News broke this week that the lawsuit filed against the North American Mission Board by Will McRaney, former executive of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, was dismissed on Monday. Senior Judge Glen Davidson of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Mississippi ruled that the lawsuit would require the court to determine religious elements in […]
Some assorted SBC news and the countdown clock to Birmingham is ticking.
Do you millenials know what is meant by a clock “ticking” anyway? Heres the countdown clock for the SBC annual meeting in Birmingham. Don’t worry, it’s digital. Wouldn’t want to stump the whippersnappers with an analog clock. Go ahead and get a copy of SBC FAQs: A Ready Reference by Keith Harper and Amy Whitfield. […]
Stories From The Mission Field
With our church’s recent emphasis on praying for our missionaries, we’ve been contacted by some IMB personnel about sharing their stories here. We received one such story this morning, and the following is my summary of their story. I’m keeping all names and countries private, even when the missionaries are in an open country. Security […]
Praying for IMB Missionaries: Lessons and Requests
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about praying for our International Missionaries. In the weeks since, I’ve learned more about our missionaries and their work, and have some more prayer requests to pass on to the voices community. First, I want to thank those of you who read my original post and […]
Doctrinal Concerns of Southwest Baptist University Alumni
Having observed the recent controversies at our alma mater, Southwest Baptist University (SBU), a number of like-minded alumni have corresponded and determined it would be beneficial to provide alumni testimony and express our concerns regarding SBU. All of us had amicable relationships with our professors. Some of our professors welcomed us into their homes and […]
So You Want Your Own Deaf Ministry, Eh?
I’ve had conversations with local pastors and associational leaders who expressed fascination with Deaf ministry and missions. “We,” the response comes, “need to do something like that.” Everyone has a wife, or a friend, or an aunt who knows sign language and many of them “used to interpret down at the church.” But one guy […]
Is He Worthy? A Good Friday Meditation
The veil of heaven was pulled back for a moment and in Revelation 4, John recounts his vision as glorious worship is directed to the One who is seated on the universe’s throne. Angelic beings gathered around him crying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” […]
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming!
SM Lockridge. Published this six years ago. Thought I’d put it back up. Thought I’d throw this one in just for fun! I’m working on Good Friday and Easter. Then headed to Florida for a week. Unless the world falls apart I won’t be blogging much. He is risen.
Easter sunrise services and how Armand made my deacon hall-of-fame
Easter came about a month after I arrived at my first church, an average sized congregation in rural South Carolina. Our church was the only one of several SBC churches in that part of the county that had a full-time, if modestly paid minister. My church and three others traditionally joined for an Easter sunrise […]
Milestones at SBC Voices
I coached at Isaac Newton Christian Academy in Cedar Rapids for about 13 years, before I moved to Sioux City, both soccer (we were the dominant program in Eastern Iowa among Christian middle schools) and basketball. I kept track of stats and analyzed them. I still have the files. Numbers and statistics fascinated me. SBC […]
Pointless Cooperation
A much-valued tenet of Southern Baptist life is the emphasis we place on cooperation among churches. We even have an entire funding program named for this; it’s apparently a Very Big Deal. Cooperation is how we fund seminaries, send missionaries, reach America, fight for religious liberty, and support Southern Baptist churches in general. Personally, my […]
The Christian Effectiveness Officer (C.E.O.) (Clayton Pruett)
Over the last few years, a stunning shift has taken place in church culture. Successful, influential, and powerful pastors are being dismissed from their churches. Not for the typical moral failures or money scandals but for unhealthy leadership practices. Why has this become such an issue? Understanding the problem The simplified version is that decades […]