Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Where have we been?

Carol and I went to Israel with a group from First Baptist of Ft. Lauderdale. I have to say that it was just great being around a group of Southern Baptists for 10 days.

(My observations from the start of my association with God's frozen chosen have continued to be that the SBs as a group are simply friendlier people, especially to newcomers and strangers. Maybe that's why they are growing and we are shrinking. I do love my Presbyterian friends, and there are many exceptions to this general observation. But social facts - or perceptions at least - are facts. My dad, an SB who only came to our church to see his grandchildren, referred to the Presbyterian church in any given town as "that ice-house down the street.")

We will post some photos at some point and some comments on the trip. It exceeded my expectations big time.

3 comments:

Sean Meade said...

looking forward to hearing more!

and 'go, Southern Baptists!' :-)

(i wonder if being with them informs your ongoing struggle with the PCUSA...)

Paul Stokes said...

If one accepts the proposition that it is time to leave PCUSA, then limiting one's alternatives to other Presbyterian denominations doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The polity of Presbyterianism strikes me as outmoded in its present forms. The resources required to run a structure developed 300 or 400 hundred years ago are enormous. The "Bible" churches and the Baptist churches are the pioneers these days in adapting technology to presenting the Gospel to a culture that is constantly shifting. So, yeah, everything is on the table except the Gospel itself.

Sean Meade said...

interesting observations on polity, Paul...