- Some sort of disaster hits in Texas (see here).
- My wife's Disaster Relief Child Care unit gets activated (see a woefully out-of-date website here. The child care unit is not on stand-by—they've been up and running for two days in Gainesville).
- That means that I have Jim and Sarah all by my lonesome, and Mr. Mom barely has time to breathe, much less blog!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
How to Know When Bart Will Vanish Temporarily
Here's the sequence of events:
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17 comments:
Bart -
I've gathered all the research. Wore the hidden microphone like you asked me to do. And carried my mini-cam for the past three months. I think I have all the data you need. Please let me know the location of the meetings in July. I got distracted when opening the note that came by courier and it self-destructed before I could make out the name of the town. Remember, I need small unmarked bills that cannot be traced back to the Barber Coalition. For an additional 10,000 I can get you signed affidavits from some very key players. Let me know.
When the rain falls lightly, the orange bird flies from west to east.
bart,
the camel sniffs the blanket and we all get cold.
now, tell me where the smoky room is....and, by smoke i do hope that you mean barbeque boston butts.
david :)
Bart,
Great decision. Family first...
We'll miss your posts but fully understand.
Grace for your Summer. With that, I am...
Peter
Bart,
I was wondering where you'd been...
We'll miss you in July but have a blast doing what definitely comes before this finger numbing, time monopolizing thing called blogging.
Many blessings,
B McWilliams
Though David hopes the smoke is a Boston Butt but I would prefer a good ol fashioned Brisket myself!
Good priorities bro! :)
Brother Bart,
Glad your back. I was about to assume that you, too, were abandoning your site to become a regular SBC Outpost-er.
That is the only way I could picture a squeaky clean guy like you finding your way into the kind of place you describe. he he he.
Hey. (WRT your July calendar), you forgot sinister plotting.
Bart
gotta love those BGCT ministries!
G'day Bart,
mmm I'm whistling an old cartoon favourite...
Praisegod barebones and his eagles fighting for our freedom
fly through wind and outer space not join them but to beat them...
:)
Steve
Anonymous,
You'll be thrilled to learn, I'm sure, that TBM is an independent entity, not a subsidiary of BGCT. TBM has a working agreement with SBTC.
from your link
Who is Texas Baptist Men?
Texas Baptist Men (TBM) is an organization of men that are members of Baptist churches in Texas that are affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, a Texas Baptist Association or the Southern Baptist Convention
Sorry I forgot to identify myself the first time
Jim Champion
Jim,
I guess you won't believe it, brother, unless you read it in Isvestia...I mean...The Baptist Standard. See here.
Bart
I did not doubt your word, if it appeared so, I apologize - but the link in your article is from the BGCT, and the wording is a direct quote from the Texas Baptist Men's website.
Praise the Lord that the BGCT and the SBTC can find enough common ground that they can both work with Texas Baptist Men, and that the SBTC can shake some of those church planting funds loose to do some ministry in the State
Jim
Bart
to your knowledge is the following still true - this is a direct quote from the article:
The BGCT provides budget money and mission offering funds to Texas Baptist Men. The SBTC doesn't provide any.
And while Texas Baptist Men has its own missions equipping center in east Dallas, the organization's offices are located in the BGCT building, and the organization benefits from BGCT personnel and support services.
If Texas Baptist Men were an "affiliated" organization of the SBTC, like Criswell College, it might be included in that convention's budget. But as a "fraternal" partner, it can expect "no guarantee" of financial support through the SBTC budget or its state missions offering, Richards said.
Achieving status as an "affiliated" organization of the SBTC requires a more stringent doctrinal commitment, including adherence to the controversial 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement.
In the future, the SBTC might grant funds to specific disaster relief efforts or to a jointly sponsored men's rally, Richards added. But it won't become a line item in the SBTC budget as long as its relationship is strictly "fraternal."
The SBTC channels some designated money to Texas Baptist Men from its churches. In 2002, the SBTC forwarded $7,093 in designated gifts. Year to date in 2003, designated gifts to Texas Baptist Men funneled through the SBTC total $19,681.
In contrast, Texas Baptist Men received more than $1.27 million through the BGCT last year. In 2002, the BGCT provided $776,888 in budget funds, $60,962 through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions and $100,711 in designated gifts from churches.
If the above is true, and I believe that it is - it is another solid reason that our church stays with the BGCT
Well, Jim, that sort of wanders away from the original point. I never denied that TBM had any connection with BGCT. You suggested that TBM is a "BGCT ministry." TBM is a BGCT ministry in the same way that SBC is a BGCT ministry—BGCT passes through funding to TBM, although TBM is institutionally independent of BGCT and can (and does) have relationships with other entities.
To correct one minor thing, although Leo still has a secondary office at the BGCT headquarters, TBM has moved their offices entirely (including Leo's primary office, as I understand it) to the Dixon Building and out of BGCT's facilities.
TBM, if I read things correctly, is heavily dependent upon BGCT for funding. At the same time, they are heavily dependent upon SBTC for volunteer personnel (as well as some designated funding). Division from either faction would be very painful for TBM.
So, Jim, this is the second time you've mentioned this in connection with Tracy's work. Do you find it absolutely irresistible to use Tracy's ministry to people in need as a pawn in some petty denominational tit-for-tat? Clearly that isn't what Tracy and I are doing. We're serving Christ through TBM without funding BGCT liberalism and without making any big fuss about it. We do so as committed members of a uniquely aligned SBTC church.
As to your suggestion that this is a reason to stay with BGCT—if Texas Baptist Men were the only thing BGCT were doing, there wouldn't be an SBTC. Nobody is leaving BGCT because of TBM. Now, do you really want to discuss the real reasons churches are leaving BGCT? Do you want to hear the litany of things I heard with my own ears taught in the Baylor Religion Department? Do you want to talk about an organization that thinks 79% of CP money ought to stay in Texas, shortchanging the rest of the planet?
Because, you see, Jim, Tracy and I believe that we can minister to flood victims in Gainesville AND not fund heresy AND fund it all without robbing national and international missions.
And those are just a few of the reasons why we couldn't get out of the BGCT fast enough.
You made me do it. Don't make me do it again. I really get no joy out of speaking ill of BGCT. That is behind us. I want to leave it in the past. May God bless the BGCT. May He start by fixing their mess.
Bart
We will have to agree to disagree on the liberal thing with BGCT.
We will agree that your wife has a fantastic ministry providing disaster relief
Jim
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