The pastor deserves bonus pay if...

Certain situations may make the pastorate an even more challenging experience. I have never been a full-fledged pastor but get to play one on occasion.
From my observations, here are a couple of responses to the phrase: "A pastor deserves bonus pay if..."
Please add to the list.
1. The pastor deserves bonus pay if the most popular former pastor stays after retirement.
2. ...if the church owns a cemetery.
3. ...if Sunday night worship is considered a biblical command.
Got more???

Baylor fires President Lilley

The Waco Tribune is reporting that Baylor University regents fired President John M. Lilley this morning.
Lilley was half way into a five-year contract as the 13th president of his alma mater.
This following statement was sent to Baylor faculty and staff.

Baylor Board Votes to Seek New President

GRAPEVINE, Texas – The Baylor University Board of Regents voted today to begin the search for a new University President. Board Chairman Dr. Howard K. Batson said the decision was necessary in order to unite Baylor’s many constituencies and move the University forward in its next period of growth and renewal. Batson said the move represents the Regents’ acknowledgement of a need for unifying leadership as Baylor strives to achieve its goals under Baylor 2012.
The Board had hoped to transition to a new president gradually, officially beginning the presidential search in January 2009 and eventually replacing Baylor President John M. Lilley during the final portion of his five-year contract. Because plans for a gradual transition were rejected by Dr. Lilley, the Board will immediately seek a new president.
The decision came during the Board of Regents annual summer retreat, which this year is being held in Grapevine, Texas.
“I’m not a liberty to discuss the specifics of this personnel decision,” Batson said, “but we believe that Baylor must demonstrate its commitment to excellence in all areas, including communication and the building of relationships within the Baylor family. Change is always difficult, but Baylor has a solid leadership team in place and the university continues to experience unprecedented success in many areas. The Board is confident that the university will be able to press forward and continue its progress during this time of transition. The Board is appreciative of Dr. Lilley’s service to Baylor, which includes a variety of significant accomplishments.”
Harold Cunningham, a member of the Board of Regents who was previously board chair, will assume the role of acting president until such time as an interim president is named. According to Batson, “Harold has a track record of proven leadership and is well respected within the Baylor family. He has served Baylor previously in two different vice-presidential roles, including Vice President for Special Projects and Vice President for Finance and Administration, and as Acting Director of Operations. He has also done an outstanding job in his work on the Board of Regents.”
It is expected that Cunningham will serve a brief period until an interim president is appointed. After an interim is chosen, the Board, in consultation with other constituencies of the Baylor family, will begin a comprehensive search for a new president.
“For 160 years,” Batson said, “the University’s success has been based upon the collective efforts of the entire university community working together. In this time of transition, we know that all members of the Baylor family will ensure that Baylor continues to do what it does best – provide an outstanding education in an environment that embraces both faith and learning, delivered by the best faculty.”
The Board will conclude its three-day meeting on Friday.

Pros and cons of a trayless society

According to a USA TODAY article in yesterday's edition, college cafeterias are eliminating the familiar food trays.
One higher education expert predicted most of the nation's 4,000 colleges and universities will phase out their use of the plastic trays over the next five years.
Action has already taken place on such campuses as the University of Florida, the University of North Carolina and New York University.
One benefit, proponents say, is that students waste less (and might even eat less) when they can't pile food on a big flat tray. Another significant benefit is not having to wash the trays.
Aramark, the catering service for many schools, reported that 79 percent of the 92,000 students they surveyed supported the move away from trays, signaling a sensitivity toward environmental and financial stewardship as well as a willingness to put their desserts on the same plate with meat and veggies.
Of course, there are cons to be raised as well. In addition to more spilled milk to cry over — what will students use to sled down campus hills on a snow day?
I guess the Gators aren't too worried about that one.
Every generation enjoys boring the next one with recollections of vanished items from the ol' days: white toothpaste, pay phones, TV rabbit ears, metal hotel keys with plastic tags, etc.
Looks like one more familiar item is headed for extinction. Or they could be marketed as mini-sleds?

(P.S. My blogging partner Tony Cartledge is posting daily updates from the Baptist World Alliance gathering in Prague at tonycartledge.com.

No news: Dobson 'might' endorse McCain

Presidential politics can be interesting. The most laughable and least significant report of the week was Focus on the Family leader James Dobson's pronouncement that he "might" endorse Republican Sen. John McCain.
In the words of military veteran Gomer Pyle: "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"
Imagine that, a Religious Right figure supporting a Republican candidate. When is the last time that happened?...never mind.
Of course, Dobson, who famously said he "would not vote for John McCain under any circumstance," still wants to be a player in national politics. So this is a calculated move to keep him visible and connected.
A "maybe-endorsement" is designed to keep the attention on the endorser rather than the endorsee. It also carries a political threat.
This is probably the latest effort by the declining Religious Right to pressure Sen. McCain into choosing a running mate they like. McCain has not coddled fundamentalist Christians like previous candidates — even calling some of them "agents of intolerance" in the past.
McCain, an Episcopalian who attends North Phoenix Baptist Church where Dan Yeary is pastor, has tried to assure Christian fundamentalists that they would like his selection of Supreme Court justices and his opposition to gay marriage.
But Dobson seems to want more before giving a full endorsement — which everyone who knows anything about anything knows is coming.
It is hard to imagine, however, that those over whom Dodson has influence are waiting to see which candidate they should support. The only influence over the presidential election that Dobson may have is whether his followers walk briskly or sluggishly into the polls to vote for the Republican nominee.
Of course, all votes count — even from those who consider you a lesser evil.

Burmese need our prayer, care

Since last fall, I have attempted writing or editing several articles for the print edition of Baptists Today about the plight of the Burmese people. These articles have not made it to press because the situation in Burma (now called Myanmar) is too fluid to report in that format.
The tragedy of an oppressive military government and the resulting refugees was made much worse by the impact of Cyclone Nargis in early May that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Burmese people.
The same government that has made life miserable for the multi-ethnic population also hindered some of the early relief efforts. The situation is still dire.
Baptists have a long history in Burma dating back to the significant and sacrificial work of missionaries Ann Hasseltine Judson (1789-1826) and her husband Adoniram Judson (1788-1850).
Many Baptists (including the American Baptist Churches in the USA, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship) are engaged in helping with relief efforts and care of refugees. So are individual congregations.
Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., has embraced many Karen ("Ka-RIN") refugees. This ethnic group — mistreated by the Myanmar government — includes many Baptists and other Christians.
American Baptists and the Fellowship have dually appointed missionaries Duane and Marcia Binkley to work with Burmese refugees.
Along with more than 200 other worldwide Baptist groups, ABC and CBF participate in relief efforts for the Burmese people through the Baptist World Alliance.
Caring individuals may also participate in the relief efforts by making direct gifts through this link to BWAid.
Here is the latest update from BWA on the desperate situation in Burma (Myanmar) that deserves our prayer and care:

Myanmar recovers slowly after Cyclone Nargis

Washington, D.C. (BWA) — Two months following the passage of Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar on May 2 and 3, reports are that conditions remain desperate.
Rescue24, a search, rescue and relief effort by Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, has reported that “there are huge unmet basic needs for the victims of the disaster.”
In a comprehensive 25-page report sent to the BWA, BWAid Rescue24 workers in Myanmar stated that “many families are living under makeshift shelter …made of clothes, branches of trees or even under debris.” The document stated that “most of the water sources are completely destroyed or contaminated with human and animal carcasses. There is no proper facility for storing drinking water.”
The BWAid Rescue24 report lists the most urgent needs as food, drinking water, hygiene products, psycho-social support, shelter and livelihood support.
Conditions have been made worse by the onset of the rainy season which lasts from May to November, and which brings frequent torrential rainfall.
BWAid Rescue24 is working closely with the Myanmar Baptist Convention (MBC), which formed the Nargis Relief and Rehabilitation Central Committee.
“The MBC is sending food, drinking water, clothes, mosquito nets and medicine daily to nearly 100,000 survivors who desperately need the supplies. The relief material is being delivered directly to the survivors in the Irrawaddy River Delta areas by ferries, boats and cars from Rangoon,” said the BWAid Rescue24 aid and relief workers.
The MBC Women’s Department, which is also engaged in relief work, informed the BWA Women’s Department that “there are many people who are homeless, as well as jobless,” and stated plans to begin vocational training in some of the hardest hit areas.
Estimates vary widely as to the number of those who have died from the worst natural disaster to hit Myanmar, with figures ranging from 134,000 to near one million dead. Several million more are estimated to have suffered directly from the cyclone. More than 10,000 Baptists have been confirmed dead, and more than 94,000 Baptists were severely affected, losing homes, agricultural fields, and being displaced.
Even though Myanmar is largely Buddhist, Baptists have a strong presence among some of the marginalized ethnic and language groups in the country, with the MBC having more than 1.1 million members in more than 4,500 churches.

(BWA photo above)

Liberalism comes to VBS

Vacation Bible School is apparently where the slippery slope ends.
I picked up my daughters (one a participant, the other a helper) from VBS at noon so we could have lunch together. But they were not hungry.
"Why?"I asked.
“Pizza, Kit-Kat Bars, ham-salad sandwiches….,” they replied while rubbing their full tummies.
I was aghast, and responded with righteous indignation: “At Vacation Bible School? You didn’t have butter cookies with holes in the middle that you put on your pinkie while eating? No purple or red Kool-Aid dipped from a big pot?”
Hints of moving away from clear biblical teachings about VBS had surfaced earlier: No Saturday parade of balloon-laden cars — led by a sheriff’s car or fire truck — inviting newcomers. And the whole VBS lasts just one week.
I was almost afraid to ask what else they had done or not done at VBS. To my relief, they had a daily crafts time.
Yet not one ashtray or rooster picture (made with colored corn) has come home.
Music was a part of their experience, thankfully, but they did not know the words to "Daily Vacation Bible School" ("Where we work, sing and play, and are happy all the day. At our daily Vacation Bible School").
I was relieved that my younger daughter recalled each of the daily Bible stories so far — though taught by a female graduate of Southern Seminary before the Boys took over and cleaned things up.
Learning eternal lessons from the Good Samaritan story and the friends who dropped a sick man through the roof to Jesus are fine. But didn't he also say that his disciples would be known by their ability to stand and sit on piano cues?

From a Biscuit to the Bronx

The Board of Directors of Baptists Today met in Birmingham in the spring of 2007 to present the annual Judson-Rice Award to Prof. Wayne Flynt for his positive impact on the State of Alabama.
Arriving the night before the meeting, director Allen Abbott and I watched a good AA minor league game between the Birmingham Barons and the Montgomery Biscuits. When the Biscuits' third-baseman Evan Longoria was announced, I pointed to the screen.
"Look, his name is just one letter different than that of actress Eva Longoria," I said to Allen. "I bet his teammates kid him a lot."
(Of course, neither Allen nor I would be that familiar with the saucy actress or her hit show, Desperate Housewives.)
Fast forward one year and Evan Longoria, quickly a major leaguer, is well known in his own right. Helping bring success to the formerly helpless Tampa Bay Rays, he is in New York tonight representing his team in the All-Star Game.
Longoria was even invited to participate in the annual Home Run Derby last night that was drawn out by ESPN for too long to keep my full attention. Evan didn't make it past the first round, but hit a respectable three dingers in historic Yankee Stadium.
Justin Morneau, would spread 22 homers over three rounds, was the technical winner. But Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers garnered the most attention with a record-setting 28 homers in the first round.
A recovering addict who almost lost his life and career to drugs, Hamilton is now relying on faith to make the most of his incredible talent. He is an example of redemption.
Longoria — just one year away from AA - is a reminder that we never know what good things might be around the corner.

P.S. To Brett Farve: Play football or don't play football. Just stop interrupting the middle of baseball season with your ongoing indecision.

Tale-telling Tony

My blogging partner, colleague and friend, Tony Cartledge, got some good ink in the Raleigh News & Observer yesterday. The article by religion writer Yonat Shimron focused primarily on Tony's new book, Telling Stories: Tall Tales & Deep Truths (Smyth&Helwys).
The book is a collection of stories Tony has used through many years of preaching to communicate biblical truths. I urge you to read the N&O article and to buy the book.
That way, I can keep him working cheap for Baptists Today on the side.

Belly billboards

There is an old saying that "Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one." But it also appears that many people want to express those opinions on their bellies and chests.
While my daughters enjoyed a day of roller coasters and twirly things at Dollywood recently, I focused on hand-dipped corn dogs and the wide variety of teeshirt messages.
With messages ranging from creative to crude, the T-shirts came in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some brought a smile — such as the light pink one on a young boy that read: "My dad did the laundry."
Many express the wearer's loyalty to a particular professional, collegiate or amateur sports team. There wuz lots of Tennessee Ur-ange in them hills.
An assortment of NASCAR shirts and Confederate flags could be seen — sometimes on the same shirt. Others called for reflection, like: "Obey gravity: It's the law."
And, of course, the faithful were out using their sweaty cotton front-sides as testimonies. There was the ol' "Real Men Love Jesus" shirt.
Another, played off the famous chocolate-flavored drink and stated: "It was YOU-WHO He died for."
The most direct message read: "Got Jesus? It's Hell without Him." Another said: "God doesn't believe in atheists."
One young father's pot-belly proclaimed: "Dad of Dads (King of Kings was already taken)." I never determined if it was meant as an affirmation of Jesus or sacrilege.
My daughters bought tasteful tees in the Dollywood gift shop before leaving the park. They had just been drenched on a water ride and we didn't want them departing so wet.
I was tempted by a great black T-shirt that paid tribute to Johnny Cash, but I passed. And nothing was offered in tribute to hand-dipped corn dogs.
One park-goer's shirt simply stated: "Stop looking at my shirt." Sorry, just can't help it.

Not everything is funny

After an enjoyable visit to scenic Cades Cove in the Great Smokey Mountains last week, we were ready for lunch. The short drive into Townsend, Tenn., led us to a local diner along the river.
The "family restaurant" was just what we had in mind with sweet tea in Mason Jars and good home-style cooking. The young woman serving us did so with kindness and competence.
A large, round table near the fireplace was occupied by a collection of men surely known as "regulars."
The place had that homey, warm feeling. Eclectic "art" was displayed randomly on the walls — with no hint of a decorator's touch.
But then my eye landed on a sign that was intended as a joke. It made light of sexual harassment.
Then, as I prepared to pay our bill for the good meal, a large wooden paddle on the wall behind the register caught my attention. On it was painted the words: "Tennessee Wife Beater."
The place I had entered feeling good became a place that left me saddened.
I didn't mention anything at all about my observations to my wife or two daughters. But my love and respect for them had a lot to do with my changed feelings.
My only protest was a generous tip for the server who worked in a setting with such disregard for women.
Friends would be quick to affirm my overactive funny bone. I find humor in most places and am not easily offended.
And I realize that the silly sign and paddle do not give evidence that abuse of women is practiced or condoned in this little restaurant where everyone was so kind.
My best guess is that those items were nothing more than an attempt to be funny. For me, however, they were not.