During the BGCT Executive Board meeting, BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade announced Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, will speak on immigration during a 2008 meeting of North American Baptists.
The addition of a Republican would help balance a program that includes former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. During the Executive Board meeting, Wade said he was one of several Baptists pushing hard for representation from the political right on the program.
He hopes the addition of Graham and possible addition of Sessions will allow Baptists to put politics aside and focus on being a “Jesus” people who focus on spreading the gospel by meeting people’s needs in issues such as poverty, hunger and AIDS.
“If we can simply focus on what Jesus called us to be and do – which includes preaching the gospel to the poor, binding up the wounded, feeding the hungry, announcing liberty for the oppressed, proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord has come because Jesus is the messiah and He still is – it’s time for us to sound a call for Americans all over North America, Baptists especially, to stand up and be a Jesus people,” Wade said.
February 27, 2007 at 9:01 am |
Balance is good. However, this needs to be seen as above politics – it’s meeting people’s needs. I know that’s hard to do in such a political environment, but I encourage us all to focus beyond the “balance of power.”