Monday at the Southern Baptist Convention

I'm just getting back to my hotel room from a long day of attending the Pastor's Conference at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Louisville.  I love people who think attending these sessions are vacation.  I arrived at the convention center this morning at 8:15 (Eastern time) and just now getting back.

David Platt (as I expected since I listen to every message he preaches via my IPod and he pastors in Birmingham) was the message of the day.  Even though I had heard it before, this was the first time he had preached in this venue and many, many people had never experienced his passion and purity of the Word.  

Mike Huckabee spoke this afternoon and then played with the band as we left.  His message was very good.  His main point was that leadership is at all levels:  individual, family, church, government.  There are two main ideas with leadership:  Righteousness (right/wrong - moral absolutes) and Responsibility.  If those two elements are not in an individuals life, then he will be in crisis.  If the leader of a home does not incorporate those two elements the family is in trouble.  A pastor must do the same for a church and politicians must lead a nation in the same two areas.

He said in regard to what we have seen in this country in the last few months: "Wall Street was not a money problem, but a moral problem."

He said as Governor of Arkansas, that any time there was a breakdown in a family that caused the state to remove a child and that child to become a ward of the state that it caused the state between $60,000 to 80,000 a year for that individual child.

My commentary:  The basic problem in America is not the White House, the church house, or my house.  It is individuals.  Without basic righteousness and personal responsibility, then everything is going to fall apart.

By the way, you do also know that he was a Southern Baptist pastor for 12 years and he said, "The hardest politics is not lieutenant governor, governor or even running for President; but it was 12 years as a Southern Baptist pastor."  That is a direct quote!!

Tomorrow, the "business" sessions begin.  Dr. Johnny Hunt, President, will preside.  As always, there will be issues that will draw some controversy and there will be issues that the media will pick up on and make a big deal of that really won't be a big deal.

One issue I know that is coming is we are disfellowing a church in Ft. Worth that has shown tolerance in the homosexual question.  The national media will most likely make a lot about it.

Also, there is going to be a resolution concerning President Obama's election and it's historicity.  I had an email today that was blasting the SBC for doing this and encouraging to vote against it.  The resolution (although we have not seen the exact wording yet but only the jest of it) will not commend his policies, but will note the progress America has made in this historic election of our first African-American President.  Unless there is something more in the resolution that I'm not expecting, I will certainly be in favor of that.  

I will try to post again tomorrow night.  I will be leaving here Wednesday, but I'll say more about that later.