Editor's Note: Each of the speakers for this year's SBC Pastor's Conference in Phoenix, AZ was nominated by someone. I have asked each speaker's nominator to answer a few questions about the person they nominated. Spencer Plumlee of Riverview Baptist Church in Osage Beach, MO was nominated by John Bailey. Below is John's responses to the questions I sent him. How do you know Spencer? I can remember a couple of years ago driving through the tiny towns near the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. My wife and I were looking for Riverview Baptist Church in Osage Beach. We were … [Read more...] about SBC PC: John Bailey Answers Some Questions About Spencer Plumlee
Ways the ERLC Controversy Could Show Up in Phoenix
Unless Russell Moore resigns from his post between now and summer, the controversy surrounding the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission will most certainly show up at the convention in Phoenix this June. While there are some who will never be satisfied, I am hopeful that Dr. Moore and those who have been offended can sit down in the same room together and agree to walk together as brothers even if they do not reach a place of agreement on the issues that have caused the current rift. It is my hope that Russell Moore stays in his position, Prestonwood decides to restore funding, and we can … [Read more...] about Ways the ERLC Controversy Could Show Up in Phoenix
Thank You, David Platt
Baptist Press has an article today regarding the amicus brief that the International Mission Board joined last May in support of a New Jersey Islamic Society’s right to build a mosque. There has been a lot of talk across our convention over the last few weeks regarding this brief. The brief was actually filed last year, but the recent talk was triggered by an IMB trustee’s decision to resign over the issue. Some, like myself, had concerns about the IMB’s participation in the filing of the brief. I have no problem with the ERLC’s participation. There are legitimate religious liberty … [Read more...] about Thank You, David Platt
A Video Interview with Michael Allen
This year's SBC Pastor's Conference is June 11-12 in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference will feature 12 preachers who all come from average-size SBC churches. They will be preaching through the book of Philippians over the course of the two day conference. As you know, last week was the colloquium at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for this year's SBC Pastor's Conference speakers. The speakers for the conference gathered to get to know one another and study Philippians with Dr. David Allen and other preaching faculty members from SWBTS and NOBTS. I had the privilege of … [Read more...] about A Video Interview with Michael Allen
When You Get a Chance to Practice What You Preach
I’ve been preaching through the book of Acts on Sunday mornings at the church I pastor. My hope is that God would use this study in our lives to give us a more outward focus. We have lots of good programs designed for people to come and be ministered to. But we haven’t recently done a very good job of going to our neighbors. Our outreach and missions efforts locally, nationally, and internationally have been lacking. We finished Acts 5 on Sunday, and I have been harping on boldness in the gospel. Peter was a coward when he denied Jesus three times on the night that He was arrested. … [Read more...] about When You Get a Chance to Practice What You Preach
It’s A Wrap
Whew! I am flying home as I type this, and I'm exhausted. If I'm this tired, I can only imagine how an old guy like Dave feels. If you haven't already figured it out from my previous posts about the colloquium, we had a great two days at Southwestern. Everything was top notch. I am confident that the colloquium will help the conference preachers tremendously as they prepare to proclaim the Word of God this summer in Phoenix. My primary job today was to do a brief video interview of all 11 preachers who attended the colloquium. Those videos will show up here on SBC Voices over the next … [Read more...] about It’s A Wrap
Day 2 of the SBC PC Colloquium at SWBTS
It's been a very busy day. The speakers had a session this morning with Dr. Allen. I missed most of the information from that session because I was filming interviews with the speakers. Those interviews will show up here at SBC Voices in the near future. Going to the Chapel After the session we headed over to the chapel on campus. The chapel is a beautiful facility that was built since Dr. Patterson became President at Southwestern. Dr. Patterson told us yesterday that the facility was designed to be conducive to preaching. The purpose of going over to the chapel was to give the … [Read more...] about Day 2 of the SBC PC Colloquium at SWBTS
Day 1 of the SBC PC Colloquium at SWBTS
We had a great first day. Dave and I have both written about some of the first events of the day, but I want to give you a brief update before I hit the hay. Our First Session with Dr. Allen Dr. David Allen knocked it out of the park in our first session this afternoon with his lecture on text-driven preaching. Lots of people call their preaching expository, but often it is not text-driven. Southwestern is committed to teaching text-driven preaching in their brand new School of Preaching of which Dr. Allen is the dean. Text-driven preaching is where the main point of the text is the … [Read more...] about Day 1 of the SBC PC Colloquium at SWBTS
And We’re Off!
It's always a little bit disorienting when you wake up in one place, and by early afternoon are in another place. I woke up in Virginia and am now in Fort Worth, Texas at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I've already been encouraged by what I have heard thus far. The colloquium began at 3pm today. After brief introductions, we then had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Patterson for about 15 minutes. Dr. Patterson has been extremely helpful to the Pastor's Conference in so many ways. We cannot adequately express our gratitude. There were three main focuses of Dr. … [Read more...] about And We’re Off!
Texas Bound and Flyin’
This morning I am boarding a plane for Dallas, Texas. The Pastor’s Conference team is headed to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for the much awaited speaker colloquium. All 12 of our speakers will be gathering today and tomorrow to meet one another and study Philippians together. The speakers will also be subject to photography and interviews for the purpose of conference promotion. A few members of our team are tagging along for various reasons. My purpose for being there is to use SBC Voices to let you know how things are going and promote the conference. So check back often … [Read more...] about Texas Bound and Flyin’