Brandon Smith

26 March by Brandon Smith

Missional Church Leadership: A Conversation with Steve Timmis

6 comments

As someone feeling called by the Lord to pursue church planting, there are not many better resources than the work of Steve Timmis. He and I recently Skyped (though my Internet connection and webcam had a mind of their own!) and I picked his brain about missional living and leading a missional church in particular. [...]

22 February by Brandon Smith

Interview with “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” star Jeff Bethke

26 comments

Unless you live under a rock and completely avoid social media, you’ve at least heard of my man Jeff Bethke’s viral YouTube video “Why I Love Jesus, But Hate Religion.” If you haven’t, watch it here. At the time of this post, just six weeks after its release, the video is sitting at 19.3 million [...]

25 January by Brandon Smith

Open Letter to T.D. Jakes

122 comments

This was originally posted at Modern March Bishop Jakes, Let me first commend you on your acceptance to join the furnace that is the Elephant Room. You have taken a lot of heat over the years from pastors and theologians of all ilks, and you have handled it rather gracefully just as you did today. [...]

9 November by Brandon Smith

What is Primary? (Round Two)

17 comments

I have done this post before, but always enjoy the conversation it brings. Here would be my (current) primary, secondary, and tertiary issues: PRIMARY: Trinity Hypostatic Union Christ’s Resurrection Christ’s Second-Coming Authority and Inerrancy of Scripture The Virgin Birth Subsitutionary Atonement Justification by Faith Alone SECONDARY Calvinism/Arminianism Cessationsim/Continuationism/Charismaticism Believer’s/Infant Baptism Women in Ministry Denomination (usually [...]

14 October by Brandon Smith

Voting for a Non-Christian President

67 comments

Denny Burk posted an interesting piece on his website about Wayne Grudem’s endorsement of Mitt Romney in 2007. He quotes Grudem: Have we come to the point where evangelicals will only vote for people they consider Christians? I hope not, for nothing in the Bible says that people have to be born again Christians before [...]

11 October by Brandon Smith

BGCT: Are They the Bad Guys?

19 comments

Since the controversy in Texas regarding the Baptist Faith & Message (2000), the Baptist General Convention of Texas has been vilified as the liberals of the state, especially considering the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention formed to affirm the BFM and its support of inerrancy and the roles of women. My question is, is the BGCT as “bad” as advertised by [...]

27 September by Brandon Smith

John Owen, Sin, and Temptation

6 comments

“Let no man pretend to fear sin that does not fear temptation also! These two are too closely united to be separated.” – John Owen It seems as though our culture has mastered the art of stepping as closely to the edge of the cliff as possible without falling into the canyon. Inevitably, culture can [...]

23 September by Brandon Smith

Rick Warren on Rob Bell

23 comments

Rick Warren tweeted this in response to Rob Bell leaving his church: Speaking tours feed the ego=All applause&no responsibility.It’s an unreal world. A church gives accountability& validity Someone then asked him, “Do u think well-known pastors who leave their churches have more or less impact?” His response: Always less.No base 4credibility I think there is some [...]

19 September by Brandon Smith

Did Homosexuality Exist in Biblical Times?

33 comments

I read this article by a former SBC pastor and was greatly disturbed by his exegesis and thought process. I like his spirit of grace and humility toward the LGBT community, but this is just insulting to Scripture: [T]he concept of homosexuality was unknown for centuries after the Bible writers lived. It was not until [...]

16 September by Brandon Smith

On Calvinism

28 comments

Thank you, Peter Lumpkins. I know, I know… Not a sentence that you will see often. But, in light of a typical shock jock post that he wrote about myself and Voices, I have to give him his due… He reminded me of what a dumb Calvinist I can be at times. Dave Miller wrote a great post on [...]

22 August by Brandon Smith

Discussing Preaching with Jared Wilson and Tony Merida

2 comments

I was blessed to have SEBTS professor/pastor/author Tony Merida and pastor/author Jared Wilson on my blog for a discussion on preaching. Here is an excerpt: TONY: My main focus is that that I want to take the listeners for a swim in the text. I want us to immerse ourselves in Scripture, and my desire [...]

15 August by Brandon Smith

Modification and Motive

4 comments

Originally posted at Modern March There is a significant difference between teaching motive and teaching behavioral modification. For example: A husband is asked by his wife to help her clean the dishes and he refuses. After some arguing, he says, “FINE! I’ll do the dishes!” His wife is flabbergasted by his response and replies, “Nevermind…” [...]

15 July by Brandon Smith

The Appeal of Calvinism to Young Pastors

272 comments

Originally posted at Modern March At the G5 summit in 2009, Dallas Baptist University professor and award-winning author Dr. David Naugle was asked: Why is Calvinism increasing in popularity, especially among younger pastors? (1.) Because it satisfies a deep longing for transcendence found in the sovereign God and His glory in the context of a culture swamped with [...]

← Previous Entries