Our constitutional right to religious liberty stands on two legs. One of them, the “Establishment Clause,” is the opening phrase of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The other leg, the “Free Exercise Clause,” follows with, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Because of the Establishment Clause, you […]
An Appeal to the ERLC Study Task Force
There are two things you ought to know about me that have influenced what I will write in this post. By a tutelage difficult to forget, I have come to understand that those who serve on our boards and committees deserve some level of deference. They are always in a position to know a little […]
Pray for Tom Ascol
Eleven years ago this week Tom Ascol asked people to pray for me. Today I’m returning the favor. Will you please pray for Tom, who collapsed during yesterday’s worship service and fell unconscious? Today https://founders.org/ 2008 https://tomascol.com/pray-for-bart-barber/
Still Thin-skinned after All These Years
Credit for this post goes to a friend who, weathering some storms in ministry, recently asked me, “What does it take to grow a thick skin?” I’m basically setting forth my reply in writing, with some added material that comes from having had several days to reflect upon what I said. The way I weather […]
NeverTrump Deserter
There’s a substantial chance that I’ll vote for Donald Trump in the next presidential election. In a way, that’s not all that remarkable. Millions of people all across the country will do that. Not all of them, however, ever wrote anything like this. I am defecting from the NeverTrump state. Here’s how and why. A […]
Stained Glass and Shoddy History
Being on sabbatical has brought me blissful isolation from most things ongoing in the SBC. If it is big enough to hit my Google News feed, however, then it pops up into my field of view in the morning. Some of the news that comes my way is encouraging. Some of it is downright dismal. […]
I Found Something I Could Do
At our upcoming Spring Trustee Meeting, I will be bringing a motion to revoke the degree that SWBTS granted to Mark Aderholt. In this post I will explain the rationale behind this action as it is grounded in SWBTS’s governing documents and the current state of our laws as I understand them. The motion that […]
The Heritage of SWBTS Continues
Yesterday the Board of Trustees of SWBTS elected Dr. Adam W. Greenway as the ninth president of the seminary (See coverage in Baptist Press here). The reception of the news has been overwhelmingly positive both across the campus and across the convention. There have, however, been a few expressions of concern. I write today to […]
An Unreported Component of the Sexual Abuse Problem
By now most of you will have read The Houston Chronicle‘s second article on sexual abuse in the SBC. I believe that the reporting by The Chronicle, taken together with the responses by various Southern Baptists on this site and in other places, offers us a painful examination of a few undeniable facts: People who […]
A Few Comments about SWBTS’s Finances
I’m not supposed to speak about matters presently before the board of trustees, so I’m going to limit my remarks to a few observations about how being a trustee works and the nuts and bolts of how we relate to the Southern Baptists who have placed us into office. Some trustees are blabbermouths and some […]
Let’s Adopt the Baptist Faith & Message This Year
Let’s have a define-the-relationship talk. Let’s make 2019 the year that we make it official. Let’s bring the whole Southern Baptist family together in agreement around The Baptist Faith & Message. We’ve waited long enough. The BF&M has existed in its current revision for nineteen years this coming summer. It is not going away. It […]
Criticism and the SBC—Unsequenced, Unexpected Part (Different Author)
I’d just like to jump in alongside Dave’s series on criticizing the SBC and offer some niche thoughts, fresh and relevant, perhaps. I’d entitle this one: “How to express directly to trustees your criticism of their actions or to deliver to trustees your opinion about an unresolved matter presently before a board of trustees.” Before […]