On my mind today

 Beloved friends, yesterday's optimism evaporated in the New Orleans heat today.  I had hoped for a few things today and, sadly for me, most of them broke the wrong way in my view.  The lone bright spot was Dr Bart Barber who did a masterful job handling the tough duties and managing the clock.  In spite of that,  it was a deeply saddening day for me.  Consider with me why. An amendment - known loosely as the "Mike Law Amendment" - had been given to the SBC Ex Committee months ago declaring the role of pastor to be limited to men.  That's already in the Baptist Faith and Message so I didn't think much of it.  Surely we won't take it as a litmus test for fidelity to the SBC - that's a creed and last I checked we Baptists are non-creedal people.  Or were.  I had hoped cooler heads would prevail and the "Mike Law" amendment would fail.  After all, the Exec Committee put it forward but did NOT recommend it for approval.  This motio...

 Friends, today was not the day I expected and I mean that in the best possible way.  I came into this meeting believing much of what I had read online to be an accurate portrayal of where Baptist life really was.  I was wrong.  We aren't nearly as angry or narrow as I feared.   Our friend Dr Bart Barber was re-elected in a resounding vote - 67.5% to 31.5%.  I didn't see that coming. The spirit of the meeting was pleasant, even jovial at times.  I didn't see that coming. The people who came seemed genuinely happy to be here.  I didn't see that coming.   There's still work left to do and there are questions left to be answered tomorrow, but this was a really good start.  And I'm glad it came, even if I didn't see it coming.