptist needs to heed. Joined to it is a call to stop the divisive "rhetoric" that has marred our fellowship and witness. Who can not be grateful for the following words from Ronnie Floyd?

I believe with all my heart that God is calling us to return to Him now in deep repentance of our sin, in brokenness over our sin, denying our pride and selfishness and returning to God with complete humility. The boasting, ego, and pride that goes on in our lives, our churches, and our denomination is unacceptable to God. The disunity in our churches and in our denomination is so wrong and sinful. We need to repent and return to God.

2. I am grateful for the demographic realities that are highlighted in the report. Our too-Western, too-American, too-Southern perspectives on the gospel, church and lostness need huge doses of reality that such demographics can provide. We ought to be embarrassed that we keep so many of our resources--personal and financial--so close to home when, 2000 years after our Lord's commission to make disciples of the nations, there are (in the words of the report) "5,845 people groups who have no access to the gospel of Jesus Christ."

3. I appreciate the emphasis on the local church. This needs to be asserted and reasserted all across the SBC. The report states,

We must return to the primacy and centrality of the local church in our denomination. Jesus loved His church and gave His blood for us. The headquarters of our denomination is not in Nashville, Louisville, Dallas-Fort Worth, Richmond, or any other location of one of our national Baptist entities. The headquarters of our denomination is in each one of the 50,000 local churches and congregations in our convention.

I wish that this emphasis had been spelled out more clearly and directly connected to the call to repentance. How Southern Baptists typically practice church life needs to be reexamined in the light of Scripture. Such an exercise will provide enough reason for repentance to keep us on our knees for a long time.

4. I wish the 8 core values that the report spells out were more gospel-centered. Christ-likeness, truth, unity, relationships, trust, future, local church and kingdom. Under truth the "faith once for all delivered to the saints" is celebrated and under unity it is stated that our working together in love is "for the sake of the Gospel." The gospel is also mentioned under the local church and kingdom values. My concern is that we are living in a day when the gospel has largely been lost because it is too often assumed by evangelicals, including Southern Baptists. Greater emphasis on the person and work of Christ as a core value would be helpful.

5. I wish more radical recommendations were made about the North American Mission Board (NAMB). In fact, my recommendation was that it be shut down and the Disaster Relief Department be fully funded to continue doing what they do better than any other relief organization that I know. The restructuring that has been proposed is significant and perhaps even visionary. I appreciate the move toward decentralization of the work of church planting and of calling on less bureaucratic money-shifting between NAMB and the state conventions. Ronnie Floyd described the current system this way:

While our state conventions keep an average of 63.45% of the dollars within their respective states, the North American Mission Board then sends back to the state conventions an additional $50.6 million due to these cooperative agreements and budgets. This process complicates the work at times, resulting in a lack of productivity and accountability.

The task force's proposal addresses this inefficient system.

6. I am most encouraged by recommendations related to the International Mission Board (IMB). The recommendation that Cooperative Program (CP) allocations going to the International Mission Board be increased by 1% is a start, but in my mind, it is too small of a start. I wish a more radical increase had been proposed.

What is more significant to my mind is the addressing of the irrational policy that has too long existed that restricts our IMB workers, while on stateside assignments, from directly ministering to immigrants from their target people groups who reside in America. When I first learned a few years ago that our IMB workers were "not allowed" to engage immigrants from their people group while in the USA (what used to be called "furlough" but now is "stateside assignment") because such was regarded as encroaching on the domain of NAMB, I found it hard to believe. I knew that if Southern Baptists were made aware of such a policy, whether formal or informal, they would blow a gasket. So I rejoice at component #3 of the report that encourages Southern Baptists to "entrust to the International Mission Board the ministry to reach the unreached and under-served people groups without regard to any geographic limitations."

7. I think the suggestion that "Great Commission Giving" by a church be recognized while reaffirming our commitment to the CP is healthy (component #5). The CP is ingenuous but when it is used as a stick with which to beat churches who sacrificially give to the work of missions in other ways as well, its effectiveness is greatly hindered by the very people who think they are promoting it.

All-in-all, I believe this is a good report and I could recommend that we adopt it as is. My hope is that it will be strengthened before it is released in its final form. Did everything that I suggested to the committee get addressed? No. Some things did not even get addressed. I am sure that is true for hundreds if not thousands of Southern Baptists who, like me, took the committee up on their invitation to offer input. This is how Baptists work together. I am greatly encouraged by the direction to which this report points us as a convention and I intend to continue to pray for Ronnie Floyd and his task force until their work is complete. I encourage you to do so, also.

Memo: How to smoke out a Calvinistic pastor in your church

Yesterday I was sent the following 3 documents that have been circulating in Western Tennessee among some Southern Baptist Churches. It seems that they were distributed at seminars being held for churches to teach "how to find out if any of your staff are Calvinists and how to get rid of them." Since receiving them I have communicated with others who have verified that they are being made available to Southern Baptist churches in Tennessee, not by any official denominational worker, but by zealous people who view the doctrines of grace as heresy. I am trying to contact one or more of those persons in hopes of better understanding what has provoked this mission.

The first document is in the form of a memo and is entitled, "Reformed Red Flags." It contains a list of 16 "behaviors" to look for when seeking to smoke out Calvinistic pastors. Number 3 on the list is "use of the ESV Study Bible." Someone should alert Crossway immediately. Founders made the list, as did John Piper, Jonathan Edwards, RC Sproul, James White and the first Southern Baptist confession of faith (which is still used at Southern and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminaries, and which even the famous non-Calvinist Paige Patterson has signed), the Abstract of Principles.

To read the documents in a larger size, click on them.


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The second document is entitled, "Theological differences between Traditional Southern Baptist and Extreme Calvinists." It seems to be a warmed over version (and perversion) of some of the things that Fisher Humphreys put in his book, God So Loved the Word: Traditional Baptists and Calvinism. Most of the depictions of Calvinism in this document are built on the caricatures found in the previous one and many of the views described as "Traditional Baptist" are held by all evangelical Calvinists. Granted, I know the document purports to deal with "Extreme Calvinists," but I defy anyone to capture and put on display such a creature as described below. Are some Calvinists unbalanced? Yes. Are some jerks? Yes. Is there a danger that the profile given below of extreme Calvinism is sweeping into Southern Baptist churches? No. The kind of inaccurate and distorted representations are easy to make (anyone who reads blogs knows this) but they violate the 9th Commandment and should be renounced by anyone--Calvinist or not--who genuinely takes the Bible to be the Word of God written.


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The last of the documents is recommended to churches to use with new pastors and staff members. The desire expressed in this document that a pastor be forthcoming in doctrinal convictions is commendable. It assumes, however, that the church to which it is recommended does not have a historic Southern Baptist confession of faith (most notably, the Charleston Confession, Abstract of Principles or New Hampshire Statement). A case can even be made that the Baptist Faith and Message is largely a Calvinistic statement, though not as explicit as earlier Southern Baptist confessions. The problem with many of our churches is not that pastors are coming in and trying to teach some "new" doctrine. Rather, it is that they often have drifted from their own stated doctrinal foundations through neglect or liberalism or pragmatism. When a pastor begins to restore those foundations, what he teaches can sound new when in reality it is fully in accord with the church's own doctrinal statements.


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Much could be said about the wickedness and ignorance behind a campaign to "smoke out" Calvinistic pastors using these dubious tools. However, I want to conclude by issuing a plea to my fellow pastors who may be more reformed in our understanding than others in the SBC. Though these documents promote caricatures and distortions, they are a sad reminder that this is the way that at least some people perceive us. As I have indicated, I don't know anyone who fits the profile that these documents present. I doubt such a person exists within the SBC. Nevertheless, this is how some people perceive us.

What shall we do? Protest and return fire with fire? Point out the practical (and sometimes, doctrinal) Pelagianism of our less Calvinistic brothers? Become defensive and try to answer each accusation point-by-point? I don't think that response is called for. Saying nothing of Proverbs 26:4 for the present, I instead recommend that we take the opportunity to examine ourselves and our ministries and see if there are any kernels of truth whatsoever in the accusations on which the caricatures are built. Enemies can help us even when they are trying to destroy us. Learning from them does not mean that we agree with the charges or judge them fair.

Caricatures die in the presence of long, consistent evidence to the contrary. Our agenda is not to be set by accusations (or even affirmations). We have the Word of God for that. Let's examine ourselves in the light of that Word and determine to live wholeheartedly for our crucified and risen Savior. Critics will come and critics will go. What ultimately matters faithfulness to our Lord expressed through obedience to His Word.

In honor of church planters

This is from the Sword and Trowel, the magazine edited by Charles Spurgeon during his 19th century ministry in London. It is taken from an article by Edward Leach that appeared in the June 1869 issue.

We honor the men who, subsisting on scanty and humble fare, battling with adversity, and living down prejudice, are seeking to the best of their ability to plant new churches in apparently unhopeful districts. With the accent of conviction on their lips, the truth of God in their hearts, and undying perseverance leading them on, they must succeed in breaking the dreary monotony of a sinful village life. Their preaching may not please the highly cultured; their methods of working may not suit this decorous age; their unambitious lives may fall flat upon the feverish world; but their faithfulness to God, and persistency in his service, shall be rewarded with the divine "Well done, good and faithful." We know no greater heroes than these sufferers of contumely and hatred, who so gloriously bear up and strike dismay into the enemy's camp. Their imperfections are not worthy to be weighed with their virtues. If England is to be evangelized, it must be by such men. Fit them, train them to as great a degree of perfection as mortal man can bear--no standard is too high for God's ministers but let not culture destroy Christian simplicity (it does not in the truly great); let not learning quench earnestness and enthusiasm; let not supercilious affectation snub them, or selfishness despise them.

Pray for the Midwest Founders Conference & the Great Commission Task Force

I am preparing to travel to St. Louis tomorrow for the Midwest Founders Conference where I will join Ray Van Neste and Phil Newton in speaking on Pastoral Ministry. Unfortunately, Dr. John Thornbury has had to back out of speaking due to health issues (from which, I understand, he is recovering well). Though the temperatures are expected to be about 60º colder than what I am leaving in SW Florida, the fellowship is always warm at this meeting. If you are in the St. Louis area, I encourage you to attend the conference or at least try to catch a session or two.

Please pray that the Lord will use this conference to strengthen to hands of pastors and to prosper the churches they serve.

Today is also the day that the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force (GCRTF) is giving its report to the Executive Committee of the SBC. Ronnie Floyd, the Chairman of the GCRTF will be leading the way in setting forth observations and recommendations that have been formulated since last June. Contrary to earlier, speculative bloviating by the crowd of chronic naysayers, the GCRTF is making this report available to the churches well in advance of the June convention in Orlando. You should be able to access it online tonight around 10:30 PM Eastern time.

Pray for the Executive Committee meeting today. And pray particularly that every God-honoring, Christ-exalting, pride-killing, kingdom-focused recommendation that the task force proposes will resonate with Southern Baptists who are tired of the denominational status quo and who are longing to link arms to take the gospel to the nations.

Samuel Zwemer's prayer for Muslims

The following article is taken from Kairos Journal, an excellent online source of insight on a wide-ranging array of topics. I highly recommend it.

A Prayer for the Muslim World--Samuel Zwemer (1867-1952)

The great historian of Christian mission, Kenneth Scott Latourette, once said that no man deserved the title "The Apostle to Islam" more than Samuel Zwemer. The 13th of 15 children born to a Dutch Reformed immigrant family in Michigan, Zwemer gave his life to the evangelization of Muslim peoples. For 40 years he worked in Iraq, Bahrain, and Egypt. In his extensive travels throughout Asia, India, Africa, and North America he presented the needs of Muslims to Christians and the gospel of Christ to Muslims.

A plea for persistent prayer for Muslim peoples and lands was a constant theme in his public speaking and writing. [The following prayer is found in Samuel M. Zwemer, Islam and the Cross: Selections from "The Apostle to Islam," ed. Roger S. Greenway (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2002), 153-154.]

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who hast made of one blood all nations and hast promised that many shall come from the East and sit down with Abraham in thy kingdom: We pray for thy prodigal children in Muslim lands who are still afar off, that they may be brought nigh by the blood of Christ. Look upon them in pity, because they are ignorant of thy truth.

Take away pride of intellect and blindness of heart, and reveal to them the surpassing beauty and power of thy Son Jesus Christ. Convince them of their sin in rejecting the atonement of the only Savior. Give moral courage to those who love thee, that they may boldly confess thy name.

Hasten the day of religious freedom in Turkey, Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa. Send forth reapers where the harvest is ripe, and faithful plowmen to break furrows in lands still neglected. May the tribes of Africa and Malaysia not fall prey to Islam but be won for Christ. Bless the ministry of healing in every hospital, and the ministry of love at every church and mission. May all Muslim children in mission schools be led to Christ and accept him as their personal Savior.

Strengthen converts, restore backsliders, and give all those who labor among Muslims the tenderness of Christ, so that bruised reeds may become pillars of his church, and smoking flaxwicks burning and shining lights. Make bare thine arm, O God, and show thy power. All our expectation is from thee.

Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son in the Muslim world, and fulfill through him the prayer of Abraham thy friend, "O, that Ishmael might live before thee." For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Totally Like Whatever, You Know?

Taylor Mali's poem, "Totally Like Whatever, You Know?" (HT: Justin Taylor)

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Equity for the nations: A Call for 50/50 Cooperative Program giving strategy

I have spent the last two weeks on 2 continents in 2 countries and 3 major cities in the 10/40 window. Every time I travel in last frontier areas where Southern Baptists have workers trying to penetrate the spiritual darkness with the light of the gospel I experience true ambivalence. On the one hand I am humbled by the character and labors of those who have chosen to live in hard places in order to make Christ known. And I am deeply grateful for the cooperative efforts of Southern Baptists in sending and servicing such devoted workers. We have an ingenious method of supporting gospel workers on the field. On the other hand, I always come away with a sense that we can do better. We can give more, send more and reach further than we currently are if we are willing to reorder our priorities.

As I prepare to leave this region of the world and return home, those old feelings have come back. I have been incredibly impressed with the gospel work that is taking place here and being overseen from here. And I have been frustrated by the fresh awareness of how much more could be done with more resources--resources that exist but simply are not making it to the field.

I listened to a worker describe cutting funds in his budget for Bibles in the heart language of unreached people due to the financial shortfall facing the IMB. I learned of cutbacks in the number or workers that will be joining the efforts to reach Muslims in this region of the world. I heard of other opportunities that could be pursued if only money were available.

Southern Baptist churches should undoubtedly give more to the work of missions. But the truth is, we are already giving enough to overcome the kinds of cutbacks that our workers on the field are experiencing. Our problem is that not enough is making it to the places where it is needed most.

Let me explain.

In 2008 Southern Baptist churches gave $548,205,099 to finance gospel efforts through the Cooperative Program (CP). Of that amount, only $204,385,593 (37%) made it to offices in Nashville to be distributed to causes in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Budget. This means that state conventions of the SBC retained, on average, 63% (nearly $344,000,000) of all offerings that were designate from the churches for the Cooperative Program.

The SBC's Allocation Budget for the CP apportioned 50% of all money received to the International Mission Board, 22.79% to the North American Mission Board (NAMB), 22.16% to theological education, 3.40% to facilitating ministries and 1.65% to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

That means that Southern Baptists, through the CP, allocated only $102,000,000 to reach the nations in 2008 (the IMB also received $141 million through the 2008 Lottie Moon offering). If state conventions had kept only 50% of all CP funds that year, an additional $88,000,000 would have made it to the SBC budget, resulting in an additional $44,000,000 for the IMB to use in our efforts to reach the nations.

I have no interest in debating the merits of state conventions. I know they do some very valuable things. My own state convention is heavily involved in assisting in the relief work in Haiti. But it is beyond dispute that some of what state conventions do is unnecessary (listen to this talk by Mike Day, DOM of the Mid-South Baptist Association in Memphis, TN) and could be scaled back in order to free up more funds to reach unreached people groups of the world. Without getting into the specifics of all this, I would like to propose that the churches of the SBC instruct their state conventions to operate on smaller budgets. Specifically, I suggest that churches call on their state conventions to operate on no more than 50% of CP funds forwarded to them from local congregations.

Let's keep no more than 50% of CP offerings in the state, and designate no more than 50% of what goes to Nashville for convention-wide ministries within the USA with the remaining 50% or more distributed to the IMB for the nations. To my mind, this seems only equitable.

Equity for the nations. Let's call for it. Let's work for it.

18 years ago today, he was released from captivity

One of the highlights of my time in Istanbul took place tonight at a dinner table. I had the privilege of sharing a meal with Joel and Margaret Delhart in the home of mutual friends. Joel grew up in Central Asia and continues to live there today. In the summer of 1991 he and a veterinarian, Dr. William Lewis, were working in a remote region of Afghanistan, serving the Hazara people by implementing a vaccination program for their farm animals. On Saturday, July 6, they were abducted by a Mujahideen commander and held for ransom. On January 4, 1992, exactly 18 years ago, Joel was released. Dr. Lewis had been released 3 months earlier after becoming critically ill.

The quiet, humble confidence in God that Joel exudes is recounted in a book that he and a co-worker who was the lead negotiator for his release co-wrote, entitled, The Upper Hand: God's Sovereignty in Afghan Captivity. I was given a copy of the book tonight and look forward to reading the details of the story that I heard over dinner.

Seven years ago, the Deharts also survived a grenade attack on their church during a worship service in Islamabad. Both of them were injured in the attack and live with the resulting challenges of those injuries.

They are passing through Istanbul on their way back to Central Asia to continue serving the people they love by teaching English. Being with them was a reminder of the reality of suffering and sacrifice that many or our brothers and sisters face around the world today. It was also a reminder to pray for those who choose to live in hard places for the sake of the gospel.

The Virgin Birth of Jesus

Several years ago Larry King, the well-known talk show host, was asked who he would like to interview if he had his pick from all of history. His answer was Jesus Christ. The questioner paused and said, “What is the one question you would like to ask Him?” Larry King answered, “I would ask Him if He indeed was virgin born, because the answer to that would define history for me.”

In one sense, Larry King was right. Because the birth of Jesus Christ is the key which unlocks human history. If Jesus is who the Bible says that He is, then His life and work does indeed define history.

Read more.

Iain Murray on what is lacking in modern preaching

One of God's wonderful gifts to the contemporary church is Iain Murray. Minister, Author and lecturer, Murray founded the Banner of Truth Trust in 1957. The publication and distribution of "Banner Books" has been one of the chief instruments in the revival of gospel-centered Christianity in our day.

Iain Murray's books and preaching have always proved helpful to me. I regard his 2 volume biography of Martyn Lloyd-Jones as unsurpassed in biographical writing. Volume 1 was used by God to strengthen me at a very pivotal time early in my pastoral ministry and is one of the most influential books I have ever read.

So, when Iain renders an opinion on an important issue, I want to take it to heart. Today I received his latest "Murray News" email. Buried within descriptions of his recent travels and ministries, he offered his view of things that he regretfully finds lacking too often in contemporary preaching. They are not all equally important, but they are all worth considering. I pass along his short, provocative list for my fellow pastors and for future pastors.

Among things missing in too much preaching I regret the following: 1. Too often no distinct text is announced at the outset (almost as though a text is a boring way to start a sermon). But nothing is more important. In former times a preacher often gave out his text twice. 2. Lack of passion and urgency 3. Lack of on the part of the preacher; by which I mean, not faith in his message, but faith in Christ to enable him to speak in His name without dependence on a written manuscript. There is too much paper in pulpits! 4. Lack of memorisation of Scripture! We all ought to know much more Scripture by heart than we do, and especially preachers. An occasional turning up of a reference with the congregation is understandable, but to make a practice of it, and to fail to quote Scripture freely, is to diminish what preaching ought to be. 5. Far better to be short than to be dull! A number of eminent preachers could be quoted who did not think 20 minutes ‘short’ or unacceptable. There ought to be more variation.