Frank Page and Strange Quotes from the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana

Tonight, I was able to hear Dr. Page address our Indiana Baptist Convention in Seymour, Indiana. He was gracious, prophetic and humorous. It was the high point of the event. I also picked up a reprint of his Trouble With Tulip. This was my first State Baptist Convention and it was definitely an eye-opener for me. Here are some highlights from Day One of the convention.

1. Dr. Frank Page spoke for unity and cooperation among Baptists against the "giants" that hinder our mission. This was an uplifting call to depend on God rather than the “resources” of the SBC to advance God’s Kingdom. Good.

2. The crowd cried, "Amen" when a different speaker (not Page) declared, "Jesus died for all people - not just the elect." A moment before this same speaker had mentioned substitutionary atonement, which is usually associated with a more "definite" or "particular" view of the cross. Not so good.

3. Dr. Steve Davis made reference made reference barked and said that it should be “Who let the Baptists out?” rather than “Who let the dogs out?” This definitely fit the mood of the meeting but didn’t make sense when I relayed it to people who were not there.

4. One presiding minister praised a sermon by saying, “If that don’t bless your heart, your blesser is broken. " Believe it or not, this was said to a crowd of 400+ messengers and was received with applause.

5. Dr. Frank Page was instructing us Northerners about proper Southern speaking when he said, “The first phrase a Northerner has to learn when they move south is ‘Big Ol.’ Like that is a ‘Big Ol’ truck or that is a Big Ol’ woman.” He retracted the second statement with the all-purpose Southern un-do statement, “Well, bless her heart.” Instant classic.