SBC & American Culture

18 May by Mike Bergman

I Was a Public School Brat (a non-horror story)

51 comments

If not for my public education, I would not be a pastor. There—how’s that for an opening line?  I didn’t have time to get involved in the discussion, but in a recent post on church planting where the author recommended public schooling your (read: a church planter’s) children, a lively discussion ensued in the comment [...]

27 April by SelahV

Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Verbose Writers (Part 1)

9 comments

So, according to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, a journalist “is a : a person engaged in journalism; especially : a writer or editor for a news medium b : a writer who aims at a mass audience.” So, what exactly is a journalist, friends?  Help me out.  You see, I don’t really consider myself a journalist.  [...]

8 April by Thom Hunter

The Blessed Affliction of a Conflicted Heart

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Thumbnail image for The Blessed Affliction of a Conflicted Heart

What if the lines in the sand just keep shifting? What if the boundaries we set up keep slipping? What if the truth we’ve been seeking keeps drifting? What if we don’t make it through all of this sifting?   What if our reach leaves us grasping at air? What if our longing finds no [...]

28 February by Jeff Musgrave

Can a Really Big Screen Hide a Really Big Problem?

29 comments

A week or two ago, I stumbled across an article entitled We Are the JumboTron Generation and it got me to thinking.  The post contends that how we watch sports live has changed, due in part to giant video boards and the media overload we experience at games now.  The JumboTron is a staple of [...]

24 February by Thom Hunter

Storing Up Stones in Places of Grace

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“I don’t need this.” “I don’t want this.” “I hate this.” “What is this?” Where did this come from?” Why do I have this? “Whose is this?” “This hurts.” “I remember this.” “I didn’t ask for this.” “Where should I put . . . this?” One thing is for certain: there really is a lot [...]

11 January by Dave Miller

Brick Wall Questions: Are “They” Real Christians?

187 comments

When people consider the concept of the Brick Wall, questions arise as they attempt to identify which groups are inside the brick wall and which are on the outside looking in.  The rubric I am using divides everyone into two groups – genuine Christian groups and those that have compromised the gospel.  There are always [...]

6 December by Dave Miller

The Mitosis Method of Church Planting: You Make the Call

26 comments

Church Growth Confusion I’ve never been in a megachurch environment for more than a Sunday or two.  My experience is all with smaller to mid-sized churches. I’ve noticed an interesting phenomena in these churches.  Everybody says they want the church to grow.  But they also say they like the smaller church feel.  Kinda confused?  Me, [...]

29 November by Guest Blogger

NIV 2011: Yesterday’s NIV is now Today’s NIV: A Transformation of a Translation Reflecting Today’s Culture

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(Editor’s Note: Si Cochran is a 2007 graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently serves as the youth pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, IA.  That would make him my  youth pastor!  Si blogs at “Holiness, Justice and Grace.”) As the old Italian proverb goes, “Translation is treason.”  The treasonous nature [...]

3 November by Dave Miller

A Great Commission Suggestion: Pink Slip the ERLC

343 comments

It isn’t personal, its business! Great Commission business.  I think it is time that the SBC de-funds the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and gives those funds to the IMB to increase our missionary force around the world. I know that Richard Land is one of the bogeymen of the Baptist left.  They disdain him [...]

3 November by Dave Miller

Barack Clinton or Barack Bush?

63 comments

I’m tired of fighting about national politics and looking forward to returning to fighting about Baptist politics.  Before that happens, I’d like to make one observation. Right now, the President is giving his post-election speech.  In this speech and in the days that lie ahead, President Obama will show us whether he is more like [...]

13 October by Dave Miller

Whither Discernment?: A TV Show that Gives Me Little “Glee”

23 comments

Many of you will think this post is strange, but I am the paterfamilias of a show choir family. Family History My first two sons sang in the youth musicals at church, but never caught the show choir bug.  It all started in my third son’s freshman year.  I had coached him in both basketball [...]

23 September by Brandon Smith

How Can We Remedy Jesus-Detracting Issues in the SBC?

41 comments

In a recent interview with Baptist Press, SBC President Bryant Wright listed his five primary goals as president: I want to call Southern Baptist Christians to return to their first love of Jesus Christ. We’ve let so many other priorities and influences of the world become more important than our relationship with Jesus Christ. That [...]

18 September by SelahV

AN IRAQI MEET AND GREET

21 comments

A member of our Sunday School class asked if any of we ladies would be interested in visiting with an Iraqi lady for an hour or so a week to teach her conversational English. The class-member is a soldier and knows her husband from Iraq (he’d been his interpreter there). Now he is here furthering [...]

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