I don’t write a lot of blogs anymore: work, raising my kids, coaching my kids’ sports, and recording my podcast that nobody listens to take up almost my time. But people have such a bad read on the Meredith Knox controversy, I just had to crawl out from under my rock and logon to the Pulpit & Pen WordPress and go (uncharacteristically) full tilt Doug Wilson/JD Hall.
This week, some of Twitter’s (I’m not calling it “X”) most vociferous Southern Baptist critics are upset that, in the wake of the Convention’s failure to ratify the Law Amendment, two churches with female “pastors” have been deemed to be in friendly cooperation with the SBC by the SBC’s credentials committee. Even the SBC president seems baffled by the decision.
Those who opposed the Law Amendment, which would have constitutionally banned churches with so-called female “pastors” from SBC membership, argued that the credentials committee was a sufficient mechanism to safeguard the integrity of the SBC’S membership. They were obviously wrong (or maybe just lying), but there is a deeper problem here than Amendments and credentials committee: the SBC’s standard for membership is a joke.
It’s NewSpring, Stupid.
Meredith Knox is called the “Teaching Pastor” of NewSpring Church. When I see a woman with her mannerisms I can’t help but think, “I bet she can hit a softball a mile.” When I see a woman with her mannerisms and find out she isn’t married (and nowadays with we have to say “to a man”), I think, “I bet she is a homosexual”. I don’t know if this mean mannish boy of a “pastor” can hit dingers or if she is like girls that way, but I do know women can’t be pastors.
And I’m not surprised to find such a “pastor” at NewSpring Church. Off the top of my head (search for links if you choose), I can remember when founding pastor Perry Noble preached that there’s no such thing as the Ten Commandments in the Bible. I can remember when NewSpring church played “Highway to Hell” at its Easter Sunday Service. I can remember when Perry Noble decried “theological police” who took issue with stuff like this. I can remember when NewSpring offered a money-back tithe guarantee (an occurrence so grevious that even Karen Swallow Prior pointed it out to me). I can remember when Perry Noble had to stop himself from saying the N-word during a sermon (one he preached in a hoodie). I can remember when Perry Noble chastised church members who wanted deeper sermons.
So, you see, NewSpring has always been a joke of a church. It’s a 13-campus circus McChurch reproach to the body of Christ. And guess what? There has never been any SBC rule by which NewSpring could get kicked out of the Convention for any of the egregious examples of theological misconduct listed above. So, y’all want them gone now because they have a female “pastor”?
N-word, please.
Southern Baptist membership standards are a joke. Any Seminary dropout (ex: Perry Noble) can found a multi campus circus church and join the SBC as long as he lists the right belief statement on the website. When Perry Noble demonstrated that he had a problem with alcohol, NewSpring had to find a new lead pastor. But guess what. If NewSpring had kept a drunk of a pastor who said there were no Ten Commandments, it wouldn’t have been in violation of the weak as Groundskeeper-Willie-orange-drink confession of faith that is the BFM 2000.
And let’s now consider the example of Ron Phillips and Abba’s House. I’m old enough to remember when Abba’s House was called Central Baptist Church. It’s pastor, Ron Phillips, was a totally normal Tennessee good ole boy fat Baptist preacher. When I was little I used to watch his sermons on Chattanooga television. Then, somewhere along the line, they had some kind of Pentecostal awakening over there in Hixson and changed the church’s name to “Abba’s House”. Now, Phillip’s wife is a “pastor” along with other women. His son is a pastor there, too. It’s basically a big phoney bologna family business. Apparently, there’s no SBC rule against being Pentecostal phonies; can’t kick them out for that. But they have a woman pastor now?
How do you say N-word please in tongues?
Whether it’s popularity, Cooperative Program money, or liberalism at play, NewSpring and Abba’s House remain Southern Baptist. If you think the Law Amendment’s failure is the problem in the SBC, well, you’re just naive.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
