I remember during the days of the “Conservative Resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention being told that there was no such thing as a “liberal” in the SBC. Some were “moderate,” whatever that means, but no one denied the basic tenets of the Christian faith. A group developed in protest and/or opposition to the conservatives and called themselves the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). They said that they were still committed to Baptist doctrine but didn’t like the new leadership of the SBC. Many churches developed a dual alliance with both the SBC and the CBF, given a little to SBC causes and channeling most of their giving through the CBF. It may be that the lines between the two are getting more clearly drawn. And it may be a line, not between liberal and conservative, but a line between believer and nonbeliever in God’s truth.
The CBF meeting this year may give many people who do believe in Baptist doctrine, and the Bible for that matter, reason to give pause and rethink who the CBF really is. One of the key speakers and workshop leaders was John Killinger. In his seminar on “The Changing Shape of Our Salvation” Killinger made this statement: “Now we are reevaluating and we’re approaching everything with a humbler perspective and seeing God’s hand working in Christ, but not necessarily as the incarnate God in our midst.” For starters this denies the deity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity. Of course for him that is not problematic because he believes that “doctrine is a thing of the past now religiously.” Killinger encouraged pastors in attendance to “follow this cultural shift by preaching about Jesus’ human side rather than insisting that He was God and that He always existed.” I don’t have space here to refute these heretical statements, but suffice it to say this flies in the face of all that the Scriptures teach.
To be fair, the CBF’s General Assembly Guide says that “the opinions presented in the General Assembly ministry workshops are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of . . . the Fellowship or its members.” But that begs the question, why would you invite someone who has beliefs that are in no way Biblical to come and teach, not one, but three, workshops at your meeting? Killinger has been, and evidently continues to be, a darling of the CBF crowd. He is a rebel, but a rebel with a cause – to deny all of God’s Word that he possibly can.
May God help us as we seek to remain faithful to God’s Word, not the “cultural shift” that some seem to think is a good thing.
Filed under: Denying Truth | Tagged: Bible, CBF, Killinger, SBC, truth |
Here I Stand . . . I Can Do Nothing Else 
You may know the truth, but you cannot tell the truth.
Michael, one of the reasons to blog is to enter into discussion. However, pot shots are not trying to dialog, they are simply out of order. I have approved your reply and have answered you there asking for you to give more information. You have made a serious accusation with no substantiation of your charge . . . if you want to discuss, then let’s have at it.
Pastor Haynes:
I am so sorry. I looked at the comment and it looks as though I called you a liar. I would have taken it the very same way. It was a poor way of expressing my thoughts. Please accept my apologies. I understand why you are offended as well you should be. I should have ended the comment with an exclamation point. I meant, you are not allowed to tell the truth because people are offended by the truth.
So sorry and I will be more careful in the future.