“SS SBC Superstar” Ship Received Deathblow in Greensboro
“SS SBC Superstar” Ship Received Deathblow in Greensboro
The SS SBC Superstar (a few of its crew members: Paige Patterson, Morris Chapman, Bobby Welch, Chuck Kelly, Johnny Hunt, Jerry Vines, etc. . . you get the picture!)is a 27 year-old luxury liner that has been sailing smoothly, unchallenged, and unsinkable (seemingly) in the SBC waters until recently.
A couple of years ago, the SS Superstar hit a small ripple when a grass-roots pastor was nominated from the floor of the SBC & received 20% of the votes. The “children” of the “Resurgence,” having ridden inflatable rafts and struggled to stay afloat behind the big wake of the SS Superstar, became frustrated at the “exclusionism” of the SS Superstar! (If you didn’t have a 5000+ member church & your own TV show, you need not apply for a ticket for the SS Superstar!) No big deal (for the challenge)! . . . (They thought?)
The crew of the SS Superstar had traditionally announced who its new “predetermined” captain (canidate for the SBC presidency) would be from Jerry Vine’s Pastors’ Conference. This year, Johnny Hunt became their new Captain. For 27 years, save two (1994 & 2004), it was uncontested!
Yet Hunt descended his nomination for the presidency election in Greensboro because he knew that he would be challenged. (I have my personal & undisclosed speculations why Hunt descended.) This (presidency challenge & Hunt’s descending) would never have happened five years-ago. Hunt’s caution to steer the SS Superstar was a warning that the ship was in trouble (internally)!!
Ronnie Floyd had been on the SS Superstar for many years. Yet, due to his ties with the Promise-Keepers & radical church-growth methodology (fire-engine pedo-baptistry), they stripped him of his 1st class cabin & threw him into the 3rd class with the stow-aways. . . nonetheless, Floyd was still on the ship.
The 1st class SS Superstar crew saw the growing opposition from their “children” in the inflatable boats; and due to their egotism & pride, the SS Superstar crew did not want to look bad if they lost the SBC Presidency.
Therefore, they called down into the stow-away section and brought up Floyd. This is where the friction from “within” the SS Superstar became obvious. (Make no mistake about it, Hunt’s rescending was not “imagined”prior to Vines’ Pastors’ Conference). Floyd became their man to “test the waters!”
Frank Page entered the race! Glory be to God!
Side Note: (The passengers that have ridden so smoothly on the SS Superstar saw the internal leaks. They determined that the ship was sinking. They were too prideful to blame themselves for the demise of the SBC. Thomas Rainer’s report proved one thing: The SBC is dying!. . . So who did they blame for all the problems? The SBC Calvinists!!!!. . . . all 300 of them! [This is another blog within itself.]. . . Give me a break! This goes to show the hypocrisy of the SS Superstar. The SS Superstar, itself, is the problem!)
Paige Patterson, Captain “emeritus” of the SS Superstar, endorsed Floyd. . . a sure “ace in the hole” for the crown (they thought). Yet, fellow SS Superstar passenger Morris Chapman rebuked Patterson’s “entitity” voice endorsement! (Who would have ever thought that anyone on the SS Superstar would have “bucked” Patterson, the “Captain-emeritus,” about anything?) Even more surprising was when Patterson’s buddy, the Judge, nominated Sutton days before the SBC! (You better believe there are big problems when the “Good Ole’ Boys” can’t agree!) We can see clearly that the SS Superstar was already starting to sink from “internal” infrastructure problems way before it docked in Greensboro!!
The fact that Jerry Sutton (a fellow crew member on the SS Superstar)would even run against Ronnie Floyd was a sure sign of the “internal”problems on the SS Superstar. Our Lord said, “A kingdom divided against itself will fall.” (Or in this case, a ship divided against itself will surely sink). I think that Sutton, for some unknown reason, didn’t want to see his fellow passenger run for the presidency. I think the biggest plague on the SS Superstar is the “ego”. The name “SS Superstar” says it all!!
The Superstars thought the messengers would have looked at Floyd’s “celebrity-status” and overlooked his .27 % CP giving to defeat Frank Page. The SS Superstar’s defeat was probable with Floyd’s nomination (due to the sea-full of their children [post-resurgence pastors] in inflatable boats). The defeat became certain when Sutton, with 0% CP giving, entered the race (remember the ship against itself parable?). That gave Frank Page the sure victory!
The SS Superstar lost the election!!!!!! It received the deathblow in Greensboro. Yet, just like the Titanic, it won’t sink instantly; but, make no mistake, the SS Superstar’s demise from “within” combined with the deathblow from “without,” will sink the SS Superstar! Who would have ever imagined the SS Superstar sinking 27 years ago? I think God, in His sovereign providence, is showing us that He is the One who runs the SBC waters, and not the SS Superstar.
Tags: SBC Today
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May 7, 2008 at
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