The Oklahoma Baptist Centennial (Part 1)

Oklahoma Southern Baptists celebrated their centennial last week. The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma came into existance in 1906 when the Baptist conventions of Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory joined together. This event occurred almost exactly a year before Oklahoma became a state. It occurred 35 years prior to my birth.

For more than half a century (1950-2001), I lived and breathed as an Oklahoma Southern Baptist. Having been alive through 65 of the first 100 years of Oklahoma Baptist life, many wonderful memories reside in my heart and soul. Most of these memories are positive. But the last decade of my experience as a Southern Baptist was less than desirableable. In this post, I want to recount a few my personal positive memories and experiences. In the next two posts, I will share another side of the story. On a positive note...

• I was born into an Oklahoma Southern Baptist family in the convention's 35th year (1941).
• I was saved and baptized in the 44th year of Oklahoma Southern Baptist life (FBC of Hammon in 1950).
• I accepted God's call to the gospel ministry and was licensed to preach in a Southern Baptist church in the 54th year of Oklahoma Baptist life (FBC of Goodwell in 1964).
• I preached my first sermon in an Oklahoma Southern Baptist church in the 54th year of Oklahoma Baptist life (Indian Baptist Church of Hammon in 1964).
• In the 55th year of Oklahoma Baptist life, I married a good Baptist girl in an Oklahoma Southern Baptist church (FBC of Leedey in 1965).
• I was ordained in an Oklahoma Southern Baptist church in the 56th year of Oklahoma Baptist life (FBC of Sharon in 1966).
• I attended Oklahoma Baptist University in parts of the 57th, 58th & 59th years of Oklahoma Baptist life (1965-67).
• I pastored four Oklahoma Southern Baptist churches and missions (Seiling Indian Baptist Mission - 1965-66; Canton Indian Baptist Mission - 1974-77; FBC of Elmore City - 1977-84, and FBC in Dewey - 1984-99).
• I served as an Oklahoma DOM for 20 months (Grady Baptist Association - 2000-01)
• I baptized all of my children of my children in an Oklahoma Southern Baptist church (FBC in Elmore City).
• I served two terms on the BGCO Board of Directors.
• I served one term on the first ever Board of Trustees for the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children.
• I have been to Falls Creek, both as a camper and a pastor, more than forty times (between 1954 & 2000).

Oklahoma Baptists do have a rich history. No doubt about it. I've had my share of good experiences. However, I am no longer an Oklahoma Southern Baptist. I never dreamed that I would be anything other than an Oklahoma Southern Baptist. In the 95th year of Oklahoma Baptist life (2001), I was excluded and pushed aside as persona non grata, --which is another story for another time. I am now pastoring an American Baptist church (ABC/USA) in Watonga. I am happy. I've been in my present church for three years now.

The Oklahoma Baptist Centennial (Part 2)

Oklahoma Baptists celebrated their centennial anniversary in November. Certainly, the BGCO can be proud of many achievements through the first 100 years of their existence. In a recent editorial ("Back to the Future" Links to archived articles are no long available.) in the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, BGCO executive director, Anthony Jordan, sounded a strange note. Comparing the BGCO to the church in Ephesus, he wrote:

As was true in the words of our Lord to the church at Ephesus, we must return to our first love. Nothing among us must take preeminence over a passionate love for our Savior.

Pardon me, but when did Oklahoma Baptists lose their first love? At what point in their history did Oklahoma Baptists cease to have a passionate love for their Savior? I haven't been an Oklahoma Southern Baptist now for more than three years, but I can't remember a single example of an Oklahoma Baptist (church, pastor, or layman) who strayed from possessing a passionate love for Christ. I have no idea what Jordan is talking about when he writes these words.

He went on to write:

Although our church buildings look different, our ministries have varying shapes and our worship styles have changed, the future of Oklahoma Baptists is centered in a return to the biblical and powerful fundamentals of the past. A love for Jesus, a passion for the lost, a commitment to planting churches and a generosity in our mission support are keys to a dynamic future.

At what point in their history did Oklahoma Baptists stray being a "biblically centered" denomination? At what point in their history did Oklahoma Baptists depart from the "fundamentals of the Baptist beliefs of the past"? I can't answer the questions. I don't know what Dr. Jordan has in mind, but I don't remember that Oklahoma Baptists ever departed from being a biblically centered state convention. Nor I remember anything about Oklahoma Baptists departing from the fundamentals of the past. But I do know when Oklahoma Baptists began the slide into mean-spirited fundamentalism. It began early in the last decade of the first 100 years of Oklahoma Baptist history.

The rise of mean-spirited fundamentalism in Oklahoma occurred simultaneously with the birth of the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma. Southern Baptists began moving toward fundamentalism in 1979 when Adrian Rogers was elected as the first SBC president in the takeover of the denomination. W. A. Criswell, Paul Pressler, and Paige Patterson convinced the rank and file of Southern Baptists into believing that their denomination was sliding head-long into liberalism.

Of course the notion that Southern Baptists were being threatened by liberalism is a myth. While a great many Southern Baptists followed the takeover leaders toward narrow fundamentalism, a great many Southern Baptists, including myself, remained faithful to what we had always believed. Those who remained faithful to the traditional Southern Baptist beliefs came to be known as "moderates." Moderate Oklahoma Baptists rejected the rhetoric of the fundamentalists. They did not change their views about the Bible. They rejected the narrow theory of biblical inerrancy. They did not change their views about the infallibility of the Bible. They did not change their views concerning missions, ecclesiology, and theology.

Anthony Jordan's attitude toward moderate Baptists was not Christlike. His passionate dislike for Cooperative Baptists and Mainstream Baptists wasn't pretty. He has a passionate distaste for moderate Oklahoma Baptists because they did not fall into line with the with the neo-fundamentalism that came with the takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. He doesn't understand that there was a major shift toward narrow fundamentalism among Southern Baptist thinking over the past quarter century.

The fundamentalist takeover led to a dismissive attitude toward those who rejected the modern ideas about biblical inerrancy. Those who rejected neo-fundamentalism were considered to be liberals of the worst order. Those who rejected the inerrancy theory of the Bible were systematically demeaned and excluded. Subscribing to the inerrancy theory of the Bible became a test of fellowship for the fundamentalists. After the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message was adopted, those who openly opposed the new statement of faith (which functioned more like a creed than a statement of faith) were marginalized and pushed aside. They were purged from leadership positions in Oklahoma Baptist life. They were blackballed, ignored, fired, and demeaned. I know this to be true, because I experienced it first hand.

Dr. Jordan wrote, concerning the first century of Oklahoma Baptist life:

These 100 years of history are marked by the hand and blessing of Almighty God. He has chosen to bless His people with strength in numbers, resources and influence.

I believe God did bless Oklahoma Baptists through the first 75 years of their history, God did bless them strength, numbers, and resources. But that's only part of the story. There's another side to the story. And it isn't as pretty. The next post will delineate part of the other side of the story.

The Oklahoma Baptist Centennial (Part 3)

Through the first 100 years of Oklahoma Southern Baptist life there have been many high points. In an editorial ("Back to the Future") in the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, to which the link is no longer available, Anthony Jordan painted a glowing picture of God's hand at work in the first century of Oklahoma Baptist history.

These 100 years of history are marked by the hand and blessing of Almighty God. He has chosen to bless His people with strength in numbers, resources and influence.

It's true that God did bless Oklahoma Baptists with strength in numbers, resources, and influence. However, not everything that happened in the last decade or so came from the hand of Almighty God. I don't believe Almighty God had much to do with a whole lot of what happened in Oklahoma during those years. Dr. Jordan tells only part of the story. There is another side that I'm sure many in the Baptist Building in Oklahoma City would rather not have told. There are some low points in Oklahoma Baptist history. Here are several of the of the low points in the history of Southern Baptists in the Sooner state.

A Prevailing Spirit of Hate toward Moderate Baptists (CBFO) in Oklahoma:
From the moment the Cooperative Baptist fellowship was formed, the BGCO leadership sought to discredit and prevent moderate Baptists from having a voice in Oklahoma Baptist life. The Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma was born on February 29, 1992. Anthony Jordan, (who was at the time President of the BGCO) and the leadership in the Baptist Building began their attacks on moderate the CBFO and all CBF friendly people. In April of 1992, Glenn Brown, editor of the Baptist Messenger, wrote an editorial saying that there was not room in Oklahoma Baptist life for both the BGCO and the CBFO.

On March 26, 1992, incorporation papers were issued by John Kennedy, Oklahoma Secretary of State, to the new "Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma." The Secretary of State ruled that the word cooperative could not be used for any kind of organization in Oklahoma except farmers' cooperatives and public utilities. His opinion was ostensibly based on a prohibition contained in the Constitution of Oklahoma. Thus Oklahoma's Fellowship is the only state CBF organization that is "cooperating," but not "cooperative."

Through the summer of 1992, the BGCO leadership did everything possible to prevent the growth of the CBFO. The BGCO leadership did not want the CBFO to even exist. CBFO historian, Dr. Dan Hobbs, wrote a history of the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma. He wrote:

An interesting sidelight on the First General Assembly was the work of a modern-day Martin Luther, who tacked a sheet of paper on one of doors of a conference room with the title "95 Theses on Why the CBF of Oklahoma Should Not Exist." Not shy, the intruder signed his name. It was Wade Burleson, currently President of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and pastor of Emanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Oklahoma.

I don't believe Almighty God instilled the spirit of hate in the hearts of Oklahoma Baptist leaders in 1992. The year 1992 was definitely a low year in Oklahoma Baptist history.

The Joe L. Ingram Controversy:
The most egregious example of the BGCO's persecution of moderates came in November of 1993, when the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma voted to censure Joe Ingram, its former Executive Secretary and Treasurer, for being in sympathy with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship movement. He was the Executive Director-Treasurer of Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma for 25 years (1971-1986). He was a moderate Baptist before "moderate" was in vogue. Oklahoma Baptist University named the OBU School of Christian Service in his honor.

In 1992, Ingram had appeared on the program at the first annual assembly of the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma. In retribution for his transgression of "consorting with moderates," the BGCO selected a small committee, headed by Anthony Jordan, to meet with their former leader. Dr. Ingram's "great sin" was that he wrote a letter to key Oklahoma pastors, inviting them to attend a CBF meeting. The Committee sought to express the Convention's displeasure at the exercise of his Baptist freedom and priesthood. A man of impeccable taste and unimpeachable integrity, Joe Ingram refused to meet with the designated committee.

Almighty God had nothing to do with the treatment that Joe Ingram received from the fundamentalists. The controversy was a very low point Oklahoma Baptist history.

Dr. Gene Garrison and First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City:
In the 1970's Dr. Garrison was a respected member of SBC and BGCO boards. He was a frequent conference speaker. In the mid-1980's he, like other moderate Oklahoma Baptists, was blacklisted by the fundamentalists. He pastored First Baptist in Oklahoma City 1973-96. In 1983 Bailey Smith, then pastor of Del City (Oklahoma) First Southern Baptist Church, condemned Oklahoma City FBC for ordaining women deacons. This set off a controversy that led Capital Association to refuse to seat messengers from the church. Dr. Garrison never again had the opportunity to so much as lead a BGCO meeting in silent prayer. After he was blacklisted, he never again appeared on the platform at a BGCO meeting or function.

Almighty God certainly had nothing to do with Dr. Garrison being blacklisted and excluded from having a voice BGCO affairs. Dr. Garrison's treatment by the BGCO was a very low point in Oklahoma Baptist history.

Dr. Lavonn Brown and First Baptist Church of Norman:
Dr. Brown pastored First Baptist in Norman 1970-99. He also was a respected member of SBC and BGCO boards and was a frequent conference speaker. In the mid-1980's he, like Dr. Garrison, was blacklisted by the Fundamentalists. Norman FBC had also ordained women deacons. In 1980 Dr. Brown joined 17 Baptist pastors at Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to discuss the takeover and to help counter the conservative direction of the convention. That group, known subsequently as the "Gatlinburg Gang," formed the nucleus of what became the "Moderate Movement" in the Southern Baptist Convention. From that experience, the Oklahoma Baptist leaders branded him as being a "liberal."

In 1989, when First Norman celebrated its 100th anniversary, Dr. Brown petitioned the BGCO leaders to allow the church to host the convention's annual meeting in the church's centennial year. The convention leadership refused to allow the church to host the Convention's annual meeting simply because Dr. Brown was friendly to the CBF.

Almighty God certainly had nothing to do with Dr. Brown being blacklisted and excluded from having a voice BGCO affairs. Like Dr. Garrison, he never again had an opportunity to lead an Oklahoma Baptist meeting in silent prayer. Dr. Brown's treatment by the BGCO was a very low point in Oklahoma Baptist history.

Dr. Gary Cook Kicked Off the BGCO Strategic Planning Committee:
Dr. Cook was a former Vice President for Church Programs and Services at the Sunday School Board. He accepted pastorate of First Baptist Church in Lawton, OK shortly after trustees removed Lloyd Elder as President and replaced him with Jimmy Draper. In 1993 Fundamentalists had Cook removed from BGCO's Strategic Planning Committee because he had moderated a CBF discussion group and had introduced a CBF Cecil Sherman at a luncheon. Dr. Cook was blacklisted and never again had a voice in Oklahoma Baptist life.

Almighty God had nothing to do with Dr. Cook's dismissal from the BGCO Strategic Planning Committee. He was blacklisted by the Baptist Building and state leadership. His treatment by BGCO personnel was a low point in Oklahoma Baptist history.

Anne Graham Lotz Banned from at the Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference:
In 1993, Jerry Don Abernathy was the state evangelism director for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. As the director of evangelism in Oklahoma, he was the person who planned the program for the annual evangelism conference, held in January. Abernathy planned a program that included Ann Graham Lotz as one of the speakers. The program for the January evangelism conference began to be published in the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger in September.

Shortly after the conference program appeared in the Messenger, Wayne Keeley, pastor of a church in Claremore, began a crusade to have her removed from the program. He wrote numerous letters to the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger and gathered a number of vocal supporters. At the '93 annual BGCO convention in November, Keeley stood on the floor and made the motion to have Mrs. Lotz struck from the conference program. The motion passed and Mrs. Lotz was disinvited because she was a "woman preacher." Keeley let it be known that "Oklahoma Baptists do not approve of women preachers." Not a single voice spoke against his motion. Not one Oklahoma Baptist stood to speak on her behalf.

Keeley attempted to get Abernathy fired because he had invited a "woman preacher" to speak at the 1994 Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference. He was not fired. I don't know what happened, but he was gone from Oklahoma less than a year. Almighty God had nothing to do with banning Mrs. Lotz from preaching at the Oklahoma Evangelism Conference. Almighty God had nothing to do with the terrible treatment that Jerry Don Abernathy received for inviting her to Oklahoma. The controversy was a low point in Oklahoma Baptist history.

The 1998 Baptist Faith and Message and the "Submissive
Women" Article:
The first revision of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message occurred in 1998. Oklahoma Baptists were heavily involved in the revision process. Tom Elliff, pastor of the Del City (Oklahoma) First Southern Baptist Church and president of the Southern Baptist Convention, appointed a monolithic fundamentalist revision committee, with Oklahoma's executive director, Anthony Jordan, designated as chairman. The committee did not reflect the whole of the Southern Baptist Convention. Rather it reflected the exclusive views of the fundamentalist SBC Takeover faction.

The revision did not change the text of the 63BF&M. Rather, it added an article (Article 18) to the 1963 BF&M. The new article, disguised as an "Family" article, codified an unwritten fundamentalist doctrine relative to the submission of women in the church and home. Fundamentalists, since the beginning of time, have practiced gender discrimination in their homes and churches. Women are to be kept in their place. Wives are to be "submissive" to their husbands. Women are to be excluded from being pastors and deacons. Women must not be ordained to be either deacons or pastors. While the fundamentalists vehemently deny it, they relegate women to second class status in the church and home.

Oklahoma Baptists played a key role in codifying the regulation that women must be kept in their place. The 1998 BF&M was the first document in Southern Baptist history that codified the position of women in the church and home. The 2000 BF&M took the codification process a step farther.

I don't believe Almighty God had anything to do with the 1998 revision of the Baptist Faith and Message. The appearance of the 1998 BF&M was a low point on Oklahoma Baptist history.

The 2000 Baptist Faith and Message Became a Creed:
Oklahoma became one of the first state Baptist conventions to formally adopted the the 2000 BF&M. In August following the June 2000 SBC annual convention in New Orleans, the Oklahoma Fellowship of Directors of Missions formally adopted a resolution on the 2000 BF&M. Anthony Jordan, without the assistance of a resolution committee, presented the resolution to the DOMs. With very little discussion it was railroaded through and passed with one dissenting vote.

At the November 2000 BGCO annual meeting, the convention formally adopted the 2000 BF&M. From the floor of the convention, there were two attempts to dissuade Oklahoma Baptists from adopting the confession, which by that time was quickly becoming a creed for all Southern Baptists.

The 2000 BF&M presented disastrous consequences not only for Oklahoma Baptists, but for all Southern Baptists. Thousands of Southren Baptists suffered the consequences, especially the missionaries, seminary professors, and denominational employees. The 2000 BF&M became a test of fellowship in Oklahoma and across the denomination. Hundreds of faithful missionaries were fired or forced to resign for refusing to sign the creed-like confession. Scores of committed seminary professors were fired or forced to resign. Many good and godly denominational employees became casualties for speaking out against the confession. In an indirect manner, I lost my position as Director of Missions in Grady Baptist Association for writing and publicly speaking out against the confession. I am just one of thousands Southern Baptists who suffered the consequences of opposing the 2000 BF&M.

I don't believe Almighty God had anything to do with the creation of the 2000 BF&M. The God I love and serve is not the author of division and controversy. The God I love and serve does not demand that all Baptists agree, jot and tittle, with the fundamentalist Southern Baptist theology and agenda. The God I love and serve does not treat believers with the same disrepect that the present day fundamentalists treat their fellow Baptists. He is a God of love, not a god of controversy and division. The creation of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message was a low point, not only in Oklahoma Baptist history, but in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Almighty God is my witness!!

Why Am I Not Surprised?

Why am I not surprised? My polling place is a church. It is located three blocks from my house. I voted at noon. When I arrived at the polling place, there were about 20 voters ahead of me. As I stood in line, I glanced over to a table next to the wall and saw a sample ballot.

I decided to examine the ballot as I waited in line. There beside the ballot was a copy of the Oklahoma Voter's Guide. (Click on the photo to see a larger view) Someone had apparently gone to the Oklahoma Family Policy Council website, copied the entire contents of the voters guide, and placed it beside the sample ballot. I was amazed beyond belief that anyone would have the audacity to break the law like this. It is against the law to post any sort of political advertisement inside a polling place, much less beside a sample ballot.

Rather than cause a ruckus, which I could have easily done, I registered, received my ballot, and went to the voting booth and marked it. After entering the ballot into the voting machine, I casually went to the table, picked up the voter's guide, and walked out. I was angry. Very angry.

I decided to drive down to the Garfield County Election Board and lodge a complaint. I told the official at the Election Board office what I experienced. I received a mixed response. The official indicated that it was against the law for something like this to occur. She said the people at the polling place were supposed to be on the watch for incidents like this, but didn't seem overly concerned. She asked which polling place had allowed this to occur. I told her and she declared that I had done the right thing by removing the document from the premises.

I don't honestly don't believe any election official, either at the local polling place or the county election board, had anything to do with placing the document where is was. Rather, I think it was probably someone from the Oklahoma Family Policy Council. I'm not sure how wide spread this was. It could have occurred just at my polling place. But knowing what I do about the zeal of people from the OFCP, I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of thing didn't happen all over Oklahoma.

The date on the voter's guide is 10/20/2006. Someone, whoever it was, apparently deliberately planned to plant this guide at a polling place. I would be interested to learn how many other polling places had these illegal documents beside the sample ballots. Of course, not being an election official, there's no way I could ever learn. But whether it happened just at my polling place, or whether it happened only at other polling places around the county and state, the people of Oklahoma Family Planning Council should be ashamed that one of their number should stoop so low as this. This is illegal by any standard of measurement.

Many Christians preach long and hard about faithfully abiding by the laws of the land. But when it comes furthering their own agenda, breaking the law apparently doesn't matter. Small wonder the world sees so many Christians as being hypocrites. Then again, why am I not surprised?

The Wounded Messenger...

Ray Sanders, editor of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, is a wounded messenger. In a recent editorial, he expresses amazement that he would receive criticism for publishing a partisan political voters guide. He wrote:

"It amazes me that people want to "shoot the messenger" for exposing how candidates feel about real issues that are important to Christians. Are candidates so busy they don't have time to answer a brief questionnaire from the third-largest news publication in Oklahoma? Is it wrong for the Baptist Messenger to publish a candidate's response, even if it differs from the opinion of a reader? Is it the Baptist Messenger's fault that a Southern Baptist Governor supports the expansion of gambling in our state? Is it the Baptist Messenger's fault that a former Congressman running for Governor is against gambling, but is a Mormon? Apparently so, based on some of the reactions I have received."

Sanders also wrote,

"Here is the bottom line. The Baptist Messenger, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Family Policy Council don't endorse or support political candidates or parties. What should matter to Oklahoma Baptists is where the candidates stand on the issues. I don't care whether you support a donkey or an elephant or whether your blood bleeds blue or red. It concerns me little if you live in little Dixie or a high-rise apartment. What concerns me is whether your party affiliation will get in the way of how your conscience tells you to vote regarding the issues and how the candidates you elect represent our values.

Here's the bottom line. Sanders is engaging in partisan politics while using Cooperative Program dollars contributed by Oklahoma Baptists. He asks, "Is it wrong for the Baptist Messenger to publish a candidate's response, even if it differs from the opinion of a reader?" The answer yes. It is wrong to publish secular political comments in a special edition of a denominational paper. It is wrong for several reasons:

1) The special edition of the Messenger is partisan political advertisement. It is wrong for churches and denominations to engage in partisan political advertising. Sanders can claim that the voter's guide is not a partisan political advertisement, but the questions contained in the guide are favorable to Republicans and unfavorable to Democrats. Small wonder the Democrats, including Governor Brad Henry, declined to answer the questionnaire. No straight thinking politician is going to engage in answering a questionnaire that puts him/her in a bad light.

2) The special edition of the Messenger is paid political advertisement. Who paid for this political advertisement? Oklahoma Baptists paid for the voter's guide. They paid for it whether they wanted to or not. There's no telling how many thousands of Cooperative Program dollars were spent on this guide. There's no telling how many thousands of dollars were spent on paper, printing, and postage to get this voter's guide into the hands Oklahoma Baptists. It is a travesty that Oklahoma Baptists should have to bear the cost of producing and mailing the voter's guide. Sanders (and the Baptist Messenger) should leave the paid political advertisements to the politicians and stick to publishing news for and about Oklahoma Baptist churches. The politicians can take care of their own advertisements and Oklahoma Baptists will have thousands of Cooperative Program dollars to spend on ministries that promote the gospel.

3) The Baptist Messenger is a newspaper for and about Oklahoma Baptist churches. The paper is a publication for and about Oklahoma Baptists. The purpose of the paper is to publish news for and about Oklahoma Baptist churches and to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. The special edition voter's guide contains no news for or about Oklahoma Baptist churches. It contains nothing that promotes the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was designed to influence the outcome of an election.

Sanders wrote: "What concerns me is whether your party affiliation will get in the way of how your conscience tells you to vote regarding the issues and how the candidates you elect represent our values." My conscience tells me that Ray Sanders and the Baptist Messenger do not, and should not, tell Oklahoma Baptists how to vote in political elections. My conscience tells me it is wrong to publish a special edition of denominational newspaper to push a Republican agenda. My conscience tells me it would be just as wrong to publish a special edition of a denominational newspaper to push a Democratic agenda. My conscience tells me it is wrong to use Cooperative Program dollars to influence the outcome of any political election. My conscience tells me that it is wrong to strap the cost of the special edition "Voter's Guide" of the Baptist Messenger on Oklahoma Baptists. My conscience tells me that Oklahoma Baptists should not be in the business of secular politics.

I would see no problem with Ray Sanders writing editorials expressing his personal views in regular issues of the Baptist Messenger. No problem there because that's what editors should do. But don't spend thousands of Cooperative Program dollars publishing special edition partisan political voter's guides. If Sanders wants to write a thousand messages on his own blogsite, at his own expense, well and good. If he wants to encourage secular politicians to answer questionnaires to his own blog, well and good. If he wants to encourage five hundred of his friends in the blogosphere to get his message out, well and good. But don't do it at the expense of Oklahoma Baptists whose Cooperative Program dollars were intended to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ and news for and about Oklahoma Baptists.