Originally posted by NateT:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Baptist Believer:
I have no idea what you heard, but theology is not Ronnie's strong suit.
Well, I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, unless I heard a conversation with him and someone asked "Did you really mean _____ when you preached. Because that's how it came out"</font>[/QUOTE]Ronnie is a former pastor of my home church, and he signed my ministerial license. Many years ago, he preached a sermon that quoted a bunch of "facts" about a subject that were grossly inaccurate. I quietly spoke with him about it in the hallway, thinking that he would be concerned about the effect that sermon would have on his credibility with the congregation, but instead I was treated to an impromptu harangue that said, in essence, the facts were not nearly as important as his conclusions... and that I had no right to "challenge" him. (I didn't realize I was "challenging" anyone.)
But it took another year for me to start questioning the so-called “conservative resurgence”. A friend of mine (who was also a protégé of Ronnie’s) was having personal problems with one of the professors at Howard Payne University, where we both attended. My friend was convinced that the professor was “not saved” because the professor apparently believed that the JEPD theory of the Pentateuch had some validity, and my friend (nor I) did not. Unfortunately, my friend started harassing the professor (in the name of Jesus, of course) by leaving gospel tracts on his car, under his office door, etc. in an effort to “witness” to him. The professor reacted poorly (I suspect, because of sheer frustration) because he and my friend had previously had a very good personal relationship. My friend then went to “go visit Paige [Patterson]” in Dallas to figure out how to get the professor (and two other professors at Howard Payne) fired. A few weeks later, Ronnie came into town to preach a revival at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church in Brownwood. A few of us who had previously been members of his church greeted him as he arrived and we went back to the pastor’s study to catch up with each other. As soon as the door closed, Ronnie started scheming with us on how to get the three professors fired. (Ronnie had had at least two of those professors when he went through Howard Payne a few years before.) I was also familiar with all three and knew that the allegations they were trying to work up had little to do with the truth of the situation or the teachings or character of the professors. I offered a bit of resistance to their scheme and was rebuked for coddling those who “didn’t believe the Bible”. I know for a fact that two of the three professors that were being plotted against believed the Bible (and tried to obey its teachings) more than my friend, and the third professor was simply a very poor professor who had some liberal ideas, but no one really took seriously – in less than a year his contract wasn’t renewed because of the low quality of his teaching.
Ronnie's undergraduate degree is a BA in Psychology from Howard Payne University. I've noticed over the years that he uses psychology quite a bit to persuade and motivate people.
On the good side, God has used Ronnie in a positive and powerful way from time to time that does not seem to have to do anything with psychology. I have no problem believing that God may use Ronnie to do good things at FBC Springdale, but I believe that Ronnie’s ambition has been his chief failure.
If I were going to vote for SBC president, I would not vote for Ronnie. He is one of the hard-core Patterson coalition power-brokers that are now choking the SBC because they are trying to control it. I don’t know any of these younger leaders, but if one of them is nominated, and they are humble and have sound character, I would vote for them.
