I realize that many people are not involved in social media conflagrations, but one is taking place in the SBC world that cannot be ignored. NOW is the time to lead. It would be great if our entity leaders and others would step up and take leadership in this time, but history says that most […]
A Powerful Point from Katie McCoy
As a convinctional complementarian, how should it make me feel that a woman, albeit a scholar and professor at SWBTS, made a point that taught me, challenged me, and convicted me. Katie McCoy (er…Dr. McCoy) made a simple point that I found insightful. The angry Twitter bros make a LOT of 1 Timothy 2 and […]
Saturday
Saturday is silent. Scary. Isolated. And familiar. Saturday is where we live. In the tension. In the in-between. Waiting. Saturday is where we live. Past the darkness of Friday. But often still stumbling in the dark. Free from guilt and shame. But often still struggling against the chains weighing down every step. Victorious in the […]
Lost in the clamor of clergy abuse, CRT/I, and any other controversy: the SBC is and always has been a convention of small churches
The average attendance at the main weekly worship service for a cooperating Southern Baptist church is around 100. LifeWay gave me a figure of 70 a few years ago along with a median size of 125. There are different ways to calculate it but, regardless of the method, the Southern Baptist Convention is a convention […]
Is This How We Might Make Use of an Analytical Tool?
I keep hearing folks asking to give benefits of CRT/I that you couldn’t get from the Bible. I’m not sure if this will satisfy as an answer, but I want to share a couple of stories and explain why I think we are where we are in this whole conversation. First, the story.. I was […]
A red brick church, a piano, an organ, hymns, pews, and an old guy preaching behind a real pulpit: Hallelujah!
I’m at a place where I am free to worship where I wish and I wished yesterday to worship at the church of a friend who is in a new pastorate nearby. The church is quite old and has quite a history, mostly not so good in recent decades. The building is new, courtesy of […]
Thoughts on Ed Litton Via a Zoom Call
Recently, I joined several other pastors in a Zoom call with Ed Litton about his campaign for President of the SBC. Ed shared about his life and background and how he became involved in the Southern Baptist Church. His father experienced a dramatic conversion and was set free from alcohol addiction by the powerful […]
NAAF Statement Responds to Council of Seminary Presidents
The National African American Fellowship, led by SBC First Vice President Marshall Ausberry, yesterday released a response to the January 6th meeting with the Council of Seminary Presidents (CSP). The January 6th meeting was a result of the CSP Statement from Nov. 30 and the subsequent NAAF response on December 6, 2020. Background available at […]
“Tell me about your pastor.” “Well, he’s an old guy…”
And, he’s getting older. The Barna research on the aging of American pastors is getting a little old itself. The most recent was 2017. It was a typical state-of-the-church handwringer. Pastors are aging, as in the average age of a senior pastor is increasing (54 in that study). Really old pastors are increasing, 6% in […]
A Brief History of SBC Presidents
The 2021 Presidential election of the Southern Baptist Convention looks to be one of the most contested in recent history. But I think we all would do well to remember the history of the position, how elections were handled, and why it mattered. The SBC President is the man who represents, in some part, the […]
Exciting Evangelism news from Utah (by Kalyn Wagner)
This year has been an insane year for many but out in Utah, arguably one of the most unregenerate states in our union, a new program has emerged with the goal of reaching children with the Gospel directly in public and charter schools. Next Generation of Utah was launched in August partnering with a charter […]
So I watched an hour of Randy Adams live last night
Voices readers sometimes complain about the articles here, generally along the lines of who Voices is for and against. Reader griped about Randy Adams not receiving positive print here. Dude, get educated, then gripe. Adams is one of the four SBC presidential candidates and I’ve written eight articles that feature Randy Adams in the title […]