Questions I Feel (I) They Must Answer Part 3

In the two churches I have pastored (and I have heard this same testimony from numerous other pastors too) where we increased CP giving, each time God blessed us and our regular offerings increased. WHY? It is the law of the sower. You sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. You sow more, you reap more. That is why I believe if we make a change more CP funds will come in. Now as promised it is time to turn the tables. I feel like these are questions that those who would affirm the status quo must answer. And by the way, I believe the answers will astound you.

1. How much extra (over budget requirements) has the SCBC taken in over the last 10 years?

2. How much money does the state have saved up that could be used in the event of a shortfall?

3. What would be the effect if the current trend on the SCBC of increasing Week of Prayer Gifts and stagnating or decreasing giving to CP?

4. Why should xyz Baptist Church increase their percentage to the CP instead of remodeling their ladies bathrooms or buy projectors, etc?

5. Why shouldn’t a church just give more to Lottie, Annie instead of increasing CP? Isn’t that a better “bang for our buck”?

Here is how I see it from my limited understanding. The churches are waiting for the state to make a move and the state is waiting for the churches to make a move. It reminds me of my wife and I. Late at night sometimes we will sit in the living room and I will ask her, “Are you ready to go to bed”. She says, “Yes”. Then we both sit there for another 20 minutes. At which time I say, “I thought you were ready to go to bed”. She replies, “I am, I am just waiting on you to move”. To which I say, “I was waiting on you to move”.

Our state is in great financial shape. Our institutions are in great financial shape. But the IMB says they envision 3000 more missionaries in the near future. Where are the funds for those missionaries coming from? Folks if we pray ,”Thy Kingdom Come” we must be willing to send those who will go to those who have never heard OR go ourselves. 5% may not seem like much (this would be the extra amount SCBC would send to the IMB after the 50/50 is realized) but at current levels it would be $1.7 million. Could we send extra missionaries for that? You bet! Not only that, but we would LEAD the way for established SBC State Conventions to give more to the SBC. And South Carolina Baptists have always been about leading the way, not following.

My last post before the convention will be the letter that didn’t make it into the Baptist Courier.

Questions I Feel I Must Answer Part 2

This is the second installment of the Questions that have been asked of me about the 50/50 split.

1. Are you concerned that your pushing the 50/50 split will hurt your nomination for 2nd Vice President? Continuing to be vocal about the 50/50 split may very well hurt my nomination. But, what is more important? To me, if I must choose, I would rather make CP the issue and see more funds go to the national agencies that need them especially IMB and NAMB than hold an office. Make no mistake, I would be honored if South Carolina Baptists saw fit to elect me as 2nd VP. But I would not throw this issue under the truck in order to get elected.

2. Why are SCBC leaders so concerned about making a move? Now that is a great question. And one I cannot answer because I am not on the Executive Committee or employed by the building. That said, I don’t believe it is a lack of faith. Rather maybe an over abundance of caution or pragmatism that is holding them back.

3. Can the state really afford to make a move even 1%? Honestly, I haven’t been asked that question, but I feel it needs to be asked. Fact is, according to CPMissions.com South Carolina was at 50/50 in the years 1947-1952 and 1966. And in the last year they have listed 2005 we were actually at 41.01%! Bet ya didn’t know that. So we made a move and didn’t even know it. Compound that with the fact that as of the end of September SCBC was over $700,000 ahead of budget for the year. What does that mean? We are currently 2% ahead of budget per the last Baptist Courier in October. What does that mean? Well last year we voted to give 50% of all overages to the SBC so we will again be giving an additional percent this year. We keep hearing that we can’t afford this, but the numbers seem to say otherwise.

In conclusion, in my next and final installment, it is time to turn the tables and I am going to ask the questions. Look for that later this week.

Questions I Feel I Must Answer Part 1

As we quickly approach the November SCBC Convention, I feel I must answer several questions that have been asked of me in recent days by others in our state. This is the first installment.

1. Are you pleased with what the Executive Board did with the 50/50 motion? I feel this answer must start with a couple of statements. First, I call many people on the Executive Board Friends and Mentors. Folks like Rhiny Koschel (the only person I know with a weirder name than mine), David Anderson whom I had the pleasure of serving with in NC, Tim Head who was my pastor when I was ordained, Tommy Kelly jr., Frank Thomas, Chad Rickenbaker, Mike Hamlet, Tom Swilley and I am sure I am leaving some out. So, I believe that the committee that dealt with the motion are good, godly people who love our state and our convention. Second, I have been told, by Mike Moody, and again, I claim him as a friend, that the committee worked long and hard on the motion. And I sincerely appreciate all that they have done and the hard work I know they put into this.

That said, and at the risk of sounding overly blunt, no, I am not pleased. I believe their plan is less than inspiring. I do not believe that it will encourage anyone to go back to his church and say, “I believe so much in this plan that I believe we need to send more to the Cooperative Program”. I believe it is confusing and I believe it maintains the status quo.

2. Do you want to see anyone fired at the Baptist Building? No. Honestly, all the folks at the building that I have had dealings with are great brothers and sisters in Christ. And I have yet to encounter one that I have no respect for.

3. Do you want SC Baptists to cut funding to CSU, NGU, Anderson, Connie Maxwell, etc.? No, I believe that if we make a sincere move to 50/50 that pastors, young and old will see the value in the CP again and will want to go back to their churches and encourage them to give more. This move I believe will “enlarge the pie”. Question #2 and #3 are the ones that really hurt, because all too often people it seems have been told lies about me and or my intentions. In fact, Dr. Driggers was also a victim of this and felt the need to personally apologize to me for believing the lies.

More questions to follow, but allow me to conclude with this. I believe that the next decade for the CP is crucial. 2017 will come whether we begin to move to 50/50 or not. BUT, I believe that one of two things will happen in those 10 years. Either we will inspire people and churches to give to the CP as never before and we will be able to not only give more money to Missions but we will be able to increase our giving to our institutions or CP giving will go down to new lows and we will not have the funds to even help our institutions and our percentage will go the way of many other conventions, less and less to the national and more and more stays in the state. The choice is ours, but 2017 will come regardless.

You’ll Never Find The Perfect Church

I have heard all my life, “You will never find the perfect church and if you did, you would mess it up.” Well, I did not go in, but I did find the perfect church *see header*. It is in downtown Atlanta not too far from The Braves’ Stadium. We got lost on our way back home seeing the game between the Reds and the Braves where it went 15 innings and THE REDS WON!! WOOT! Anyways, on the way home, we drove right past “The Perfect Church”. Maybe I will go back for a service some day…. But I would hate to mess it up.

iVote Values

A few years back at the Nashville convention, we were encouraged to go to a booth in the exhibit hall. It was a big motor home that said “iVote Values”. When you entered the bus, you were shown all kinds of great information about our founding fathers and asked about the values that Christians ought to have when voting. It was my understanding that this campaign was the brainchild of none other than Richard Land.

From the ivotevalues.com website “Imagine the impact Americans of faith could have on our nation if we applied biblical principles to our participation in the democratic process. iVoteValues is at the forefront of the values voter movement and exists to help you register to vote and vote your values—because how you vote today impacts tomorrow.”

Fast forward a few years and we are in the middle of the longest Presidential Primary Season EVER! On the GOP side there are 8 candidates (there used to be 9 but one has already dropped out). We have everything from a Pro-Choice, Quasi-Fiscal Conservative who is socially moderate to liberal to a Social and Fiscal Conservative who is an unabashed Christian and has NEVER fluctuated on his convictions. And everyone else falls in between.

Now on the surface, you would think that Richard Land would encourage “Values Voters” to vote for, um, gee which one should they vote for? Oh yeah, they ought to vote for the Christian who has never fluctuated on his convictions who is a social and fiscal (not to mention theological) conservative. But is that who Richard Land is asking us to vote for? NO, he is in a roundabout way telling us that Mike Huckabee is unelectable. In fact, he said something a lot like that on a morning news show. Something to the effect of, “We like Mike, but he is not electable”.

Could it be that if the “Values Voters” all rallied around the strongest Values Candidate instead of one who has flip flopped. Has been for abortion, now is against it, etc. etc. That maybe the $ would come? I fear Richard Land has come out TOO EARLY for the wrong guy, and honestly, he needs to walk back through the bus, thumb back through his information about mormonism and look hard at what the values vote really means. Otherwise, he is irrelevant, talking out of both sides of his mouth.

HUH!?! Part 2

OK, I thought October was Pastor and Staff appreciation month. But apparently it is Southern Baptists don’t make any sense month. First we had the article by Richard Land (see below) now we have this proposal by the SCBC Executive Board.

In response to my motion on the floor of the SCBC last year of moving our convention to a 50/50 split over time to be studied by the Executive Board. This is what they have come up with. I most say that I believe it is so confusing that most SC Baptists will not vote for it simply because they don’t understand it. I mean it is almost like trying to use airline miles. Everything must be right, Jupiter must be in the house of Orion, etc. etc. It is my opinion that this “plan” is really an attempt to keep the Status Quo. Because they know people won’t vote for it, but they can say, “Well we tried”. Key points from the article that are not exactly spelled out;

1. Nothing in SC would be cut by moving 1% a year. The rate of growth would be .9%.
2. Thus we would not be doing South Carolina Ministries “harm” by continuing to grow them.
3. Obviously if we are decreasing what stays in SC and increasing what goes to the National Convention the rate of growth going to the SBC is going to be significantly higher.
4. By moving to 50/50 the IMB will get nearly $1.7 million more A YEAR. Do you think the IMB can send out more missionaries with an extra 1.7 million? I do!

In closing, I have an analogy of the CP. I think many people look at CP like cancer research. It is hard to be against it, but they really don’t know what it is. I know, CP is what helped me go to Charleston Southern University. The faithfulness of South Carolina Baptists allowed me to go to the finest school it had to offer at the time I went to College. The CP got me through Seminary. And I am just one of thousands of pastors who because of SC Baptist’s faithful giving was able to go to college and seminary. Not to mention the 5000 International Missionaries serving all over the world. Or the 5000 missionaries in North America. Folks the CP is VITAL to our survival as a convention. And education and support is what is going to take to help us win a lost and dying world for Christ!

HUH!?!

I think I know what Richard Land is saying here. But I got to be honest, it was hard to figure it out. Basically, I think he is saying don’t vote for Mike Huckabee, even though you might agree 100% with him, understanding he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance…. But rather vote for someone almost as good with more recognition like say Fred Thompson who can beat Rudy.

Now I am not advocating this approach or stumping for anyone for president. I am just trying to figure out what exactly he is saying.

Is The Convention Building Out of Touch?

In speaking with a few pastors recently, I won’t say it was a bunch because it wasn’t. I heard several comments on how the Convention Building is out of touch with the average church. Much was made of the recent Vision07 conference and its subsequent demise. One does wonder about these things. I feel confident that a new wind will blow under Jim Austin. But while he is the Exec. Treasurer. It would be good to have some leadership there that is connected with the average SBC church and pastor.
Why am I saying all this. Well, it just makes me think, has there been a better time in recent years to have someone like Richard Porter as President of the Convention? Someone who comes from an average semi rural, SC Baptist Church. Someone who is unwaivering in his convictions. Someone who can help the Convention Building get back on track. While I have a great deal of respect for Brother Leopard. I truly believe Richard is the man for the job, this year.

Jim Austin at Calvary Baptist in Ware Shoals

Sunday August 26th @ 6:30 pm
This past Sunday Dr. Jim Austin, a.k.a. Jim, preached the pm service at Calvary Baptist in Ware Shoals. He is an excellent expositor! This is my first time to hear him preach and I will avail myself to other opportunities. His command of the text and supporting scripture was inspiring and his illustrations were to the point and fit perfectly.
My brothers, you ought to invited Jim to your church as soon as possible. You will not be disappointed. I was excited about our new Executive Treasurer before, but now I am even more convinced that he is the right person for the job at the right time.
More later…. Hans

This Little Light Of Mine

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” NKJV
In the basement of Baptist Hospital in Columbia, I was given a piece of paper that told me what things I could and could not do for the next ten days. I was there for my radioactive iodine treatment following my Thyroid cancer surgery. The words on the page were not merely guidelines, they were rules. I had to sign the page stating that I had read the rules and I would abide by them. If I could not do that, I would have to be admitted to the hospital.
Then I was led down a hall to a room where I would receive my treatment. It was a small pill, in a pill bottle much like you would get from the pharmacy. But this bottle was enclosed in a lead container. I quickly took the pill and at that point, for the next ten days I would have to obey the rules. Why? Because, I was radioactive. The pill that would help me, could cause others harm.
During this time, I was not allowed to be around any one person for more than one hour a day. And even then, I needed to stay at least three feet away at all times. And it was during this time when the verse quoted above came to my mind.
You see, believers, we are spiritually radioactive. We have God’s light inside us, shining out to a lost and dying world. And the brightness of that light is totally contingent on you. Jesus’ command was to let your light shine in such a way that when people saw you living your faith, they would give God the glory.
One other thing God impressed upon me during this time. I could not choose when I was radioactive. I couldn’t get up one day, and say, “I don’t feel like being radioactive today, I am going to go and hug my children and kiss my wife”. That was not an option. No, I had to be keenly aware at all times who was around me and what was going on. I had to remember the things I touched and handled. For the first 48 hours I used the erasers on pencils to turn the pages in my Bible so as to not contaminate it.
In the same way, we as believers in Christ cannot choose when we are giving off our light. We cannot say, “I don’t feel like being a Christian today. I want to say whatever I want, do whatever I want. Besides, I am only hurting myself.” Not true, people see. People watch. People are looking for the light. How bright is yours?