Men’s Retreat

I signed up my two boys and myself for a Men’s Retreat in October at our church’s Bible Camp in northern Minnesota, but I’m a little bit worried. It could be dangerous this year.

I attended last year and had a great time. We played lots of paintball and board games, ate a lot, and listened to an interesting shrink. He was a former pastor who now counsels people for a lot more money than he made as a pastor. He fit in well with all the crazies that ran around the camp shooting each other with paintball guns—uh, excuse me that’s paintball MARKERS. Lest anyone think that this is a violent game, just because we nurse our welts each evening after the hard fought battles.

This year’s speaker will not be a shrink though. Instead they’ve lined up a heretic. That’s where the danger lies.

This is the second year in a row that our non-Baptist denomination has lined up a speaker from the Baptist General Conference (the SWEDISH Baptists, I suppose that "tempers" the Baptist part.) Both pastors have ties to Bethel University (formerly College—the BGC school), but I guess that’s what we get for living in Minnesota. This year’s pastor is a former professor at Bethel. He claims to have left to spend more time at his ever-growing church. (No longer attending Bethel and not a Baptist myself, I am not privy to all of the politics that took place surrounding his leaving. Maybe it was entirely his decision, but it seems that adequate pressure was applied to force his hand. At least that’s my take from the inadequate hearsay to which I should not be listening.)

This year’s speaker has received a lot of criticism for some of his preaching and writing. He has been an outspoken advocate of an open theism, which his critics claim to be a very dangerous heresy. Those coming from a Calvinistic position see his views as more extreme than Arminianism. They see him denying God’s sovereignty. Of course, his response is that an openness view bridges the gap between the above two views and is a healthy response to a hyper-Calvinism that squelches any free-will and leads to a dangerous fatalism.

So what am I doing taking my boys to hear this dangerous heretic? Well, I hear he’s a great drummer, and maybe he’ll have time for a few helpful pointers for the aspiring musicians.

Of course I am kidding. But seriously, he is a great drummer, but more important he’s also a great preacher and thinker. I’ve read many of his books and hear him occasionally on the radio. Greg Boyd presents a much needed word of urgency to those who become complacent in their spiritual life. He fights hard against a hyper-Calvinist mindset that can degrade into a dry apathy. We can all use a wake up call once in a while.

I’m still not sure where I line up or fall down on the subject of free will and predestination (I’m also a big fan of some Calvinists), but I think it will be helpful for them to hear a worthy, top notch proponent of the non-Calvinist side of the argument.

Now I should probably start looking for a decent Calvinist that can play a mean set of drums. Well, maybe that’s a stretch. I don’t know if there is such a creature—well, maybe a three-point Calvinist, but definitely not a five-pointer. Send me your suggestions. Even if it's a Baptist.