SBC Voices

Since Dr. Danny Akin announced his retirement yesterday, I thought I would share my Dr. Akin story. Dr. Akin preached a revival at our south Georgia church when I was in high school. He was still at Southern seminary as Dean and professor of preaching.  I felt called to ministry and thought preaching would be in my future, so I paid careful attention to his preaching. He preached four or five times that week. I still remember one sermon warning us against falling away like Demas. I noticed that he started each sermon on the left side of the pulpit at the front of the stage. I suspected … [Read more...] about My Dr. Danny Akin Story

This year is the year of celebration of our flagship giving program: the beloved, touted, often revered Cooperative Program. It has been our common and cooperative pool of funding that for 100 years has been divided among the state conventions, mission boards, seminaries, and smaller denominational entities. It think someone had a CP cake in Nashville. I paid for part of it but didn't get a piece. It's not like the centennial slipped up on us unawares; denominational leaders have had years to prepare for it. From my view in the SBC heartland the centennial consisted of a resolution, a … [Read more...] about The dark centennial of the beloved Cooperative Program

I’ve never listened to sermons much outside of regular church attendance or conferences. Since I am a pastor and preach most Sundays, I haven’t listened regularly to others preach since seminary. I want to change that. I made it a goal to listen to one sermon a week. When I listened to Warren Wiersbe’s sermon on Lev. 16, it was terrific. I wondered how I had missed his preaching all these years. Maybe you can help me. Maybe others could use your recommendations too. Who are some preachers that you think I and others could learn from? Who should we listen to? What should we … [Read more...] about Who Are Preachers We Should Learn From?

Our church gives away lots of books. We give them away at the bus stop, Easter egg hunts, lunches for high school students, Christmas time, summer break, etc. It has become a evangelistic ministry for us, and I want you to consider how you can give away good books. What kind of books should we give away? Give short books. Longer books are not great for gifts because it feels like an assignment or work. Books as a gift should be under 100 pages. We get our books from 10ofThose and Matthias Media. We especially love the books The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller and Empty by … [Read more...] about Give Away Evangelistic Books

“A larger church up the road is hoping to serve other area churches by helping them to organize their security teams,” a denomination leader told me once. When I was a kid, our church had a team of men (and sometimes their sons) driving around on golf carts as part of the security team. I loved the doughnuts in the shed. In my current small church, all the men are the security team every Sunday morning. That's not a separate ministry. Most church training events and conferences don’t include the average church. The average church is 65-75 people and has one pastor. Most training events are … [Read more...] about Include Small Churches in Your Training Events and Conferences

Everyone's mother used to say, "Don't speak ill of the dead," but it sounds so quaint these days. If you want nice, sanitized, and gauzy words about someone who had died, family obituaries rarely disappoint. Obituaries are like those histories that all churches have written and printed: you get history but not truth. If it's a lie to fail to tell all of the truth, then all church histories and all obituaries are printed lies. But there's a time and place for everything. I rather liked John MacArthur's commentaries and owned a few. They were fairly reliable, occasionally insightful and … [Read more...] about Obituaries, JMac, and speaking ill of the dead

I suspect I’m not the only person or pastor who wishes for better friendship. I haven’t made the friends that I should have or kept up with the good ones that I had. Pastors often have temporary work friendships until life and ministry take them in different directions. Here is what is helping me: Pray for your friends and their families. I’m gearing this for pastors, but this applies to everyone. I started praying for a couple of friends 1-2 years ago. I just wrote down two names and prayed for them once a week or so. One is a friend that I see once per month. The other is a friend that … [Read more...] about Praying for Friends and Their Families

I am sitting at JFK waiting to board a Delta jet for 10 days in the Casamance.  I've lost count - it's either my 17th or 18th trip. Pray for spiritual fruit...and no pulmonary embolisms this time! I am posting this to welcome Joe Radosevich to the Voices team. He has posted several guest posts and has gotten his official Voices drivers license.  Welcome aboard.   … [Read more...] about Headed to Senegal and a Welcome to Joe Radosevic