Yesterday we noted that Wiley Drake was taking a break from praying for President Obama's death to contemplate running for the Presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, despite the fact that the SBC that they want nothing to do with him because he is crackpot.
Of course, that just further proves Drake's point that the SBC needs to be shaken up by a Tea Party-like insurgency ... and he is just the man to lead it:
In a telephone interview Jan. 25, Drake said he sees things going on today in convention life that are "sort of a repeat" of the situation that existed prior to the "conservative resurgence" grassroots movement that redirected the denomination beginning in 1979.
Drake said he also sees parallels in the Tea Party movement in secular politics. "People are just saying, 'We're tired of you guys up there running things and not asking us, and even if you do ask us, you are not paying any attention.'"
Drake said he has heard similar things from fellow pastors. "I'm hearing people say, 'I'm not going to convention any more. Nobody listens. They just ramrod it. They run it through.' That concerns me, because I'm a convention kind of guy."
Drake says he hasn't been particularly involved in denominational life in the last few years because nobody would listen to him but he has been fasting and praying and believes that God wants him to run for SBC president and get "back in the battle":
Drake said he has been praying and fasting for about a month and believes the Lord is leading him to allow his nomination, but that he sent out his press release seeking prayer and counsel because: "I don't want it to be a Wiley thing. I want it to be a God thing."
"I believe God wants me to do it, but I want to hear from the family," he said. "I am honestly seeking not only prayer but counsel."
Either way, Drake said it is time for him to get re-involved in Baptist life.
"I'll be back in the swing of things, whether I run or not," he said. "I'm going to do what I can to bring Southern Baptists back to all the things that we used to do."
"I am back in the battle," Drake said. "I am going to fight. I figure if I could fight from the top down it would be easier, but if not I will fight from the bottom up."
