Joining Together in Atlanta
Jimmy Carter has a brief opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today, where he talks about “Global Divisions faced as Baptists Plan to Convene. He is talking, of course, about the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, in Atlanta, Georgia, January 30-February 1, 2008. He writes:
One of the basic premises will be that the doors will be open to all Baptists who choose to share this long-awaited experience.Our common ground will be the words of our Savior when he returned to his home town in Nazareth after his miraculous ministry had been demonstrated around the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
These words are both inspirational and a call to action as we strive to emulate, in our own individual ways, the perfect life of Jesus Christ. There is no way to avoid his emphasis on “poor,” “brokenhearted,” “captives,” “blind” and “bruised.” We pray that the “spirit of the Lord” will also be upon us.
We meet at a time when the global Christian church is numerically strong and changing rapidly, but is sadly afflicted with unnecessary divisions that sap away the strength of our collective ministry.
The event in Atlanta truly is a Celebration- of our strengths as individual streams of Baptists, of rejoicing in the call of Christ on our lives to use our gifts to share the message of His Grace and Peace with the world. It is a time that we can come together as Baptists to fellowship and share ideas and ministries.
Registration for the Celebration is free. Go to http://www.newbaptistcelebration.org for more information on speakers, special interest sessions, and how to register.
