Adam

This is a time of uncertainty. COVID-19 has swept through our nation, with the total number of cases in the United States exceeding 100,000 today. Schools have been shut down. Businesses have closed. Many of those who still have a job are working from home. The President just signed a 2.2 trillion dollar economic relief bill to help prop up an economy that has been in a free fall. Things are far from normal. Churches have not been immune to the effects of this Coronavirus pandemic. Churches have had to alter the way they do ministry. Almost no churches are meeting in person right now. Many … [Read more...] about Back to the Basics

We've had several articles here about the happenings at the SBC Executive Committee Meeting last week. On Monday night, Ronnie Floyd presented his new plan called Vision 2025 to the Executive Committee. William published an article on the plan here at SBC Voices. But Vision 2025 was quickly overshadowed by the actions the Executive Committee took the following day. It's one of my frustrations with the EC right now. We should be focusing on Vision 2025. Instead, it was almost forgotten just as quickly as it was presented. But today in Baptist Press, Dr. Floyd published an article with … [Read more...] about Floyd explains Vision 2025

The best conservative Baptist network that I'm aware of is the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC is a network of over 50,000 cooperating churches and church-type missions spread all across the United States. These like-minded churches cooperate together primarily for missions and theological education under the banner of a shared statement of faith known as The Baptist Faith & Message. As I teach prospective members in our church's new member class, you couldn't always refer to the Southern Baptist Convention as a conservative Baptist network. There was a time when we had professors … [Read more...] about The Conservative Baptist Network

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. -1 Corinthians 1:4 I love this verse. The Corinthian church was one messed up church. Paul didn't pull any punches when writing to them in 1 Corinthians about all of their many issues. He tackled each issue head on. Yet as he began writing, he told them of how he gave thanks to God for them. Despite all of the issues in Corinth, Paul saw the grace of God in their midst. What about you, pastor? I know you see the issues in your church. Some of those issues may be obvious for all to see. … [Read more...] about Evidences of Grace

I recently listened to a podcast discussion between two SBC pastors. The discussion caught my eye when I received an email about it. It was a discussion about the new curriculum put out by The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission called Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused. I was interested to know what these two SBC pastors had to say about the curriculum, so I gave it a listen. As I began listening, I quickly became very frustrated. While these two pastors admitted that the curriculum has some clear things to commend it, the discussion was not a thorough review of the … [Read more...] about Should we ‘Believe the Victim’?

I am currently on a social media hiatus. You could call it a detox. I realize that may sound strange since I am writing this article. I know blogging is a form of social media. But it's really just Facebook and Twitter that I am breaking from for a while. Let me explain. I have wanted to do this for a while, but there have been a couple of legitimate things that have kept me from taking the plunge. The first is that social media is the way I stay in contact with some of my friends. I participate in a discussion group on Facebook Messenger that is an encouragement to my soul. That group has … [Read more...] about Some thoughts about social media

The ERLC is currently holding a panel discussion on sexual abuse and the Southern Baptist Convention. You can watch it live at the link below. https://www.facebook.com/165566613453452/posts/2560146210662135/ … [Read more...] about Sexual Abuse and the Southern Baptist Convention

I am sitting in the Executive Committee meeting. We just listened to JD Greear's presidential address, and he said something in reference to sexual abuse that I've heard him say before: "This is not a distraction from the mission. This is the mission." Some may recoil upon hearing that statement. But I think Greear is exactly right. Let me briefly explain. Of course salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. No one will be won to Jesus this week by how we respond to sexual abuse in our midst. But our mission does not end when a person comes to faith in Christ. We are called to make … [Read more...] about ‘This is the mission’

We are now just 21 days from the start of 2019 Southern Baptist Convention. You know by now that the theme established by SBC President JD Greear is Gospel Above All from 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. I am looking forward to being in Birmingham for a couple of days as we hear reports, consider recommendations, and celebrate what God is doing in and through our convention of churches. The schedule for this year's annual meeting was released a few weeks ago. You can find it on the annual meeting website or at Baptist Press. The proposed schedule must be approved by the messengers once we arrive in … [Read more...] about 2019 SBC Annual Meeting Schedule

Much has been written about what Al Mohler has called theological triage. I guess that Mohler first used the term in print in a 2005 article at albertmohler.com. At least that's the earliest reference that my quick Google search turned up. In his article, Mohler identifies what he calls "three different levels of theological urgency." He argues that there are first-level, second-level, and third-level theological issues. Mohler defines first-level theological issues as those doctrines most central and essential to the Christian faith. Examples include doctrines such as the Trinity, the full … [Read more...] about Complementarianism: Prioritizing our doctrinal disagreement