NASHVILLE (BP) — Responding to concerns about the speakers’ lineup for the 2020 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference, the SBC Executive Committee voted Tuesday (Feb. 18) to allocate meeting space for the event provided changes are made to the proposed program.

According to the action, the Executive Committee believes “multiple aspects” of the proposed program for the pastors’ conference “are sufficiently beyond the parameters of the faith and practice of Southern Baptists in accordance with The Baptist Faith and Message.” The action calls for “amendments” to the program to be made by Monday, Feb. 24, and approved by officers of the Executive Committee. (Full text of the action below.)
Since the program was announced earlier this month, many have voiced concerns that not all speakers were Southern Baptist and that scheduled performer Hosanna Wong, a spoken word artist, is also a teaching pastor at her non-Southern Baptist church.

Others have also been critical of the inclusion of David Hughes, pastor of Church by the Glades, a Southern Baptist congregation in Coral Springs, Fla. The church has received attention for various performances in its services, as well as sermon series with sensual themes.

Mike Stone, chairman of the Executive Committee, said the decision was reached after “lengthy deliberations” in the days since the Pastors’ Conference lineup was announced Feb. 10.

“My desire would be that there would be a change in the lineup so we can proceed in keeping with who we are as Southern Baptists,” Stone said. “I would love for that to happen.”

Pastors’ Conference president David Uth, pastor of First Baptist Orlando, has thus far declined to make lineup changes.

“My goal, my prayer was that we could open ourselves up to hear from people that maybe were good friends of ours, but not in our Southern Baptist Convention,” Uth told Baptist Press Feb. 11, in responding to initial concerns raised over the event’s lineup. “I feel like they have a message for us. I feel like God wants to speak to us through them. So my goal and my hope was that we could hear their message, we could learn from them, and we could embrace it.”

While the Executive Committee does not have oversight of the SBC Pastors’ Conference, it makes space available to hold the event each year — this year, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., where the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting will be held in June — and requests the conference to reimburse the Executive Committee for a portion of the cost to use the meeting hall and facilities. Currently, that reimbursement totals $100,000.

Source: Baptist Press

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A Christian-oriented theme park in central Florida that describes itself as “bringing the Bible to life” is laying off most of its workers.

The Holy Land Experience last week filed notice with the city of Orlando and state officials announcing it would be eliminating 118 positions. That represents most of the jobs at the theme park in Orlando’s tourist corridor.

Holy Land Experience officials said in a letter that they were shifting focus from entertainment and theatrical productions to the park’s Biblical museum. The decision will allow them to continue to receive tax breaks signed into law by former Governor Jeb Bush.

The theme park was launched in 2001 as the ministry of a Messianic Jewish church. Trinity Broadcasting Network took ownership in 2007. IRS records show a sharp decline in revenue, from $42 million in 2010 to $8 million in 2017, the most recent year available.

Theme parks officials said the layoffs would take place by mid-April. Employees will get a severance package based on their length of employment.

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Welcome to The Reasons to Believe podcast, episode #165. My name is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International.

Our Reasons to Believe Scripture Passage for today is John 11:25-26. It reads, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

Our Reasons to Believe quote for today is from C.S. Lewis.

Our Reason to Believe powerpoint today is titled “The Resurrection, Part 18” from “The Handbook of Christian Apologetics” by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli.

The authors continue with the sixth part of this chapter subtitled, “Refutation of the Myth Theory: Six Arguments.”

3. The myth theory has two layers. The first layer is the historical Jesus, who was not divine, did not claim divinity, performed no miracles, and did not rise from the dead. The second, later, mythologized layer is the Gospels as we have them, with a Jesus who claimed to be divine, performed miracles and rose from the dead. The problem with this theory is simply that there is not the slightest bit of any real evidence whatever for the existence of any such first layer. The two-layer cake theory has the first layer made entirely of air—and hot air at that.

Augustine refutes the two-layer theory with his usual condensed power and simplicity.

The speech of one Elpidius, who had spoken and disputed face to face against the Manichees, had already begun to affect me at Carthage, when he produced arguments from Scripture which were not easy to answer. And the answer they [the Manichees, who claimed to be the true Christians] gave seemed to me feeble-indeed they preferred not to give it in public but only among ourselves in private-the answer being that the Scriptures of the New Testament had been corrupted by some persons unknown…yet the Manicheans made no effort to produce uncorrupted copies. (Confessions, V, 11, Sheed translation.)

Note the sarcasm in the last sentence. It still applies today.

Craig summarizes the evidence—the lack of evidence:

The Gospels are a miraculous story, and we have no other story handed down to us than that contained in the Gospels…. The letters of Barnabas and Clement refer to Jesus’ miracles and resurrection. Polycarp mentions the resurrection of Christ, and Irenaeus relates that he had heard Polycarp tell of Jesus’ miracles. Ignatius speaks of the resurrection. Puadratus reports that persons were still living who had been healed by Jesus. Justin Martyr mentions the miracles of Christ. No relic of a nonmiraculous story exists. That the original story should be lost and replaced by another goes beyond any known example of corruption of even oral tradition, not to speak of the experience of written transmissions. These facts show that the story in the Gospels was in substance the same story that Christians had at the beginning. This means…that the resurrection of Jesus was always a part of the story. (Craig, Apologetics, chap. 6)

Lord willing, we will continue this topic in our next episode.

—PRAYER—

Now, if you are listening today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how.

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Until next time, my friend, please keep in mind these reasons to believe. God bless!

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