Sad Day At Green Lake

Recently I had the privilege of preaching in a congregation of another denomination in Nevada. Following the message, I was greeted by a gracious elderly gentleman, a retired minister who had served churches in that denomination for 39 years. He told me he had been saved in an American Baptist Church, and then he added poignantly “They’re not what they used to be.” If you question whether his assessment of ABCUSA is true, you have no further to look than the recent vote at the Minister’s Council in Green Lake. There the “Senators” (representatives) of the various Minister’s Council areas voted to defeat an amendment to the Minister’s Council by-laws that called for the integrity of biblical teaching regarding sexual intimacy to be maintained in Minister’s Council qualifications for senatorial service, and for the ABCUSA policy regarding homosexuality to be the standard for sexual behavior. And they defeated it! They rejected it! They said "No!" to endorsing the teaching of scripture. Yes, its true, the American Baptist Churches are not what they used to be, or should be, when the ministers who stand in the pulpits are not willing to let the biblical teaching of the revelation of God be the expected and required standard of the church and its adjunct organizations.

August 22, 2005 is a sad, dark, pivotal day in the life of our denomination. The Minister’s Council abandoned it’s calling to be a biblical minister’s council. Evangelical, Bible believing pastors should be resigning from that unhappy organization in droves.