God Moves In Mysterious Ways

Last Sunday afternoon I sat in the most exciting and inspirational ordination council meeting I have ever been in. It was a council made up of ordained ministers who are members of our church here in San Antonio and was convened for the purpose of determining whether Timothy Ling Saw was fit for ordination to the gospel ministry. By the time the meeting was over, I think it is fair to say that the eight or ten ministers sitting around that table were asking if they themselves were fit for the ministry, even though most of us were retired.

Timothy came to the United States seven years ago as a refugee from Burma. His salvation journey and the journey that brought him to San Antonio, at the time the only person from the Chin tribe in the city, was one of the mnost ispirational stories I have ever heard. Last Sunday morning he preached to a congregation of more than 90 Chin people in a second floor room across the street from our church. By the time he finished telling his story of salvation an d his call to the ministry, I doubt there was a dry eye in the room.

It was a moving story of the working of God to bring a young man to America to minister to his people. Burma is a country that has more Baptists than any other country in the world, except America. That is the culmination of the work of Adoniram Judson, who labored for five years in Burma before he saw his first convert. This early missionary would be astounded at the number of Burmese people who now live in the USA. There are more than 400 who worship at First Baptist Church in San Antonio every Sunday. They are made up of tribes called Karen, Kareni, and Chin, and are finding common ground as they get grounded into American culture.

Among these people there is a hunger to learn English and to understand American History. After all, this is now their country and they desperately want to be part of it.

But, back to Timothy Ling Saw. Timothy is a student at Baptist University Of America, where he is working toward a bachelors degree in Biblical studies. His first year was all about learning English, where he was enrolled in an ESL class. Truthfully though, English is not his second language. It is about his sixth or seventh. He is typical of the multi-linguistic refuges who come to our country.

In the final analysis, Timothy wants to minister to his people who continue to flood to this country to escape religious persecution in Miramar (Burma), where a tyrant rules. He is already off to a good start, serving in the International ministry of our church, preaching to more than ninety Chin each Sunday morning. Suffice it to say, the ordaining council was giddily unanimous in their support of Timothy's request for ordination, which among his people would give him legitimacy.

While he studies and works himself toward self support, he is being provided virtually free federal housing, and South Texas Food Bank donations of food stuff, so that his little family of a wife and three small children can find subsistence. That is one federal program for which I am grateful, as are those refugee families that have come to this country to escape persecution.

They Don’t Ask Me

Frequently I hear that "the people of the United States want…" or "believe"…or "feel". Then I read that the poll that someone took to find that out polled 1,000 people. Well, I don't know about you, but as for me, I can almost always say, "They didn't ask me." Occasionally, I get a phone call from someone in some university up in the northeast asking my opinion on a variety of subjects. Upon further questioning I discover it is usually some graduate student trying to complete a project for his/her thesis. But, I don't think they really cared one way or another how I felt about something.

The truth is, most of us never get polled. Those 1,000 people or 500 "likely voters" that get polled are way off somewhere else and what the poll usually tells us is not what I think. For that reason, I place very little stock in any of those polls. Frankly, I think most of them are manipulated by news people constantly telling us what one poll or the other is showing. Rarely does that reflect how I feel, so I place little value on them.

I never took a course in statistics, so I really don't know what I am talking about when I comment on polls. I just know how I feel and how seldom a poll reflects how I feel. I have some confidence in one or two pollsters, such as Gallup or Rassmussen. However, when I see a poll taken by the Washington Post or the New York Times or CBS or NBC, as far as I am concerned they are just junk and probably an effort to manipulate how people think. Does that sound conspiratorial? Yeah, probably does.

In any event, if we are to believe the polls at all, Republicans are in disarray and Democrats are giddy with anticipation of a second Obama term. Polls also tell us that the New York Times believes Mitt Romney is the only one who has a chance against Obama and that the Washington Post believes people who believe like Rick Santorum are dinosaurs. Santorum is the one person in the race who believes more closely how I believe, that is a fairly right of center position. But, according to the polls, he cannot get elected.

Polls also tell us about religion I our country. I saw one the other day that said more people believe in God than ever before, but the same poll told us people do not believe the devil exists. Polls tell us that many people believe in heaven, but just as many do not believe in hell.

You can get polls that directly contradict one another and other polls that agree. Who are these people who are polled? All I know is that it isn't me. They never ask me.

Forget The Name Change And Change The Image

Well, it looks like the Southern Baptist Convention is going to change their name, providing the assembly approves it in June. I have a lot of respect for Jimmy Draper, chairman of the naming committee but I think he is wrong on this one. Changing the name of the convention is not going to change its image.

In the survey done by Lifeway, 40% of respondents said they would not attend a church if they knew it was Southern Baptist. If this committee thinks they are not attending because of the name, I think they are sadly mistaken. The problem people have with the SBC is not the name, but the personality. The image is one of a convention that is intolerant of opposing views, absolutely horrible in their treatment of anyone who does not share their extreme fundamentalist views on all issues. With the record of the past two decades staring them in the face, who in their right mind would think that changing their name would erase all te negatives the convention has garnered?

Personality cannot be changed by changing the name. It can only try to be covered up. As someone said, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. On in this case, you can call a pig a kitty cat, but it is still a pig. If the SBC really wants to attract that 40%, they should start practicing biblical reconciliation and mend some of the fences they torn down over the past generation.

By the way, the same can be said of the BGCT and Virginia conventions. Reconciliation is a two way street. Intransigence on anyone's part is unattractive to the masses. All the above mentioned conventions are experiencing fall-off from all-time high pre-war stats. God has not blessed any of them in the past few years, largely because they have all gotten so caught up in differences that similarities have been forgotten.

The bottom line is this—changing the name of the Southern Baptist Convention will never do away with the negative influences that make people want to avoid attending their churches. All that will do is put a coat of paint over it and the problems will still exist under the paint. Southern Baptists have come to beli9eve that nothing is more important than doctrine and no name change will change that. When a convention stakes out certain doctrinal positions and rules as intolerable anyone who slightly differs, people are not attracted. When a convention places their doctrine above fellowship and inclusiveness, not only will people not be attracted but they will be repulsed.

Changing the name looks a like putting lipstick on a pig.

Looking At Our Presidents

I have always had a fascination with the men who served as president of our country. I enjoy reading their biographies. Also, I have for many years been a student of hymnody, or hymnology, whichever you prefer. That is the study of our hymns. Last Saturday I had the joy of having these two passions come together. For two hours I had the privilege of sitting and listening to Dr. Ed Spann, retired Dean Of the School of Fine Arts at Dallas Baptist University, as he connected hymns to each of our 42 former presidents.

In a program called "Presidential Praise: Our Presidents And Their Hymns", based on a book by the same name, Dr Spann regaled us with stories connecting each of our former presidents to a particular hymn. It was a feast of history and music, and gave some interesting insight into the men who have found their way to the most powerful leadership position in the world. For instance, imagine Abraham Lincoln sitting for hours pondering the fate of the Union. How those hours must have taxed him to the core. President Lincoln was a singer and had a number of hymns he liked to sing. However, the one most connected to him and one that must have provided solace to the great man was the wonderful hymn favorite of many people, "How Tedious And Tasteless The Hours".

Then there was President Woodrow Wilson, a man who saw the country come to war, the one we call W.W. I. Can't you just imagine how a hymn like "When Peace Like a Rver" ("It is Well With My Soul") would comfort him as he longed for the war to end?

So many of our presidents were God-fearing men. They were men who understood they could not begin to do the job to which they had been called without divine assistance. And the hymns they loved bore that out. George Bush was partial to a hymn called "A Charge To Keep I Have", and often quoted parts of it in his speeches. Richard Nixon, the second Quaker president in our history, loved the hymn called, "He Will Hold Me Fast." Ronald Reagan loved the "Battle Hymn Of The Republic", while Lyndon Johnson was partial to "Onward Christian Soldiers."

You can tell a lot about the private person of the president by the hymns that challenged and inspired them. All the way back to George Washington, whom many wanted to be King of America, who was fastened on a hymn we have never heard of, "How Happy Is He Born And Taught." The words of one stanza of that hymn were as follows: "How happy is he born and taught that serveth not another's will; whose armor is his honest tho't, and simple truth his utmost skill." Just what one would imagine from the man who "could not tell a lie."

It has always fascinated me to know what it was about each of the presidents that gave them the will and the drive to become president. In some cases it was thrust upon them (Andrew Johnson after Lincoln's assassination, Lyndon Johnson after Kennedy's death and Gerald Ford after Nixon's resignation. In other cases, though, they just forced themselves onto the national stage and won the office. In his book, Dr. Spann has recounted literally hundreds of stories about all the former presidents and how they are connected to particular hymns. I recommend the book, Presidential Praise: Our Presidents And Their Hymns. If you like history and you like hymns, you will not be disappointed.

I Like This Guy

The more I listen to him the more I like Rick Santorum. Like Mitt Romney, he appears to be a decent man, a fine human being. He doesn't have the baggage of his two chief rivals in the presidential race and he appears to be gaining strength. I think that is because many people are like me. They just think the guy is a decent family man whose conservative ideals and immigrant forbears are what this country is really made of.

In making his announcement as a candidate he went to a small mining town in Pennsylvania where his grandfather emigrated to this country to work to make life better for his family. That in itself says a lot about his values. He seems to value hard work and has such a good, ethical pedigree. He has only one wife, unlike Newt Gingrich, who is experiencing his third. He has maintained a set of core values from which he has not wavered, unlike Mitt Romney, who seems to be characterized by many flip-flops. He has a great family and has shown such a great heart for his special needs daughter, taking time out of his campaign to be with her recently through a bout of pneumonia.

I don't know if Santorum can muster up enough steam to get himself nominated, but he surely is the true conservative that a lot of people seem to be looking for. For the most part he has maintained a positive campaign, although much of the media has ignored him. If it were not for Fox News most people would not even know who he is. It seems he is constantly being interviewed by one of their anchors. The reality is that in most of Romney's wins, more people have voted for someone other than Mitt Romney, which seems to indicate there is a lack of enthusiasm for the slickest campaigner in the race. Lately, the conservative alternative has been Santorum.

Even though I have not yet made up my mind who to vote for I am becoming more and more intrigued by this former Pennsylvania senator. The biggest knock against him seems to be his gigantic loss in the last senate run in the Keystone State. While that loss may be a knock on him, the fact that he was twice elected in that state is nothing short of a miracle, because it is a heavily Democratic electorate. Having won two elections in the state is a significant achievement.

Like, I say, I am not sure yet who to cast my vote for. I know Romney looks like the most electable, but in the recent Gallup poll Santorum was the only one of the candidates who squeaked by in a race against Obama. However, while I have not yet decided, I have to admit, I like this Santorum guy a lot.. I just don't know if he can get the nomination . But, hey, that's why we have elections.

Unity Through Contraception

Once again we have proven that an issue can bring religious groups together. The issue has proven to be a section of the president's new health care program that would have forced everyone in te country to offer free contraceptives to all who want it. That brought Catholic bishops to their feet in protest and before long people from almost every religious group in America joined them. The Obama administration was shocked at the ferocity of the protest and sort of backed down. Well, actually they didn't back down. They just moved te cost of the program to the insurance companies, which is not going to fare any better because the religious groups have to pay for the insurance and the insurance companies will raise their premiums and everyone will still have to bear the cost. But, that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is unity.

Once again we have proven that an issue can bring religious groups together. It has happened several times in the past decades. When prayer was banned from schools religious groups united in protest. When liquor-by-the-drink was on the ballot in Texas, religious groups joined in protest. When gambling was on the ballot, religious groups joined together in protest. It seems there are a lot of things that all religious groups can come together to protest. In light of the fierce competition between the groups for new members, it is still true that there are a lot of things on which we can agree.

One of the principles of unity is the principle of focus. If we will quit focusing on our differences and begin focusing on what we have in common, Jesus Christ, His crucifixion, resurrection and His salvation, it would amaze one how our differences would fade into the background.

This time, however, it took contraception (Whoda thunk it?) to bring the religious communities together. Virtually every religious group came alongside the Catholic Church on this issue. Wonder what the next issue will be to claim enough attention to bring us all together?

Christian Conservatives Unite

Its presidential election time and I am loving it. I love the repartee between the various candidate camps and I love watchi8ng the fickle public react to virtually every syllable spoken by the candidates. There is never any other time of the year when words will be taken out of context with reckless abandon, shamelessly. I also love watching my peers, the Christian conservatives, squirming about the possibility of having to vote for a Mormon, or stay home and let the current president get re-elected. To be sure, nothing is settled yet on the Republican side. The only real social conservative running right now is Rick Santorum. While he put on a good showing in Tuesday's voting, his is a long hard road.

Newt Gingrich keeps calling himself a Regan Republican, which must cause the former president to scream from wherever he resides today. I suspect the noise being heard at the Reagan Memorial is Ronnie spinning in his grave whenever he hears Gingrich invoke his name. While I like Newt as a historian and an idea man, I have to admit I worry about an emotionally supercharged person like this being the president. I am afraid we would spend four years listening to incessant whining about how people are being dishonest in their appraisal of him. Yet still, I would vote for him, if he is the nominee.

Romney appears to be the choice of the party regulars, and according to exit polls has garnered more conservative votes than anyone else running, although to hear Santorum and Gingrich talk, no conservative will vote for him. The saddest thing about this election may be the view of many Christian conservatives that they would never vote for a Mormon. As I said in a previous post, that is the same thing many of that same demographic said in 1960 about voting for a Catholic.

I guess that places me somewhere south of some of my peers. I do not believe I could ever again base my vote on how a person worships God or even what he believes about God. The constitution of my country does not have a God requirement for candidates. What it does is promise to protect every citizen's right to worship God as he pleases, or even to not worship at all. I am a conservative Christian in a country that allows me to be whatever I want to be. Because I choose one way does not mean that I cannot vote for someone who does not choose my way. America is a country that allows for every person to choose how he will worship. Now, everything else being equal, I will always vote for someone who thinks somewhat close to my own views. The same constitution gives me that right—the right to choose what I want in a candidate.

Right this minute I cannot say which of the three major candidates I hope wins. I can say that it appears many of those who think like me religiously will have to decide if they will vote for a Mormon or a near-socialist. Those are our choices—the current president, a Mormon and two Catholics. It's going to be a tough year for some of my Christian conservative brothers.