DOCTORAL STUDIES AT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: Letter to Pastor Billy Russell (and Others), First Baptist Church of Bolivar, MO

Monday, February 22, 2010

From the Desk of Marie O’Hara
Mailing Address                                        

Bolivar, MO  65613

Pastor Billy Russell, Former Pastor Ray Leininger,
      and Former Interim Pastor Rodney Reeves
316 North Main
Bolivar, MO 65613
Office Phone: 417-326-2431   Office Fax: 417-326-4706

Dear Brothers in Christ:

Over the last few years, I feel as though I have earned enough credits to receive a Doctorate -- a PhD in Patience.

It seems, however, as if all of us will be earning some postdoctoral credits in that subject this week.

Honestly, sirs, I would rather spend my time this week completing research (via distance studies in conjunction with my new American university and seminary) for my Doctor of Ministry (DMin) at the University of Wales - Trinity St. David in Lampeter. (see here).

Nonetheless, as stated in my previous, faxed letter of Thursday, February 18, 2010 (here), I have been able to prepare the means of resolving this conflict privately via a combination of telephone facilitation, online communication, and third-party intervention.

Additionally, if mutually desirable or necessary as an alternative or adjunct method, I have, this weekend, made arrangements for legally binding Mediation.

However, today, I was informed of an unavoidable scheduling conflict that will hinder progress for several days.

Therefore, you will receive the initiatory mailing within the next few days – no later, I am told, than the end of this week.

Again, I thank you for your assistance in this matter.


Praying for Patience,


Marie O’Hara

PASTORS' CALL, THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE: Marie's Letter to the Pastors of First Baptist Church of Bolivar, MO

Thursday, February 18, 2010, FAXED about 10:36 am

From the Desk of Marie O’Hara

Mailing Address
Bolivar, MO  65613

Pastor Billy Russell, Former Pastor Ray Leininger,
      and Former Interim Pastor Rodney Reeves
316 North Main
Bolivar, MO 65613
Office Phone: 417-326-2431   Office Fax: 417-326-4706

Dear Brothers in Christ:

It appears that this situation has become like the unusual weather of late – wild, unruly, not entirely pleasant or safe, and subject to abrupt and unpredictable changes.

Within the next three days, I will be contacting you by mail concerning a new means of resolving this conflict privately via a combination of telephone facilitation, online communication, and third-party intervention.

So as to avoid needless complication and redundancy, during the initial discussion, it would be advantageous, if possible, to work with you three only – Pastor Billy Russell, former Pastor Ray Leininger, and former Interim Pastor Rodney Reeves. 

If you are willing to participate and administer in this process, I will need your affirmation of that intention by noon on Monday, March 1, 2010.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.


Praying for your Wisdom and Integrity,


Marie O’Hara

UPDATE - NEW ARRANGEMENTS for LENTEN JUBILEE?: Ash Wednesday's Choice for the Leadership of First Baptist Church of Bolivar

NEW ARRANGEMENTS for LENTEN JUBILEE?:  

Ash Wednesday's Choice 

for the Leadership of 

First Baptist Church of Bolivar

This Wednesday, which known as Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar, the pastors and leadership of the First Baptist Church of Bolivar, Missouri, will be given access to an opportunity to intervene in this situation.  

This intervention is NOT an easy way out; it is a challenge, but it is a beneficial challenge, if these individuals are ready and willing to mature and grow in the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Their reception to this initial challenge will determine the viability of this possible resolution.

A response is required within one week -- by 10:00 pm on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 [Updated to March 1, 2010  (see here)]. 

Additional details will be posted over the next several days and on Ash Wednesday.  

We welcome your prayers. 


Happy Valentine's Day. 

UPDATE:  The First Baptist Church of Bolivar leadership was contacted on the morning of Thursday, February 18, 2010  (see here).

NEXT POST:  MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2010 

Friday UPDATE - MASS JUSTICE: THE RESIGNATIONS OF SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES, ADMINISTRATION and STAFF for MISCONDUCT, VIOLATION of POLICY and ETHICS?

MASS JUSTICE:  

THE RESIGNATIONS OF 

SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY 

TRUSTEES, ADMINISTRATION and STAFF 

for MISCONDUCT, 

VIOLATION of POLICY and ETHICS?

***UPDATE Early, early Tuesday (Feb. 9) morning!  Due to the hazardous winter weather conditions and previously-scheduled engagements, Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director Dr. David Tolliver is NOT expected to participate in today's meeting of the Southwest Baptist University Board of Trustees.***

UPDATE (Friday, Feb. 12., evening):   

New arrangements have been completed.  Details will be posted early Sunday morning ....  (See Sidebar for current updates.)

NEXT POST: Sunday, February 14:

MASS JUSTICE or LENTEN JUBILEE

 

The Resolution Plan will still be presented to the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board this week, though through a different venue. 

First Baptist Church of Bolivar will also be included in this presentation.

THE PEACEMAKERS: "Mercy and Truth Are Met Together; Righteousness (Justice) and Peace Have Kissed Each Other."

THE PEACEMAKERS: 

"Mercy and Truth Are Met Together; 

Righteousness (Justice) and Peace 

Have Kissed Each Other."  

______________________

Marie writes:

Love is not merely an attribute of God.

Indeed, Love is God's nature, His essence, the totality of His Being.

Even so, to be complete, Love (Loving Kindness or Compassion) must embody, incorporate, and integrate Justice (Righteousness), by bringing Love into bodily form, making Love a material substance, a reality in a real world.

The psalmist speaks a point to ponder when he said:

Mercy and Truth are met together; Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other.      

                                 Psalm 85:10 (KJV)

Does it stretch the metaphor to say that the mystery of such a union gives birth to Peace?

Please read these stories presented by the Associated Baptist Press this week on the subject of forgiveness.

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Opinion: Forgiveness is an unmistakable mark of character 

Associated Baptist Press

Monday, February 01, 2010

An Excerpt:  ... So, if Christians model our lives after Jesus, then this truth should be beyond debate: Forgiveness is the indelible mark of Christian character.

As noted in the set of stories also published by Associated Baptist Press today on the subject, forgiveness is not the same as blind denial of wrong-doing or timid acquiescence to bullying, intimidation or evil.

Forgiveness does not accommodate transgressions, nor does it ignore consequences of wrongdoing. Forgiveness does not move the vulnerable and innocent back into harm’s way. And it is not weak sentiment.

Forgiveness opens oneself and others to possibilities not bound by fights, failures and foibles of the past. Christian forgiveness counter-intuitively extends divine love to the unloving and, humanly speaking, unlovable.

The power of forgiveness is infinite.  ... (Read entire story here).

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Forgive Us: Christians struggle with radical forgiveness
Associated Baptist Press 
Monday, February 01, 2010

An Excerpt: 
At age 8, Chris Carrier was abducted, stabbed multiple times with an ice pick, shot in the left temple at pointblank range and abandoned in the Florida Everglades. Miraculously, he survived (although blinded in one eye). But what happened two decades later may be even more miraculous.

God’s forgiveness of sinners is not based on anything humans do but on what God already has done, said Randall O’Brien, author of Set Free by Forgiveness.

“Contrary to popular opinion, forgiveness precedes repentance,” said O’Brien, president of Carson-Newman College, a Baptist school in Jefferson City, Tenn. “Repentance is the result of God’s forgiveness -- not the cause of it. God does not love and forgive us because we repent. We repent because God loves and forgives us. That’s the radical gospel of the cross.”

Jesus demonstrated unconditional love on the cross when he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Nobody had repented of his involvement in his crucifixion before Jesus freely forgave, O’Brien noted. But God’s universal forgiveness of sinners does not mean universal salvation, redemption and reconciliation, he explained.

“Forgiveness is a necessary but insufficient condition for reconciliation,” said O’Brien. “Reconciliation is always conditioned upon the response of the forgiven.”

What’s true in the relationship between God and sinful people also holds true in human relationships, he explained.

“Forgiveness is a one-way street. Reconciliation is a two-way street,” he said.  ...

No excuse for offense
Forgiveness does not “look the other way” and pretend no harm as been done, O’Brien added. It does not minimize the damage caused or the offense committed.

“Forgiveness is not a substitute for judgment. Forgiveness is judgment. It is saying, ‘I judge you guilty, but I forgive you anyway,’” he said.

Forgiveness involves choice -- choosing not to punish an offense, Denison observed.

“It is not pretending that the person was not harmed or excusing harmful behavior. When a governor pardons a criminal, she does not deny the reality of the crime, but rather chooses not to inflict the punishment prescribed by the law. God forgives our sin in the same way and calls us to treat others as he treats us,” Denison said.

Forgiveness does not mean enabling future bad behavior or imperiling innocent people. O’Brien cited the example of a woman who has been physically abused by a spouse. Forgiveness does not mean placing oneself -- or others who are vulnerable -- in a position that facilitates future abuse."  (Read entire story here).

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Forgive Us: Is forgiveness always appropriate for Christians? Associated Baptist Press 
Monday, February 01, 2010

An Excerpt:

Accountability and idolatry
Justice requires accountability, Rosell insisted. Ministers and their congregations sometimes act as though the only requirement for forgiveness is to change the victim’s attitude and to simply say: “We forgive you.”

“Sometimes what’s counted as forgiveness is the unwillingness to hold a brother accountable.... That is a sin,” he said.

Part of the problem in churches also stems from “pastor idolatry,” he added. “We make a god of the pastor, and when he sins, we often can’t recognize it because of our idolatry.”

Often clergy abusers aren’t held accountable because some church members will pressure the rest to “forgive” him or her. Lack of accountability opens opportunities for further abuse, he said.

An act of obedience
Christians must forgive in obedience to God, said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

... Land emphasized that lack of forgiveness “will hinder growth and your spiritual relationship.” Believers should hold those who hurt them accountable, and in cases such as abuse, should remove themselves from the situation. But in every case, Christians must forgive.  ...  (read entire story here).

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JUSTICE DELAYED and DENIED?: MBC Exec. Board to Address the Misconduct of Southwest Baptist University and MBC Personnel and SBU Accreditation Complaint During their April 2010 Meeting

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
 

 
From the Desk of Marie O’Hara
Mailing Address
Bolivar, MO 65613

Dr. David Tolliver,
Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director
% Missouri Baptist Convention
400 East High Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101 

Fax: (573)-635-0904

Dear Dr. David Tolliver:

In regard to my previous letter dated Friday, January 15, 2010 (see here), please consider this letter a formal request that the issues identified in the January 15 letter regarding the misconduct of Southwest Baptist University and Missouri Baptist Convention officials and personnel be added to the agenda of the forthcoming April 2010 meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board on April 12 and 13, 2010.

If my complaint with the Higher Education Commission of the North Central Association, Southwest Baptist University's accreditation agency, has not been addressed by that time, I further request that this issue be placed on the April 2010 agenda, as well.

I am concerned for my personal health, well-being and safety (and that of my friends and family) if these issues are not addressed by that time.

Next week, you will be receiving more information about these concerns during the Southwest Baptist University Board of Trustee meeting on Monday and Tuesday, February 8 and 9, 2010.

Thank you for you assistance and attention to these matters.

In His Love and His Justice,

 
Marie O'Hara