2 days after I got off the plane, I got back on another heading to New Orleans for the Southern Baptist Convention. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited since I always wanted to attend one of these meetings (you could even say it was on my bucket list). I was also signed up for a class that gave me 3 credit hours if I attended (and read books.. and wrote a huge report on it) Monday was the Pastor's Conference in where an array of very popular pastors ranging from Charles Stanley to David Platt and all of them delivered good sermons. The surprise preacher was Herb Reavis, whom Brandon was very excited to hear from. Safe to say, Reavis was just as good, if not better than the other popular preachers that preached that day. An important thing to note was that he preached right after David Platt. While the room was absolutely filled for Platt's sermon, it got cut in half when it was Reavis's turn to preach. Little did I know that this would be an ongoing issue that I would have a problem with for the week.
Tuesday through Thursday was when the whole business aspect of the SBC was discussed. The entire meeting was very interesting when they presented an issue and people on the floor had the opportunity to go up to the mics nearby to discuss the issue and why or why not they would vote for it to pass. A memorable moment was when a college student went up and instead of discussing the present case that was being discuss, he wanted to discuss something else (which was common among the people that went up). Right when he said he was a college student he got cut off before he could say another word (an embarrassing moment for him that he'll probably remember for the rest of his life.)
But the main entertainment during the meeting was a man called Richard Tribble. Not only was he a man that was a bit behind the times, but he was a extremely rude to the people on the panel, the president and pretty much everyone around him. I felt a bit insulted whenever he came up to the mic, and he wasn't even calling me out. Safe to say, he became the butt of the joke for the entire week... and he asked for it too.. I'm pretty sure he was up there to hear himself talk most of the time.... Something interesting to note was that he was a intern pastor for a church when I looked him up during the convention. A week later, when I wrote the paper, I looked him up again and found out that he's been replaced... hmmmm....
In the room beside where the convention was held was a huge room where books were sold by Lifeway and also tables and booths were assigned for Christian schools, seminaries and companies. While Brandon and I were around the Dallas Theological Seminary booth we heard a student ask "so.... where's Dallas Seminary at?" and the representative there had a stupefied look on his face and answered "...Dallas?"
The main event for the whole convention was Fred Luter being elected president of the Convention. The reason why this is so relevant was because he was the first African American to be nominated and ran unopposed. However, there were also plenty of other issues that were relevant that needed to be discussed as well such as the Sinner's Prayer and the name change of Southern Baptist. While I'm entitled to my opinion and it is my blog, I'll refrain from stating it because you can probably Google the subjects and be much more educated from it.
However, the mindset of the people at the convention really frustrated me. As stated above, Reavis only received half the audience that Platt did, and also, there was a IMB report where only probably a quarter of Platt's audience was there. I really can't figure out why people would like to hear the ideas of being giving up your life for God and being a missionary, but not put it in practice. At least attend the IMB meeting and listen to those that are the actual examples of what Platt preached...
Overall, the convention was pretty good and it was great hanging out with the pastors. Probably wouldn't attend another one since it cost a fortune to be there (and I don't have another class). But it was a nice experience in the end.
Closing note: Jet lag hit at times during the convention and I dozed off a few times. Wondered if anyone judged me for it.... are they in for a big surprise when God tells them where I was just at... :P
PS. No crying babies on the way there or back... streak breaks.. however, it still holds strong for "international plane trips"
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