A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE
Thinking About This and That
By David R. Currie
Executive Director

I have loved my work at TBC. I feel together we have done something very special for the Baptist witness in the 21st century. I am a very lucky man for getting to do something that was not a job but a calling.

I am also very, very lucky to own a piece of dirt (actually to be a steward of a piece of dirt that belongs to God). I can not tell you how excited I get on a Friday evening or Saturday morning as I prepare to drive out with my dog to the ranch. I guess it is the way others feel about playing golf or going fishing.

No matter how much stress I have, how many ugly emails or letters I have gotten, how frustrated I get at meanness accepted and approved of by the masses, I forget it all when my goats come running.

But this summer, I found real joy. I rented a bulldozer and drove it several days, clearing brush along the roads at the ranch. Now that is mind clearing, absolute peace. My guess is if I can ride a bulldozer a couple of days a week after I retire, I will be able to write a book a year from the thinking I’ll get done bouncing around on that machine. I thought I would share with you in this article some of the “musings” I had during my days of bulldozer riding.

PET PEEVE: SINGLE ISSUE VOTING

This is political season. One thing that bothers me is how many people are single issue voters. Politicians vote on thousands of important issues. No one issue should determine how you vote. Biblical issues include war and peace, poverty, education, religious liberty and the separation of church and state, abortion, the environment, civil rights and human rights, and on and on. Study candidates and issues and cast informed votes based on your understanding of what’s best for America, not the opinions of others.

A GOOD DOG AND A LOVING MOTHER

There is true joy in having a dog that loves you unconditionally, who values your attention, who greets you when you come home with licks.

It is also wonderful to have an 87 year old Mother who forgives all you mistakes, still comes to hear you preach when she can, and brags about being your Mother to new people she meets.

That, my friend, is “priceless.”

VISIT THE TBC WEBSITE

I want to thank Kathy Blackmon from Louisiana and Emily Row from our staff for the excellent work they have done on the TBC website, www.txbc.org. They have worked hard to post and index all our past newsletters for you to go back and read. The site is still changing almost daily, but a great deal of information is already available.

I was shocked at just the articles that I’ve written since 1994 that are now under the author index (go to publications first). That’s a lot of words. Someone else can judge the contribution of those words to Baptist life and the Kingdom, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done these 17 years a great deal.

COME TO SAN ANTONIO

I hope you will make every effort to attend the annual meeting in San Antonio, November 7-9. It will be a special celebration as we elect new officers, including Dr. Albert Reyes, the first Hispanic ever as BGCT president. He is a great man with a great ministry and a great vision for Texas Baptists.

Our annual breakfast will be special as we highlight the Baptist World Alliance and the wonderful work Baptists are doing around the world. God is so much bigger than most of us can comprehend as we all tend to have small world views.

BGCT REORGANIZATION

The reorganization of the BGCT is a significant thing. I am certain additional revisions will be necessary in the years to come but this is bold and visionary step toward better assisting churches to partner more effectively with Christ. I am concerned that some will feel “left out” as we have less BGCT Executive Board members, but I believe this streamlining is good overall. It is the intention of the reorganization to give more people a voice in the convention through Advisory Boards and other groups. As long we keep working together and do not let little things divide us, we will move forward partnering with Christ.

KEEPING MY PERSPECTIVE I’ve spent the last seventeen years of my ministry fighting fundamentalism and trying to educate people about fundamentalism. I think it has been important work. But I try to never forget that it is not the most important thing I do.

Recently several young men from our area were killed in Iraq. Recently a friend lost a child in an automobile accident. Our churches and communities are filled with people hurting for many reasons. Hurting people do not care about our “Baptist argument.” They need to experience God’s love through the experience of a person loving them in Christ’s name.

I really do try to always remember that.

Thanks for reading my thoughts for so many years. You are special readers and friends to me.

October 2004