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As I said to my former pastor-turned-openly-gay, who informed me that due to his latest studying of the scriptures, he realizes that God understands and condones his homosexuality: "I understand you if you say you are a sinner (like the rest of us mortals) and that you CHOOSE to continue doing what you do. But after spending years at the pulpit teaching me God's Word, don't starting 'changing' God to suit your purposes. You changed. God didn't." What a heartbreak his "new philosophy of God's Word" is to me -- he was a fantastic preacher and teacher for years.

Well, as a life-long Southern Baptist who also has studied the issues facing the SBC for the last several years, let me tell you this is essentially the same battle the SBC had many years ago (about 30) over "moderates" running the SBC. That was affectionately known as the "Conservative TAKEOVER" of the SBC. Sound familiar? Well, the "moderates" aren't very moderate and were ticked that the conservatives took over leadership positions and haven't relenquished them yet. That battle largely centered around moderate leaders in the SBC and their stance on abortion. It is essentially the same battle, though.

The ABC has always been much more liberal than the SBC, even before conservatives took it back. That the ABC is losing a large part of their base is not surprising. They have aligned themselves with the homosexual movement for years. The ABC also ticked off the SBC over a "we're not endorsing, but won't chastise" lack of action towards two Baptist churches performing gay marriages a few years ago. That also helped the SBC to eventually break away from the Baptist World Alliance, an organization of world-wide Baptists that the SBC founded many years ago, because the BWA allowed the ABC to continue to participate in the BWA and they remain members to this day.

A few years ago "moderates" in the SBC broke away after finally realizing that they would never get another leader in place until they actually took a stand on controversial issues and formed the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The CBF regularly takes shots at the SBC and has a lot of support from none other than Jimmah Carter, who is a proud member of the CBF. They have come under fire as well over homosexuality because they say they don't accept money from individuals (they accept individuals, churches or other organizations to be members) or any other entity who has openly supported homosexual causes, but they refuse to say they won't accept homosexuals or those advocating homosexual causes as members. If you can figure that out, let me know. Basically, they say they won't take their money, but they allow them to be members as long as they pay their dues.

Anyway, the battles over the heart and soul of Baptists are basically the last in a line of battles all other denominations have fought over they last several years. Methodists and several other denominations already allow homos to "wed" and have basically thrown the Bible out the window on such sinful behavior. The SBC drew a line in the sand and refused to cross it, thus ticking off the "moderates", who recently left. (good riddance as far as I am concerned) The ABC is kinda the opposite of the SBC in that it was the liberals in charge and the conservatives who left. We will see how well each grows in the next few years.