Princess Savannah

She polished and adjusted her tiara and said confidently, “These people only think they are in charge,” and the fearless girl entered the world in grand style.  Yes, we have grandchild number four and granddaughter number two.  No, she wasn’t supposed to be here for five more weeks but little ones love to play embarrassing jokes on doctors with half the alphabet after their name, not to mention mommy and daddy.

Lake outings for adults celebrating the birth of a nation mean nothing to self-coronated queens-in-waiting.  Their birth, after all is far more important than the birthday of country which has already had more over the top celebrations than most.  At least that’s the way a princess sees it!

One can almost hear her girlish giggles as she waits for mommy to get as far away from the hospital as she is allowed to go at this point in what we scientifically refer to almost academically as the gestation period.  She has mischief dancing in her eyes hidden from view by the comfortable blanket mommy wraps her tightly in as she plots to announce her arrival at the moment least expected.  With the blaring festival trumpets of the legendary water break her audience is summoned, her preoccupied attendants lay down their menial priorities, the finest medical resources are beckoned to her side, a speedy chariot whisks her away magically to the coronation room and the royal family assembles to do her bidding.  This is her day and that she intends to make most clear.

Almost three decades ago the world stopped (as well it should) for the regal entrance of another princess.  Now the princess cradles another princess and the gleaming tiara upon her rosy brow says, “I rule the world don’t you know?”

If you think I gush as if trying to unseat Bill Shakespeare from his preeminent perch as the writer of all things magical and mysterious or if you think this piece constitutes the most overstated accolades in literary history matters not to me because fantasy is only fantasy to others.  To those living in the fantasy it is law and gospel.  For me, she is an ever-regal princess and she already rules my heart.

Welcome Princess Savannah Elizabeth Byrnside your Court awaits you.

Report from 2017 Southern Baptist Convention

Report from 2017 Southern Baptist Convention

160^th Session

June 13 - 14

Phoenix, Arizona

The theme this year was Pray for Such a Time as This. A total of 5,018 messengers attended the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona which was lower than the 7,321 attending the 2016 Convention but 164 more than the last Convention in Phoenix in 2011.


Prior to the Convention, a Harvest America event featuring Greg Laurie was conducted at University of Phoenix Stadium.  Approximately 38,000 attended the event. Nearly 3,000 professed Christ at the event with another 494 registering professions online.  During the Convention week Laurie announced his church was affiliating with the Southern Baptist Convention.  He also announced a similar event for next year’s Convention in Dallas.


Also prior to the Convention, H. B. Charles became the first African-American to be elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference.


Dr. Steve Gaines, Cordova, TN, was reelected without opposition as President.  Dr. Gaines preached a powerful President’s message on the need for prayer. 


Walter Strickland, Wake Forest, NC, was elected as first vice president.


Jose Abella, Miami, FL, was elected second vice president.


John L. Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, was reelected to a 21st term as recording secretary.


Jim Wells, retired team leader for the Missouri Baptist Convention, who has served as registration secretary for the last 15 years was unable to attend due to the final stages of an extended battle with cancer.  He was succeeded by Don Currence, who was elected as the new registration secretary.  Dr. Wells died a few days after the Convention.


Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was elected as the 2018 convention preacher.


Among the highlights of the meeting were periods of prayer throughout the two days.  The Convention celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. Dr. Autry served as a member of the Executive Committee 2006-2014.


Statistics released just before the Convention indicated decreases in most categories.   Baptisms for 2016 were 280,773, the lowest number since 1946.  Southern Baptist lost 77,786 members last year bring the loss over the past decade to one million.  The only statistical increase was in the number of churches which grew by 479 to 47,272.


The ebbing evangelism in Baptist life was reflected in President Gaines’ request for authorization to appoint a committee to consider personal soul-winning and public evangelism.  A motion was made and affirmed for him to appoint the Soul-Winning Task Force which will bring recommendations to the 2018 Convention.   This group, chaired by Paige Patterson, is composed of professors, pastors and one state convention executive.


Nine resolutions were originally recommended for debate including those addressing prayer, gambling, moral leadership, the defunding of Planned Parenthood and the Centennial of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.  All 2017 resolutions may be viewed at http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/year/2017 .


After the Resolutions Committee declined to report out a proposed resolution on the alt-right by Dwight McKissic of TX, two unsuccessful attempts were made to bring the resolution to the floor for debate.  Later, the Resolutions Committee voluntarily reconvened to reconsider the matter.  They then approached the Order of Business Committee with a request to report in an already scheduled business session Wednesday afternoon.  This resolution, Resolution 10, generated little discussion and passed with virtually no opposition.  Due to the significance of the resolution and the controversy associated with it in the press, it is reproduced in full below:


WHEREAS, Scripture teaches, “From one man [God] has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live” (Acts 17:26); and

WHEREAS, The Psalmist proclaimed, “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord” (Psalm 24:1); and

WHEREAS, The Apostle Peter said, “God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him” (Acts 10:34–35); and

WHEREAS, Our justification before God is based on faith in Christ Jesus alone and not in our ethnicity (Galatians 3:27–28); and

WHEREAS, Scripture proclaims that Jesus is purchasing by His blood believers “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9); and

WHEREAS, Throughout eternity we will gather with a “multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language” in worship of our risen Savior (Revelation 7:9); and

WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message conveys that all Christians are obligated to make the will of Christ supreme in their own lives and in human society, opposing all forms of racism, selfishness, and vice, and bringing government and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love; and

WHEREAS, We know from our Southern Baptist history the effects of the horrific sins of racism and hatred; and

WHEREAS, In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention repudiated “historic acts of evil, such as slavery,” committed “to eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry,” and “genuinely repent[ed] of racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously or unconsciously”; and

WHEREAS, In recent years the Convention has nominated and elected individuals from a variety of ethnicities, including electing our first African-American president in 2012; and

WHEREAS, In recent resolutions the Southern Baptist Convention called on “all Christian men and women to pray and labor for the day when our Lord will set all things right and racial prejudice and injustice will be no more” (2014); expressed continued grief “over the presence of racism and the recent escalation of racial tension in our nation” (2015); and urged fellow Christians to discontinue using the Confederate battle flag, acknowledging that it is “used by some and perceived by many as a symbol of hatred, bigotry, and racism, offending millions of people” (2016); and

WHEREAS, More than 20 percent (nearly eleven thousand) of our cooperating Southern Baptist congregations identify as predominately non-Anglo and for the last three years more than 50 percent of Southern Baptist new church plants have been predominately non-Anglo; and

WHEREAS, B&H Academic recently published Removing the Stain of Racism from the Southern Baptist Convention, highlighting our continuing need to root out vestiges of racism from our own hearts as Southern Baptists; and

WHEREAS, Racism and white supremacy are, sadly, not extinct but present all over the world in various white supremacist movements, sometimes known as “white nationalism” or “alt-right”; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, June 13–14, 2017, decry every form of racism, including alt-right white supremacy, as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we denounce and repudiate white supremacy and every form of racial and ethnic hatred as a scheme of the devil intended to bring suffering and division to our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we acknowledge that we still must make progress in rooting out any remaining forms of intentional or unintentional racism in our midst; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we earnestly pray, both for those who advocate racist ideologies and those who are thereby deceived, that they may see their error through the light of the Gospel, repent of these hatreds, and come to know the peace and love of Christ through redeemed fellowship in the Kingdom of God, which is established from every nation, tribe, people, and language.


Those with questions about the alt-right may find this article helpful: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-faqs-what-christians-should-know-about-the-alt-right


Ordinarily I am opposed to naming individuals and/or groups in resolutions for three reasons: First, doing so often diminishes the influence on others who may be guilty of the same offenses but are not named; second, confusion and controversy often exist as to the exact identity of the group named; and third questions arise as to why other offenders are not singled out as well.  In this case, I make an exception for the following reasons: One, the group was already singled out by their own public remarks as well as widespread media coverage. Two, the alt-right sought to monopolize #SBC17 on Twitter with weeks of racist tirades which were demeaning to all Southern Baptists but particularly hurtful to African-American Southern Baptists.  Three, the alt-right has been relentless in their assault on Southern Baptist leadership, often making the most shameful statements about them by name and insulting their family members as well.  Fourth and final, failure to call them out by name would have been almost universally interpreted as a capitulation to fear and a racist history.  For these reasons and more, I was gratified that a strongly worded resolution was drafted which the Convention could come together on and an unequivocal denunciation was leveled at the alt-right and any and all groups in the white identity movement.


The 2018 SBC will be held June 12-13 in Dallas, TX.


Full coverage of Convention events and actions can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/collections/230/2017-sbc-annual-meeting


Video from the Pastor’s Conference as well as Convention sessions can be found at http://www.sbc.net/

Fidel Is Dead. Now What?

Calle Ocho has waited for this moment for most of my lifetime – the exuberant celebration of the death of Fidel Castro.  Cuban-Americans have waited for what seemed an eternity for the dictator’s death.  Many Cubanos died without realizing their dream.  Today Miami is more Cuban than American though the Red, White and Blue colors the sky along the fabled route through Little Havana.  This is a day that will be recalled as forcefully as the day many of these people or their family members left Cuba.

Cuban-Americans tell many stories of American arrival.  Some traveled safely and largely uneventfully to the United States before the ugliest realities of the so-called Revolution and the attendant Cuban-American Embargo began.  Many of these were more prescient than others and had the means to begin again in the neighbor to the north.  Some fled during the escalating distress of the big island of the Caribbean.  Many simply overstayed their visas to the United States, fearing a return to the communist environment they left behind.  The stories that etch themselves into our memories are typically more of the Elian Gonzales variety.  Makeshift boats drifting for days often without sufficient food and water across the shark swarming tides of the Florida Straits to touch the storied sands of South Florida.  Free born Americans cannot wrap their heads around a compulsion for freedom so profound that it drives thinking people to brave the elements for weeks knowing that the loss of family as well as life may be permanent.  Such a compulsion is created in few places but Communist Cuba is one of them.

My love for Cuba and its people is real and raw.  I have ministered in Cuba on more than one occasion.  Formerly a church I served had a partnership with a church in the Havana area.  We helped this congregation get a new building.  I have visited the Baptist seminary as well as the retired pastors home in Cuba.  I have walked their street with Cuban friends and by myself.  I love the Cuban climate, the Cuban history, the Cuban culture, the Cuban architecture, the Cuban hospitality, the Cuban food, the Cuban churches and most of all the Cuban people.  Cubanos do more with less than most people groups I know.

What I don’t love is the oppression Cubans have endured for almost six decades.  Oppressing people just because you can has been the sport of the powerful for centuries but it is never pleasant.  Something is dreadfully skewed when even mildly dissenting voices are squelched.  In the early going the unhappy were made more unhappy by brutalities like imprisonment, forced labor, torture and even death.  In more recent years the put-the-opposition-down methods have often been more measured but soul suffocating nonetheless.  No rational being can abide such unhumanitarian crimes for a skinny minute.

I have stayed in the home of a seasoned Cuban pastor apprehended on trumped up charges, ripped away from his family, incarcerated and tortured for a significant time.  I have sat in a room filled with men with similar stories.  Some have less Hollywood worthy stories of survival but virtually every Cuban family shares some ordeal as quickly as we take a breath.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.  Fidel and fellow revolutionary Che Guevara promised change.   Change came but not the variety Cubans wanted or expected.  History will show that the most idealistic of promises often cascades dramatically into an ever deepening, diseased pool of horrid realities.  More freedom becomes less freedom or no freedom.  More wealth becomes less wealth or no wealth.  More health becomes less health or no health.  Communism is a cloud without rain; a dog that won’t hunt; a mule that won’t plow; and a system that won’t succeed.  Cries for economic justice rarely if ever deliver justice in any form.

No one was better at declaring success than Fidel and few were worse at achieving it than Fidel.  Communism is a wonderful life for the few, the privileged, the Party regulars.  Everyone else lives on rice Americans wouldn’t purchase and the occasional black market purchase.  Truth is – the Soviet Union propped up Cuba with silly sugar for oil deals in the first years of the Revolution and the “hated and despised” U.S. dollar in the hands of Cubans with family here has stoked the economy over the past two decades.

I make no pretense to be an expert on Cuban-American relations.  Untangling the cords of our interesting, deadly and sometimes comical interaction back to the ramp up to the Spanish-American War is better left to the scholar or the diplomat.  I am just one guy with a love affair with Cubans here and there who prays that a new day may have dawned.  Not a day announced by normalized relations, the free sale of cigars and cheap flights to Havana but a day of genuine reform which will permit a free democratic society and most importantly a sweeping awakening on the big island.

Unnoticed by the mainstream media and even the Christian community in this country, another revolution has been occurring for some time.  Against all odds, the churches of Cuba are flourishing.  Churches so successful that a single man of God may have 30 house churches under his watch.  Churches so successful that churches report intentionally discontinuing direct evangelism because they cannot keep pace with new believers being added (and yet souls continue to be saved).  Churches so successful that members making an average of $14 a month tithe almost uniformly.  Churches so successful that despite decades of monster restrictions against mission sending collect generous missionary offerings and pray for world evangelism.

I have been convinced that an open door would present itself to American Christians for no more than five years following the death of Fidel.  Greater prosperity and fewer regulations will probably come to Cuba.  Whether they arrive swiftly or slowly; they will probably come.  When they do the “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” will likely begin to choke out the upward, outward progress of the Word.

Pray with me now for the lifting of oppressive policies in Cuba.  Pray with me now for the establishment of worthy leaders in Cuba.  Pray with me now for a tsunami of spiritual awakening among our near neighbor to the south.

SBCV Resolution on Transgenderism and Public Schools

See below the resolution I authored and the Resolutions Committee of the SBC of Virginia presented November 15, 2016 in Roanoke.  The resolution was passed on a voice vote without opposition.

Resolution 7 - On Transgenderism and the Public Schools

WHEREAS, God has created humanity male and female (Gen. 1: 27), and

WHEREAS, Human sexuality is the created ideal of God and honorable in biblical expression (Heb. 13: 4), and

WHEREAS, Sexual confusion is one among many expressions of a fallen world (Rom. 1: 26-27), and

WHEREAS, Christians are called to teach and model proper human sexuality (1 Thess. 4: 3-8), and

WHEREAS, Gender dysphoria is a struggle for many, and

WHEREAS, There is an increased interest in gender dysphoria in general and transgenderism in particular, and

WHEREAS, Transgenderism is often a complicated complex of the emotional, physical, environmental and spiritual that is largely not understood, and

WHEREAS, Federal agencies have given guidance on transgender issues which is contrary to biblical revelation and long honored common sense sexual privacy protections, and

WHEREAS, School districts have been especially impacted by transgender controversy in part due to direction provided by the Department of Education, and

WHEREAS, Multiple school districts in the Commonwealth of Virginia are facing crucial decisions on transgender issues, and

WHEREAS, The privacy and safety of school age children is of the utmost concern, and

WHEREAS, Gloucester County School Board has taken a stand in G. G. v Gloucester County School Board in which the American Civil Liberties Union is representing a local self-identified transgender student, and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear G. G. v Gloucester County School Board, and

WHEREAS, The decision of the Supreme Court may have lasting consequences to school districts nationwide for years to come, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers of the SBC of Virginia meeting in Roanoke Virginia, November 13-15, 2016 affirm the wisdom of God in assigning sex to His creations, and be it further

RESOLVED, That Christians affirm the need to minister to those who self-identify as transgender and their families, and be it further

RESOLVED, The Convention affirm and support the Gloucester County School Board in their persistent efforts to withstand cultural and legal challenges while pursuing protections for school children, and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we affirm our commitment to pray for the United States Supreme Court to rule in a fashion which will protect the privacy and safety of school children by affirming biological sexuality according to God’s created order by perpetuating protections in bathrooms and locker-rooms.

Statement on SCOTUS Decision

to Hear

G.G. v Gloucester County School Board

By

Dr. Rodney F. Autry

Senior Pastor, Union Baptist Church, Hayes, VA

“We are extremely gratified the High Court has agreed to hear the weighty case originating in Gloucester County.  The battle to maintain time honored protections for minors in delicate sexual environments has taken several twists and turns.  The Court is the sworn interpreter and defender of our Constitution and the freedoms which issue from it.  It is appropriate that they consider a matter which the Executive Branch has suggested can be resolved by fiat.  Unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats have no right to determine the welfare of the children of Gloucester County or of the nation as a whole.  We trust a timely, fair hearing of this matter will result in sensible solutions which guarantee our school children are assured that awkward, embarrassing and potentially dangerous conditions are not imposed on them.  The Gloucester County School Board is to be commended for championing this matter when other bodies have yielded to pressures from without.  At all points, they have shown rare courage while pursuing this matter with judicial savvy and professional constraint.  Their approach to this highly volatile issue remains a model for school boards elsewhere.  I trust that whether the Court issues a sweeping, landmark decision or a narrower ruling focused specifically on our case that Gloucester schools remain safe zones sexually where common sense, civil protections continue for school age children who have no vote in their own welfare.”

Some Thoughts on the Refugee Crisis

Recently I received a question from a former church member engaged in online conversations with other Christians with regard to the resettlement of refugees from the Middle East here in America. This post is a slightly amended version of my response to her.

This question is extremely important at any point in time because we always face resettlement issues from some quarter of the world. America has a lady with her torch raised to the sky to remind us of our long, storied history of accepting people hated in their own part of the world. Most often these individuals have made tremendous contributions to this nation, often proving our most grateful citizens. At points we have opened the doors to a trickle and other times we have opened the floodgates. In recent years we have resettled large contingents from South Vietnam and El Salvador, to name a couple. In most cases these persons have been contributors to the American dream though we know of some organized violence that has resulted from these groups.
Not all resettlement programs have worked well for us however. I still vividly remember the plume of smoke ascending from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary from a fire set by rioting Cuban refugees Castro sent our way. While most Cuban-Americans are grateful for America (including 2 current US Senators) these were Castro's rejects which we were forced to return to Cuba. I provide these examples to emphasize that immigration policy is never as simple as politicians and others make it out to be. Every day we admit people we should not while thousands who would make tremendous contributions to our society and economy are not even considered.
As to the question at hand it appears to be not a matter of who is right and who is wrong as much as a question of how can both sides be right and both be wrong at the same time. Never should we cease to say to the world tired and restless longing to be free our doors are open. Never do we want to turn our back on the suffering. We do not wish to see anyone suffer including Muslims. That said, our government has a primary directive to protect our citizenry at all costs.

Let's slow the runaway train of emotion down and find out who is on it! Have we not learned that supporting something so we can find out what is in it is bad policy and bad procedure? We have made plenty of mistakes in the past on immigration issues but our policies are in place for a reason. Ellis Island was far from perfect but it existed as a safeguard as well as a conduit. I do not object to significant numbers of Middle Easterners coming here; even those who are Muslim but let's make a good faith effort to determine who to admit and who to refuse. In the meantime, resettlement camps subsidized by the US in that part of the world can provide a safe haven while screening can be done. Resettlement to other Muslim majority nations with whom we have a positive relationship is another option. Patience, not haste, is the proven course of good policy. Let us also not forget the Christian refugees from this part of the world. They seem forgotten in today’s heated rhetoric. The no amendments considered, no options discussed, no time taken approach of this Administration is reckless in the extreme and serves no one well. The most expensive screening process is still cheaper by far than the most inexpensive deportation or incarceration programs if mistakes are made on a grand scale. Still, I am an American and a Christian and regardless of how decisions are reached I will welcome anyone coming to our shores compassionately and will encourage others to do likewise. I will submit to my government as long as my conscience is not violated in doing so. I prefer, however, to submit to a government acting responsibly and not one acting rashly. Paris announced to the world what many of us already knew: Europe is past the tipping point of Muslim domination.

Just the thoughts of one tax paying Christian living in a land of decaying liberties called America.

How Do You Know?

How do you know?  How do you really know?  Knowing that you are in a right relationship with God has to be the greatest and most important knowledge ever. With all the competing persuasions claiming with equal emphasis to be in right relationships what proof does any of us have that we indeed possess that knowledge?

Some make lists.  There is “The How You Dress List?”  Though not as common as it once was, this list reduces the knowledge of God to the wardrobe of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.  Wear the right stuff and clearly you have a proper relationship with God.  Others make a “Did You Do This List?”  Did you say certain words in a certain place with the blessing of certain religious people?  This is the reduce faith to a formula method of determining authenticity.  Still others make “A Feeling List.”  Did you or do you feel a specific way?  Emotions are the gauges of godliness according to this crowd.  Another group uses a “Do You Do This List?”  These lists are usually tailored to the tastes of those devising them and consist of various moral, benevolent and religious exercises.

While something approaching the truth may be discovered in any of these methods, they all err on some level.  If these are suspect we are back to our original question about knowing for certain that we do indeed posses bona fide knowledge of God.  We might wish to take our question to the Bible for an answer.

Perhaps one of the reasons confusion abounds on this matter is that the Bible does not do what so many expect it to do.  We want the specificity of a tersely worded how to manual. We expect to open the Bible to a certain page specified in the index and be told in 150 words or less a watertight method for ascertaining whether or not we have the knowledge of God.  

What annoys many in our mechanistic world is that the Bible is not big on mathematical equations. Obviously there are clearly worded statements in the Bible about receiving a saving knowledge of God but the salvation stories of biblical figures are as varied as the persons themselves. We often prefer a regimented ritual complete with an easily marked checklist but God wants a relationship. 

What the Bible is big on is the consequences of real knowledge.  Results reveal relationship. A number of results could be delineated but topping the list is peace.  “The result of righteousness will be peace” (Isa. 32: 17).  “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5: 1).

The same can be said of our growth in that knowledge.  The Bible connects holiness with peace as well.  “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness – without it no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12: 14).

The proof of my justification is peace in the face of death. The proof of my sanctification is peace in the face of life.

 

This post previously appeared in The Daily Press.