Last night Kansas State beat Kansas University and Texas A&M beat Texas and "Traditional Baptists" who have never worshipped together before, gathered in the presence of God in Atlanta. Last night was a night for the unexpected and improbable.
In the ultimate trivialities of basketball, depending on your team, there is a moment of delight or disappointment. But in the gathering of "Traditional Baptists" (Jimmy Carter's phrase) one suspects the presence of something holy and eternal. Perhaps... perhaps this is the beginning of a new wave of Baptist witness to the grace of God in Christ and God's call to full participation in the Kingdom.
When the former president declared, in my paraphrase, that the center of the gospel is the declaration that we are saved by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and the center of our gospel is the center that holds us together with and in spite of our important differences, my heart shouted a loud "Amen".
In the ultimate trivialities of basketball, depending on your team, there is a moment of delight or disappointment. But in the gathering of "Traditional Baptists" (Jimmy Carter's phrase) one suspects the presence of something holy and eternal. Perhaps... perhaps this is the beginning of a new wave of Baptist witness to the grace of God in Christ and God's call to full participation in the Kingdom.
When the former president declared, in my paraphrase, that the center of the gospel is the declaration that we are saved by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and the center of our gospel is the center that holds us together with and in spite of our important differences, my heart shouted a loud "Amen".
1 comment:
It was great to hear from President Carter’s inspiring words to build unity in Christ. If I could summarize just a bit, President Carter spoke of how Christians are viewed by non Christians. It is not our missionaries, nor our great preachers like Billy Graham that non Christians see of us. They see our divisions, what they perceive as animosity. He notes how this has caused a cancer, causing us to divert us from His ministries and presents a negative image of Christians. Growth could not have happened in our early church had our early church had been as divisive as we are today.
President Carter noted that we have focused so much on various important divisive issues, but many of these issues have similar veins to meat sacrificed to idols. We lose track of the bigger issue which is that we are saved through Jesus Christ, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to remember which issues are of most importance. President Carter referred to I Corithians and how Paul reminded us that the Gospel is not of human origins, but of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. President Carter looked at Galatians and noted that there should be no discrimination among Christians, all are Children of God through faith.
On a personal note of one who wished I could be there. It is great to hear that Baptists can focus on and celebrate our common heritage! Perhaps, God willing, after we savor and celebrate the BIGNESS of our shared foundation in Christ, it will make it easier to tackle and resolve some of the issues which previously divided us. If our common ground is in Christ, I pray that miraculous things will come from this union with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
God bless all those in attendance at the New Baptist Covenant in Atlanta.
With Christ’s Love,
Pkfrommidwest
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