On the way down to Honduras I was able to read Dan O’Neill’s biography of the great Christian musician John Michael Talbot.  Signatures: The Story of John Michael Talbot is a must-read for anyone who appreciates Talbot’s art (he’s one of the few musicians I listen to who I think actually deserves the title of “artist”.)

I first started listening to Talbot in college and have returned to his music time and time again ever since.  I frequently use his song, “I Am The Bread of Life,” in our church’s communion services.  I’ve been able to see him only twice in concert, but I remember both occasions as truly remarkable experiences of worship.

O’Neill’s treatment of JMT is fascinating and informative.  I had no idea that JMT had been married and divorced as a young man, or that he has a daughter.  He seems to have truly grieved over his wife’s divorcing him and, in many ways, it seems like an open wound for Talbot.  But they both were very young and he was, by his own admission, a bit of a mess.  Interestingly, she left him after his conversion.  She could not understand his “radical” concept of discipleship, though Talbot makes it clear that his ex-wife loves the Lord herself.

JMT’s journey from on-the-fast-track country-rocker in Mason Proffit, to disillusioned celebrity, to fundamentalist Christian, to Roman Catholic monasticism is an intriguing journey that is told effectively by O’Neill.  JMT is quoted extensively in the book which also includes some fascinating (and humorous) pictures.

I will admit to finding JMT’s reasons for converting to Roman Catholicism to be a bit cookie-cutter and unconvincing.  That being said, his diagnosis of what passes for worship and theology in many Protestant churches is spot on.  But JMT doesn’t linger here.  He’s a peacemaker and seems to have no interest in debate.  Perhaps this is why he has such strong cross-over appeal?

I feel as if I truly understand the man and his music better after having read this book.  There are some very interesting moments here.  JMT’s description of his rocky relationship with the late Keith Green will likely sadden and frustrate those who read it.  His relationship with his brother Terry, however, will encourage the reader.

I suspect that the most skeptical reader will have to admit that JMT is sincerely seeking to honor the gospel of Christ even as many readers will disagree with some of JMT’s theological and ecclesiastical conclusions.  Regardless, JMT’s music is bathed in scripture in a way that makes much of what passes muster in the CMM industry today seem shallow and cheap.

If you want to read an interesting account of a fascinating musician, this is it.  But if you really want to get the measure of the man, listen to his music.

I guess extra reading time might be called one of the “perks” of having the flu…but seeing as though it’s like reading a book while burning in he…I mean, in a really bad place, “perks” seems a bit out of place.  Regardless, between fits of unstoppable chills alternating with miserable sweats, coughing, hacking, eye rubbing, nose blowing, et al., I managed to work in a reading of Al Mohler’s first book, Culture Shift.

I was pleasantly surprised.  I’ll admit that the description of Mohler on the back cover was a little, um, well, just check it out:

“Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest and most influential seminaries in the world…”

I don’t know.  There’s something so Southern Baptist about that, isn’t there?  Like I said, I had the flu, so maybe one of my four prescription drugs was to blame for me rolling my eyes a bit at this.  (I’m not even going to mention the description of Mohler as “one of today’s leading Christian thinkers and spokespers” printed above that….really, I’m not.)

Anyway, as I said, I really liked this book a lot.  Mohler is an astute observer of culture and I walked away from this book with a heightened measure of respect of the man.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never disliked Mohler.  In fact, I appreciate him very much.  I guess I’ve been suspicious of the whole “cultural warrior” label and have been trying to figure out whether or not Mohler’s a theologian or William Bennett.  I guess ever since it was discovered that Bob Reccord hired a firm to try to get him (Bob Reccord) on Larry King, I’m suspicious of any Baptist leaders who do go on Larry King.

But then that’s a bit unfair of me and I should not paint with such a broad brush.  Al Mohler isn’t Bob Reccord.  He has the right and the obligation to speak to culture from a Christian vantage point as we all do.  And I must say he has done so very effectively in this book (and on Larry King as well).

Mohler discusses theodicy, race, the notion of a secular state, abortion, public schools, the atom bomb, the wimpification of our children, the ethics of torture, and a host of other topics in this helpful little book.  He does so with a great deal of balance and care and wisdom.  I will say that I even enjoyed reading this book, despite having the flu.

I think I agreed with most of what Mohler says here.  I was somewhat unconvinced by some portions of his discussion of the atom bomb, even as I found the overall tone of this essay to be helpful.  (Rationalizing Hiroshima and Nagasaki has become very, very difficult for me over the last few years.)  And I appreciated his call for the parents of children in public schools to have “an exit strategy” while he yet held back from calling for an outright exodus.  (This surprised me actually.)

I was particularly moved by his final chapter on race.  He showed a measure of transparency and honesty here that touched me because I resonate with it.  I suspect that many of us who grew up in a predominantly “white world” in the midst of the racially divided South are still having to come to terms with our own culpability in the racial tensions surrounding us.  This was an essay that would not have been written by a Southern Baptist 100 years ago, and I applaud Mohler for including this piece in the book.

Get this book…whether you have the flu or not.

And finally, I leave with this:  will Mohler write a single-author theological monograph during his tenure as President of SBTS?  I tie no value judgments to this question, I’m just curious.

Part I

Ok, I have two big problems that I don’t know how to handle.  The first is just embarrassing and the second is a genuine dilemma.

The first problem I have is that N.T. Wright almost made me cry a little while ago.  I teared up around p.70 with his quotation of Thomas’ words from the Easter Oratorio and I all but lost it with his quotation from Oscar Wilde’s Salome on p.75-76.

But it wasn’t these quotations that did it, it was the ruthlessly devastating and beautiful defense of the resurrection that Wright weaves throughout Part I (chs. 1-4) of his new book, Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.  I realize, of course, that this is a poor-man’s version of his behemoth The Resurrection of the Son of God, but so help me I found Part I of the book to be almost overwhelming.

Now, I don’t normally cry over books…unless it’s the charge of Theoden King and the Rohirrim in The Return of the King…or Jess’ grief in The Bridge to Terabithia…or the biography of Bill Wallace of China…or Newman’s Apologia Pro Vita Sua… but I digress.  I normally don’t cry at all at what Anglicans write (accept, of course, for the first time I read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe), and never at the writings of a Baptist (accept, of course, for the first time I read Calvin Miller’s The Singer).  Anyway, despite these exceptions, and maybe 3 or 10 more, I never cry at books.  But Wright has gone and done it.  Now, maybe I’ll be in Bunyan’s “slough of despond” for the rest of it, who knows, but I doubt it.  (Was it really all that moving, or am I just emotional because I woke up in the middle of the night after having a horrific nightmare brought on by having viewed the exorcism pictures of Anneliese Michel and listened to the audio of the exorcism online yesterday?  One wonders…)  Regardless, let me just say this, for now:  Part I of Surprised by Hope should be read by anybody wanting a level-headed but impassioned defense of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My second problem is that I really do like N.T. Wright.  As a Baptist with certain Reformed leanings, this presents a big problem.  (My “catholic” leanings have no problem.)  I’m apparently supposed to really dislike Wright, and maybe even to hate him, judging by what others of a similar ilk say about him.  This is primarily because of his views on the New Perspective, an idea that I’m reading more and more on and still trying to really grasp.  I suppose, in the end, I may have some real misgivings.  At present I have some serious questions.  So I would never recommend Wright uncritically or without qualification, but there are parts of Wright I really, really do like.  He is, despite what his critics say, trying to think biblically.  He is also trying to let the biblical evidence say what it says without recourse to pat answers…and this is always bound to get one in trouble.

So, I’ll just have to handle my two problems in my own way.  Thanks anyway.

Part I of Wright’s book seeks to show that first century Judaism had absolutely no concept of immediate resurrection.  The resurrection was bodily and it was at the end of time.  He then seeks to show that the early Christians operated within this framework but with some surprising “mutations” of it.  He next moves to an apologetic of the resurrection of Jesus, showing in compelling detail that the early believers simply would not have had the raw material to draw from if they were seeking to make up or invent the resurrection as it is presented in scripture.

This leads Wright to what is, I think, a very strong discussion of epistemology and worldview.  Wright questions the idea of a completely detached scientific-historiography.  He questions the assumptions behind such an Enlightenment concept as well as the simultaneously naive and hubristic idea that a unique and unrepeatable historical phenomenon is inherently suspect due to its uniqueness and unrepeatability.  He shows instead that a belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus (and, consequently, in the future, bodily resurrection of believers) in no way involves a suspension of critical thought or judgment.

That being say, Wright does not believe that the resurrection can be “proven” by cold deduction or scientific method.  It can be strengthened by it, and it is not thwarted by it, but belief in the resurrection does not stand only on this ground.  He points to Thomas, Peter, and Paul as being the recipients of a new paradigm of, respectively, belief, love, and hope.  I thought this was particularly helpful.

Part II

What to say about Part II of Surprised by Hope?  It is a fascinating, (usually) well-argued, intriguing, and sometimes frustrating bit of writing that will challenge, encourage, and, again, frustrate many evangelical readers.  I will admit to being unable to find the great scandal here, though many of Wright’s thoughts will certainly raise some eyebrows.  No, Wright has not abandoned the idea of Heaven and he has not abandoned the idea of Hell (though his take on both are unique and, in the case of hell, idiosyncratic, but not dismissive.)

Chapters 5-11 are grouped under the heading “God’s Future Plan.”  Here, Bishop Wright dives into what are, apparently, the most controversial aspects of the book.  He covers the ascension, the second coming, heaven, hell, purgatory, and new creation.  This large section of material will be impossible to summarize in any detail, so I’ll just take a shot at describing what I think Wright’s getting at (as I read it) and some general impressions I had.

Wright is trying to call us back to a more biblically robust view of death, life after death, and what he calls “life after life after death.”  As best I can tell, Wright believes that, at death, we are in a place of blissful rest.  We are with Jesus, to be sure, but we still await the final resurrection of the body and the redemption of the created order.  Paradise is the best word for “where” we are immediately after death.  Wright agrees that we can use “Heaven” for this state as well, though he feels that this can be misleading.

The final hope of the believer, Wright argues, is the resurrection and transformation of the body, and the redemption of creation itself.  The “second coming” of Christ, then, is when Jesus the Lord (who currently reigns as Lord over Heaven and Earth) breaks into creation and it is renewed and transformed along with our created bodies.  Wright therefore would strongly reject the idea of our “leaving earth” and “going to Heaven.”  “Heaven” is where God is, and it is more biblical, Wright argues, to view Heaven as a new dimension breaking into this one than as a distant place one goes to.

Let me offer a word of personal reflection here.  I’m still chewing on Wright’s arguments.  I refuse to drink the kool-aid, but I also refuse to drink the kool-aid of his detractors.  I will say that I have long felt a strange disconnect between our traditional language of “going to Heaven” and the witness of Scripture itself, particularly Romans 8.  Furthermore, I have long felt that our traditional Evangelical notions do not do justice to the biblical notion of “new heaven and new earth.”  I’ve often wondered why we speak so little of the “new earth” part.

I grew up envisioning an ethereal Heaven floating somehow above an Edenic earth.  In rare moments of theological adventure, I would ask myself whether or not we might go back and forth.  All of this, of course, assumes Heaven to be a spacially contained “place” opposite, or up from the Earth.  I have long felt the absurdity of such an idea, again, on biblical grounds.  That never seemed to add up to what I read in the New Testament.

Now, I don’t know if what Wright is proposing is gospel truth, but I dare say that much of what he is arguing is closer to the biblical witness in emphasis, tone, and structure than many of our popular notions.  It is God-honoring and Christ-exalting, and, whatever our differences with his proposals, we should not present them as less than this.

Wright adamantly (and suprisingly, to me) rejects Purgatory in very strong terms.  He appeals to the complete work of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins as the reason why we will need no more cleansing at death.  This was encouraging to me and should be encouraging to Evangelical readers.  He rejects prayer to the saints, but believes that we can, in some sense, pray for them and with them.  I felt that this was weak and lacked strong biblical support.

Wright refuses the liberal rejection of Hell.  How refreshing this was!  Yet he feels that traditional notions of literal torment in literal flames are simply a naive reading of biblical imagery.  He is careful to say that Hell must exist, that it is a necessary aspect of God’s judgment, and that the liberal optimism and universalism (also annihilationism) that says contrary has more to do with emotive factors than biblical truth.  For Wright, though, hell seems to be a process where those who are intent on living as monsters eventually become, in some sense, less than human.  Hell, for Wright, seems to be a process of God letting those who want to mar the imago dei actually get what they want and bear in their own beings the punishment.  Wright is echoing Lewis a bit here (by his own admission), but he is also (by his own admission) proposing a theory that has no clear biblical support.

One thing I did notice, however, is how Wright never spoke of hell in terms of one’s standing with Christ.  Hell, for Wright, is for those who choose to live monstrous lives.  Appropriately so, but I do wonder how Wright views one’s standing before the cross in his concept of hell?

Again, this summary cannot adequately cover all of the material in Part II.  The section contains the core of the book and Wright is here clearly trying to silence his detractors who, he says, have accused him of abandoning eschatology.  He has silenced them in a very effective manner.

Wright’s arguments will simply have to be dealt with and his reading of the New Testament will need to be considered.  He correctly notes that if he is right, we will have to read the New Testament through an entire new grid.  I suspect that’s true, if he’s right.  Whether or not such a grid is warranted will be for careful and discerning readers to decide.  Regardless, you will be challenged and, I sincerely believe, encouraged if you wrestle with what Wright is doing here.

Part III

After reading Part III of Surprised by Hope I am prepared to say that, personally, I think this book is one of the most profound, thought-provoking, and fascinating Christian books to come off of the presses in a long, long time.  Furthermore, I think it is an extremely important book that ought to be read by ministers and laity alike.

This final part of the book is entitled, “Hope in Practice: Resurrection and the Mission of the Church.”  In it, Wright works out the logical implications of his creation-centered understanding of resurrection, an understanding that he has shown to be thoroughly biblical in the first two parts of the book.

In essence, Wright is arguing in Part III, and throughout this whole book, that a creation-centered view of resurrection (and when you put it that way, how can resurrection not be creation-centered) will keep the church from lapsing into anti-creation Gnosticism and creation/spirit dualism.  As far as the church goes, a move away from envisioning Heaven as the realm of disembodied souls will stir the church here and now to be more concerned with the world itself.  He’s not speaking here primarily of ecology, though he mentions this, but rather of life itself.  Specifically, Wright believes that a more robust understanding of resurrection, creation, and eschatology will embolden the church to act insofar as our actions in the world anticipate the renewal and transformation of creation itself.

Unlike the liberal naivete that undergirded the social gospel movement, Wright’s understanding does not see this as actualizing in completion the Kingdom that will only come in totality at the end of all things.  (He rejects a friend’s insinuation that he, Wright, has “rejected eschatology.”)  It does, however, propose that what we do now matters and, in some very real sense, that all that we do to anticipate the new Heaven/new earth will truly last.  As such, we may take hope that our work in the world is not an exercise in futility:

“You are not oiling the wheels of a machine that’s about to roll over a cliff.  You are not restoring a great painting that’s shortly going to be thrown on the fire.  You are not planting roses in a garden that’s about to be dug up for a building site.  You are – strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself – accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God’s new world.  Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world – all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make.” (p.208)

Thus, our outlook, our mission, our worship, our evangelism, and our approach to life itself must be holistic.  “We are saved not as souls,” Wright argues, “but as wholes.”  We are not seeking the salvation of souls that will one day shirk off this old nasty creation and remain as pure spirit.  Rather, we are seeking to see human beings saved through Christ here and now in a created order that is fallen, that is in need of redemption, but that will in fact one day be renewed and transformed in the new Heaven/new Earth.  We are seeking to see people saved, then, in mind, body, and soul, for all of this is good in the eyes of the God who calls creation “good.”

Wright’s proposals on the main seem faithful to the biblical witness, though he does veer at times into speculation that is not explicitly in the text.  As such, this book needs to be read carefully.  It’s proposals are certainly biblical in their focus and emphasis and Wright’s understanding of the renewal of creation could go a far way in rectifying our occasionally faulty approaches to worship and evangelism.

Wright’s (predictable) critique of America will irritate some, and parts of it irritates me, but what is not to be missed in all of this is that Wright is at least trying to think here and now from a paradigm that is itself healthier than the old dualism that much Protestant fundamentalism is enmeshed in.  So if you reject the specific applications, that’s fine, but don’t reject the paradigm, which I believe really could have tremendous implications for how we think and act.

More than anything else, Wright’s contention that what we do here and now “matters” could absolutely revolutionize Christian mission in the world while simultaneously clearing up a great deal of confusion about why we do what we do and why we should do what we do.

This book should not be read uncritically (and I certainly intend to read it again)…but it should be read and pondered.

Any study of St. Francis must include a close reading of Bonaventure’s classic The Life of St. Francis.  That being said, this biography, written in 1260, will present the modern believer with a number of challenges.  Foremost among them is the almost uncritical acceptance on Bonaventure’s part of seemingly any and every miraculous tale concerning Francis.  Do not get me wrong.  I detest the modern and patronizing attitude that dismisses the stories of ancient writers as fairy tales on the basis of some sort of ancient naivete or inability to be discerning.  I suspect that older writers were more discerning than we give them credit for.  But one gets the feeling when reading Bonaventure’s work that he is making an apologetic for the sainthood of Francis by lumping together story after story and trying to overwhelm the reader with awe.

Of course, it is unfair to expect older biographies to be written in the vain of modern biographies, but one hoping to find the historical Francis will be challenged by the hagiographic feel of some of this work.

That being said, it is a profoundly beautiful book that will help you appreciate the life of St. Francis.  Even the most skeptical reading of Francis cannot help but find in the saint a life that was startling in its devotion to Christ and awe inspiring in its example of humility.  Bonaventure’s classic work will help you see just how startling this life was.

I could have done without Donna Tartt’s Foreword, to tell the truth.  “He is wholly uninterested in the outer trappings of dogma and ritual; what matter to him is inner devotion, the life of the heart.”  Please.  How, then, to explain Francis’ strident Trinitarianism, his great respect for priests and their office, his presentation of himself to the pope for his blessings, his high view of eucharistic worship, etc.  This kind of thing smacks of revisionism, an attempt to cast Francis in the light of a free-thinking beatnik without a care for the church institutional.  To be sure, Francis’ life was a living and prophetic corrective and challenge to empty institutionalism, but make no mistake that Francis was a medieval Roman Catholic in his convictions.

“Indeed Francis,” she writes, “is very reminiscent of some of the great Buddhist saints and Boddhisatvas, but he is also probably the closest thing we have to a bhakti or a sufi in the Western tradition.”  Umm, ok, except that had Francis met any of the great Buddhist saints, bhaktis, or sufis he would have immediately called on them to repent and convert to Christianity.  It is so very hard to make a liberal American of Francis, no?

But I digress.  Bonaventure’s Life of St. Francis should be on the short list of great devotional classics that will inspire us towards greater Christ-likeness.  You will occasionally feel frustrated at Bonaventure’s own medieval Roman Catholicism, and at the occasional feeling that this is an apologetic calling for (at points) suspended belief, but, in all, you will come to love the colorful and shocking figure of Francis and, I believe, Francis’ Savior even more.

Just skip the Foreword.

Mark Galli’s Francis of Assisi and His World is part of the IVP Histories series.  I was thoroughly impressed (not to mention frequently moved) by Galli’s handling of Francis’ story.  As St. Francis is one of the most popular, beloved, and studied figures in Christian history, the broad contours of his life are fairly well-known to many.  That must make writing a Francis biography a daunting task.  Mark Galli, however, manages to tell the story in a way that is fresh, engaging, and thought-provoking.

This book (and all the books in this series) is a very attractive little volume with high-gloss pages and full-color artwork placed throughout.  This added a great deal to the story, as did the margin quotations and the information boxes that offered closer looks at various issues surrounding Francis’ life.

In short, if I were to recommend a biography of Francis to anybody wanting to understand this great Saint, this (along with Omer Englebert’s classic treatment) would be it.  To top it all off, this beautiful little book, like all the volumes in the IVP Histories series, can be had for around $8.  I couldn’t help but think that this book would be great for a church book club or even a Sunday School class wanting to understand the great heroes of Christian history.

If you’ve never met St. Francis, you need to.  Mark Galli does a good job at making the introduction.

2002

Matthew 6:11 (Preached on February 10, 2002, at Stonecrest Baptist Church, Woodstock, GA)

2004

Matthew 9:35-38 (Preached on September 12, 2004, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2007

Matthew 1:18-25 (Preached on December 2, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Matthew 6:25-34 (Preached on December 30, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2008

Matthew 26:26-29 (Preached on April 20, 2008, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2009

Matthew 21:1-11 (Preached on April 5, 2009, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Matthew 28:18-20 (Preached on August 23, 2009, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2010

Matthew 12:34-37 (Preached on July 18, 2010, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2011

Matthew 28:18-20 (Preached on October 23, 2011, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, GA)

Matthew 1:18-25 (Preached on December 18, 2011, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2013

Matthew 5:1-2 (Preached on January 27, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:3 (Preached on February 3, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:4 (Preached on February 10, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:5 (Preached on February 17, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:6 (Preached on February 24, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:7 (Preached on March 3, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:8 (Preached on March 10, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:9 (Preached on March 17, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 16:21-23 (Preached on March 24, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Matthew 5:10-12 (Preached on April 7, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:13-16 (Preached on April 14, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:17-20 (Preached on April 21, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:21-26 (Preached on April 28, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:27-30 (Preached on May 5, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:31-32 (Preached on May 19, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:33-37 [no audio due to technical difficulties] (Preached on May 26, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:38-48 (Preached on June 2, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:1-8 (Preached on June 9, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:9 (Preached on June 16, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:10 (Preached on June 23, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:11 (Preached on June 30, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:12,14-15 (Preached on July 7, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:13 (Preached on July 14, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:16-18 (Preached on July 21, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:19-24 (Preached on July 28, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 6:25-34 (Preached on August 4, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:1-6 (Preached on August 11, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:7-11 (Preached on August 18, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:12 (Preached on August 25, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:13-14 (Preached on September 1, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:15-20 (Preached on September 15, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:21-23 (Preached on September 22, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:24-27 [no audio due to technical difficulties] (Preached on September 29, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 7:28-8:1 (Preached on October 6, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2014

Matthew 9:35-38, 1 Corinthians 12:27 (Preached on April 27, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Matthew 22:34-40 (Preached on May 18, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Matthew 25:31-46 (Preached on May 25, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Matthew 23:37-29 (Preached on March 29, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Matthew 1:20-21 (Preached on December 14, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2015

Matthew 26:1-16 (Preached on September 20, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 26:36-46 (Preached on September 27, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 26:47-56 (Preached on October 4, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 27:1-2,11-14,22-26 (Preached on October 25, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 27:27-44 (Preached on November 8, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 27:45-49 (Preached on December 6, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2016

Matthew 22:15-22 (Preached on March 20, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Matthew 1:18-25 (Preached on December 25, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2017

Matthew 5:9 (Preached on January 22, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:9 (Preached on January 29, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

2018

Matthew 1:20-21 (Preached on December 23, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2020

Matthew 1:1 (Preached on March 11, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 18:15, Matthew 5:23, James 4:1-2, Proverbs 10:12, 1 John 4:20, Proverbs 20:3, 14:7a, 15:8 [“Conflict Resolution in the Shadow of the Cross” Sermon Series, pt.2] (Preached on March 15, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 1:1-17 (Preached on March 25, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 18:21-25, 5:23-25, 18:15, Ephesians 4:26, Proverbs 17:14, Matthew 18:15-16a-b [“Conflict Resolution in the Shadow of the Cross” Sermon Series, pt.4] (Preached on March 29, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 1:18-25 (Preached on April 1, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 2:1-12 (Preached on April 15, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 5:21-22, 2 Timothy 2:22-25, James 1:19, Ephesians 4:1-3, Galatians 5:22-24, Matthew 18:15-17 [“Conflict Resolution in the Shadow of the Cross” pt.5] (Preached on April 19, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 2:13-23 (Preached on April 22, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 3:1-12 (Preached on April 29, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 3:13-17 (Preached on May 13, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 4:1-11 (Preached on May 20, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 4:12-17 (Preached on June 3, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 4:18-22 (Preached on June 10, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 4:23-25 (Preached on July 1, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 8:1-4 (Preached on July 8, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 8:5-13 (Preached on July 15, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 8:14-17 (Preached on July 22, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 8:18-22 (Preached on July 29, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 8:23-27 (Preached on August 5, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 8:28-34 (Preached on August 19, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 9:1-8 (Preached on August 26, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 9:9-13 (Preached on September 2, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 9:14-17 (Preached on September 9, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 9:18-26 (Preached on September 16, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 9:27-31 (Preached on September 23, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 9:32-34 (Preached on September 30, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 9:35-38 (Preached on October 7, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 10:1-7 (Preached on October 14, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 10:8-15 (Preached on October 21, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 10:16-25 (Preached on October 28, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 10:26-33 (Preached on December 2, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 10:34-39 (Preached on December 9, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

Matthew 10:40-42 (Preached on December 16, 2020, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock) [manuscript]

2021

Matthew 11:1-19 (Preached on January 27, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 11:20-24 (Preached on February 3, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 11:25-27 (Preached on February 10, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 11:27-30 (Preached on February 24, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 12:1-8 (Preached on March 3, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 12:9-21 [**no audio available**] (Preached on March 10, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 12:22-32 (Preached on March 17, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 12:33-37 [**no audio available**] (Preached on May 12, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 12:38-42 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on May 19, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 12:43-45 [**no audio/video available**] (Preached on July 7, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 12:46-50 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on July 14, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on July 21, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 13:10-17 [**no audio/video**] (Preached on July 28, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on August 11, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 13:31-35 [**no audio/video**] (Preached on August 18, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 13:44-46 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on August 25, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 13:47-52 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on September 29, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 13:53-58 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on October 13, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Matthew 14:1-12 [**no audio/video**] (Preached on August 25, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 14:13-21 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on October 27, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 14:22-26 [**no audio/video**] (Preached on December 1, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 15:1-9 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on December 15, 2021, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2022

Matthew 15:10-20 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on February 2, 2022, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 15:21-28 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on February 9, 2022, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 16:1-12 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on April 6, 2022, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Matthew 16:13-23 [**Linked to YouTube Video**] (Preached on April 20, 2022, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2009

Mark 1:14-15 (Preached on July 19, 2009, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2011

Mark 11:1-11 (Preached on April 17, 2011, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2014

Mark 9:14-27 (Preached on October 19, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2015

Mark 8:27-37 (Preached on September 13, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2016

Mark 1:1-8 (Preached on April 3, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 1:9-11 (Preached on April 10, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 1:12-15 (Preached on April 17, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 1:16-20 (Preached on April 24, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 1:21-28 (Preached on May 8, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 1:29-39 (Preached on May 15, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 1:40-45 (Preached on May 22, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 2:1-12 (Preached on May 29, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 2:13-17 (Preached on June 5, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 2:18-22 (Preached on June 12, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 2:23-28 (Preached on June 19, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 3:1-6 (Preached on June 26, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 3:7-19 (Preached on July 3, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 3:20-21,31-35 [**poor audio quality and first few minutes missing**] (Preached on July 10, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 3:22-30 (Preached on July 24, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 4:1-20 (Preached on July 31, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 4:21-25 (Preached on August 7, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 4:26-34 (Preached on August 14, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 4:35-41 (Preached on August 21, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 5:1-20 (Preached on September 4, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 5:21-24,35-43 (Preached on September 11, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 5:25-34 (Preached on September 18, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 6:1-6 (Preached on October 2, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 6:7-13 (Preached on October 9, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 6:14-29 (Preached on October 16, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 6:30-44 (Preached on October 23, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 6:45-56 (Preached on October 30, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 7:1-23 (Preached on November 6, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 7:24-30 (Preached on November 13, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 7:31-37 (Preached on November 20, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 8:1-21 (Preached on December 4, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 8:22-30 (Preached on December 11, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2017

Mark 8:31-38 (Preached on January 1, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 9:1-13 (Preached on May 14, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 9:14-29 (Preached on May 21, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 9:30-37 (Preached on May 28, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 9:38-41 (Preached on June 4, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 9:42-50 (Preached on June 18, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 10:1-12 (Preached on June 25, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 10:13-16 (Preached on July 9, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 10:17-31 (Preached on July 16, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 10:32-45 (Preached on July 23, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 10:46-52 (Preached on July 30, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 11:1-11 (Preached on August 6, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 11:12-21 (Preached on August 13, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 11:22-25 (Preached on August 20, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 11:27-33 (Preached on August 27, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 12:1-12 (Preached on September 3, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 12:13-17 (Preached on September 10, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 12:18-27 (Preached on September 17, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 12:28-34 (Preached on October 1, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 12:35-37 (Preached on October 8, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 12:38-44 (Preached on October 15, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 13:1-13 (Preached on October 22, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 13:14-27 (Preached on October 29, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 13:28-37 (Preached on November 19, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 14:1-9 (Preached on November 26, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 14:3-5; 10-21 (Preached on December 3, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 14:22-25 [**no audio available**] (Preached on December 24, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 14:26-31 (Preached on December 31, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2018

Mark 14:32-42 (Preached on January 7, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 14:43-52 (Preached on January 14, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 14:53-65 (Preached on January 21, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 14:66-72 (Preached on January 28, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 15:1-15 (Preached on February 4, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 15:15-20 (Preached on February 11, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 15:21-22 (Preached on February 25, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 15:23-32 (Preached on March 4, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 15:33-39 (Preached on March 11, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 15:42-46 (Preached on March 18, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 15:40-41, 47 and 16:1 (Preached on March 25, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Mark 16 (Preached on April 1, 2018, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2001

Luke 24:1-12 [**weak audio**](Preached on April 15, 2001, at Stonecrest Baptist Church in Woodstock, GA)

Luke 22:39-47 (Preached on April 29, 2001, at Stonecrest Baptist Church in Woodstock, GA)

2007

Luke 15:11-13 (Preached on August 19, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 15:14-16 (Preached on August 26, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 15:17-20 (Preached on September 2, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 15:21-24 (Preached on September 9, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 15:25-32 (Preached on September 16, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 22:14-23 (Preached on September 23, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 1:46-55 (Preached on December 9, 2007, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2009

Luke 18:18-23 [Terrell Academy Baccalaureate Service](Preached on May 17, 2009, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 2:8-20 (Preached on December 20, 2009, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2010

Luke 19:41-44 (Preached on March 28, 2010, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 2:1-7 (Preached on December 19, 2010, at First Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

2011

Luke 1:26-33 (Preached on December 25, 2011, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2013

Luke 2:41-51 (Preached on May 12, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Luke 8:42b-48 (Preached on October 13, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Luke 2:36-38 (Preached on December 15, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Luke 2:25-35 (Preached on December 22, 2013, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock)

2014

Luke 19:35-44 (Preached on April 13, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Luke 1:46-55 (Preached on December 21, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, Dawson, GA)

Luke 2:8-20 (Preached on December 7, 2014, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2015

Luke 23:34 (Preached on November 15, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Luke 23:43 (Preached on November 22, 2015, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

2016

Luke 23:46 (Preached on January 10, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Luke 9:28-36 (Preached on March 6, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Luke 24:13-35 (Preached on March 27, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Luke 1:26-38 (Preached on December 18, 2016, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

2017

Luke 10:1-2 (Preached on April 2, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Luke 24:1-9 (Preached on April 16, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

Luke 10:3 (Preached on April 23, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Luke 10:4-8 (Preached on April 30, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Luke 10:9-12 (Preached on May 7, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR) [manuscript]

Luke 1:26-35 (Preached on December 24, 2017, at Central Baptist Church, North Little Rock, AR)

A few years ago, Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and one of the leading architects of “the conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote a little book entitled Anatomy of a Reformation: The Southern Baptist Convention, 1978-2004.  It’s been placed online for free now (see the link) and I would encourage any of you that would like an insider’s look at “The Controversy” to click the link provided and check it out.

I was born in 1974, meaning I was too young to appreciate most, but not all, of The Controversy.  So a good bit of the affair (though, again, not all) has been a matter of study for me and not experience.  I believe that all Southern Baptists have at least some responsibility to understand The Controversy, because, if we do not, we will not understand much that is good and much that is frustrating about the Convention today.

My major qualm with Patterson’s book is stylistic and probably generational (and, therefore, almost completely unimportant).  Patterson writes and speaks in a grand style that perhaps more than a few younger ministers might find off-putting.  “The Baptist kingdom of our evangelical Zion” would earn guffaws if I used such a phrase in the presence of my pastor friends or, I daresay, in the presence of First Baptist Dawson.  It’s a bit too flowery and grandiose for my tastes.  His metaphors are too cumbersome (“This perception included two general features: a general distrust for the pot itself (the bureaucracy) and the suspicion that someone had visited Deutschland and returned with a Tubingen gourd and poisoned the life-giving gospel stew that the pot was supposed to be warming.”) and, in many cases too Texas for my taste (is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” really a West Texas thing?!).

Furthermore, while I cherish the Baptist principle of local church autonomy, I’ve been impacted enough by the whole Baptist catholicity movement to find Patterson’s strong celebration of Baptist individualism a bit disconcerting:

“J. B. Gambrell, known as the great commoner, served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1917 to 1920. Sagely he had observed that, Baptists never ride a horse without a bridle. This expression was Gambrell’s folksy way of focusing on the fierce autonomy of every entity in Southern Baptist life. Believers are priests before God who voluntarily associate with a church comprised of similarly committed saints. Churches are autonomous, voluntarily associating with other churches in local associations, state fellowships (conventions), and a national fellowship (the Southern Baptist Convention). None of these fellowships has any organic connection to the other. In fact, Baptists fear connectionalism the way medieval society feared the plague. Gambrell’s observation was intended to caution any entity spawned by the churches that it was not to see itself as a wild stallion roaming the Red Desert Basin of Wyoming but rather as a domestic quarter horse carefully bred to work for the churches. Agencies and institutions were bridled with a bit in their mouths and a saddle cinched tight. If they worked well and served the churches, they would eat well from the Cooperative Program trough. But Baptists would never mount up without the reins in their hands.” (p.2)

But this too is a matter of preference and style, and I agree with the general point.  I was, all in all, impressed with Patterson’s efforts at balance in this book.  He is not out to oversimplify, though perhaps this has happened a bit (i.e., “the evident piety of [the] lives” of the conservative preachers), and he is not out to demonize, though perhaps some things have been stated too strongly (i.e, I have yet to become convinced that the 1963 BF&M is so very neo-orthodox).  In fact, he is more than transparent at a few points in this book and he realizes that conservatives also made mistakes during the tumultuous years of the The Controversy.

I did find it amusing to hear Patterson juxtapose “the entrenched ‘good ol’ boy’ system” of the 60’s and 70’s Convention with the “popular movement” of the conservative resurgence, primarily because it could be argued that the Convention possesses a “good ol’ boy system” today that would rival any of the “good ol’ boy systems” that have ever graced the face of the earth!  But then, how does one get rid of “good ol’ boy systems”?

I do feel that Patterson has romanticized a bit of what he thinks the resurgence achieved.

“Here, however, is at least one instance of a grassroots referendum, which not only returned a convention to the doctrines and practices of its founders but also through its revised confession of faith sent a timely message to the watching ecclesiastical and secular worlds.”

“The doctrines and practices of its founders”?  Two current phenomena make this claim a bit hard to swallow:  the rejection of regenerate church membership and the often shrill and caricatured depictions of Calvinist theology.  The resurgence certainly corrected a number of wrongs, first and foremost among them being a creeping low-view of Scripture.  But I am not so sure that it returned us to the vision of our founders.  There is a great deal of evidence to suggest otherwise.

Patterson is also concerned about the coming generations:

“In addition, there is the realization that a new generation that knew not Criswell, Lee, Rogers, or Pressler, will now rise to leadership.  It is entirely possible, although I think unlikely, that those who follow will squander the gains made.” (p.17-18)

Perhaps.  Or it could be that the coming generations may appreciate the gains that were indeed gains but may yet see more clearly (no doubt standing on the shoulders of the giants that came before “Criswell, Lee, Rogers, or Pressler”) to bring in even more gains and an even greater return to the vision of our founders.

Again, this is a helpful book.  It is, as all such accounts of controversies are bound to be, idiosyncratic.  I believe, though, that this little book will be read with great benefit to the reader.  Finally, the annotated bibliography that Patterson provides is very helpful and most appreciated.