Again, I don't claim to be blogging the Convention, only offering random comments in no particular order.

The Founder's breakfast at 6:30 this morning with Danny Akin was tremendous.  Akin gave a very effective rationale for the Great Commission Resurgence document, then offered some words of appreciation and caution for reformed Southern Baptists.  Akin continues to impress and he was everywhere today (and yesterday). 

The day was dominated, of course, by talk of and anticipation concerning the Great Commission Resurgence task force vote, which took place around 7:30 tonight.  The motion passed in what was certainly the most dramatic and interesting part of the day.

Let me try to put this diplomatically:  while the motion passed on the strengths of its own merits and on the widely-embraced sentiment that we as a Convention are at a crossroads, the lack of a cogent, reasonable, issue-grounded argument against the motion certainly didn't hurt its chances.

Morris Chapman, a man for whom I have great respect, seriously mistepped this morning in his rambling and disjointed argument against the motion.  He oddly chose to go after Calvinism as well as after the Baptist Identity guys in a speech that revealed a sense of real frustration on his part.  Again, I'm a Chapman fan, but I was embarrassed both by and for him.  Danny Akin even apologized to SBC Calvinists for Chapman's comments at the Baptist 21 lunch today (or so I'm told) and apparently the Twitterati was more than amazed at Chapman's approach. 

As if this wasn't bad enough, the first person to speak against the motion in the discussion time preceding the vote chose inexplicably to launch into one of the uglier displays of rank anti-Calvinism that I've ever heard voiced aloud from the floor of the SBC.  That, despite the fact that Johnny Hunt (hardly a Calvinist) and Danny Akin (more of one than Hunt, but, again, not a Calvinst) are two of the most vocal supporters of the SBC Resurgence.  Furthermore, former SBC President Frank Page, who has written a book against Calvinism, was next in line at the microphone and gently but clearly rebuked the brother for trying to make this about Calvinism before going on to argue for the motion.

The two attempts to pin this on Calvinism seriously backfired and were regrettable and, in a sense, pitiful.  How odd that an issue that has such strong, passionate support across Calvinist and non-Calvinist lines would be attacked from the angle of partisanship. 

No, something has changed in the SBC.  There is a clear spirit of Great Commission  priority and unity around the gospel that ought to be celebrated.  The Great Commission resurgence is not about smuggling in radical organizational restructuring, though I daresay that some restructuring is in order.

I voted for the Great Commission Resurgence and would do so again.  It heralds the coming of a new day, though much work has to be done.

Finally (and much less importantly), many of the proposed resolutions and motions were frankly odd, and the obsession over Mark Driscoll was weirdly myoepic. 

All in all, a great day and a strong step in the right direction with the Great Commission Resurgence vote.