Bart Barber

We are blessed to have three candidates running for the presidency of the SBC, and I'm glad that all three are running. I have already opinined as to why I am glad that Ronnie Floyd is running. On this blog I mentioned that I am glad that Jared Moore is running, because it is a demonstration of the strength of our convention that anyone from any member church of any size or circumstance can seek any office in our convention (Yes, when some of you were clamoring for me to run, I declared it impractical for a small-church pastor to preside over the convention. I still believe that. But just … [Read more...] about On the Qualifications of SBC Presidents

Editor's Note: A separate post called "Seminary Infographics" has been posted that demonstrates some of the data that William and Bart have been discussing.  As a contributor to this site and an unrepentant SWBTS booster, how ought I to respond to William Thornton's latest post, Just How Are Our Seminaries Stacking Up These Days? It's a hard question. "Quickly," must constitute at least a portion of the answer, since I'm about to board an airplane for Africa. "Not at all" was an option—perhaps the best one—when considering that a reply probably has as little chance to make any … [Read more...] about Maybe We Shouldn’t Stack Them Up At All?

I believe that pastors/elders/overseers are to give leadership to the congregation. I am also a congregationalist, which means that I believe that pastors/elders/overseers are accountable to the congregation and that congregations should attain consensus upon important decisions, as measured by processes that permit members of the congregation to give input, ask questions, offer different points of view for consideration, and decisively indicate their agreement (or, conversely, their disagreement). The New Testament puts before us both the authority of the pastors and the authority of the … [Read more...] about When to Hold ‘Em, When to Fold ‘Em: Pastoral Leadership and Pastoral Humility

When historians turn to consider the early twenty-first century in Southern Baptist life, a number of momentous events from our annual meeting will figure prominently. The revision of the Baptist Faith & Message in the year 2000 marked a turning-point in the history of our confession of faith and will be remembered as a milestone in the story of the Conservative Resurgence. The 2006 election of Frank Page later propelled him into his current role at the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the meeting (its prelude and its aftermath) launched Southern Baptist blogging. … [Read more...] about Of Pastors and Presbyters

Baptist history includes more confessions of faith than we have the patience to enumerate or read in a simple blog post. Baptist history also includes a number of people, churches, and groups of churches who opposed the creation or use of confessions of faith. Virginia lawyer and religious liberty activist John Leland was perhaps the most eloquent when he asked about confessions of faith "Why this Virgin Mary between the souls of men and the scriptures?" Through the present day, the anti-confessional strain of Baptist thought persists, and those who hold it can be passionate in their defense … [Read more...] about Why “No Creed But the Bible” Actually Imperils Your Liberty More

Spring is the season for meetings in Southern Baptist life—OK, let's face it: EVERY season is a season in which Baptists are happy to convene a meeting, but there are a few periods of the year that are especially intense. For the past few weeks I've been encountering a lot of my friends from across the geography and ideology of the Southern Baptist Convention. In the midst of a cordial conversation with one of them, he replied to something I had said by saying, "That's nice that you would say that. We're supposed to be on different sides!" (or something along those lines). It is … [Read more...] about Sides

I believe that you should encourage to participate in the Lord's Supper any and everyone who, if he or she were a member of your church, you would not discipline out. That states my understanding of the extent of the Lord's Supper in its entirety. A few corollary thoughts: This presumes that your church has the framework in place to exercise church discipline and the guts to do it. Our church is a Baptist church. That means that if one of our Sunday School classes started sprinkling infants and refused to stop, they would be subject to church discipline simply because they were … [Read more...] about My Beliefs About the Extent of Communion

As Baptist Press has reported, and as William Thornton has already discussed, Dr. John Mark Yeats's motion about revising Article III in the SBC Constitution has passed the Executive Committee and is likely coming in some form or another to this year's SBC Annual Meeting. Thornton's previous post and the ensuing comment thread examined several aspects of this proposal, but one question in Thornton's initial article is perhaps the most poignant: "Does the Executive Committee think that there is some compelling reason to make a change other than that the dollar figure hasn’t been changed since … [Read more...] about Thoughts About Article III

Today Baptist Press announced that Albert Mohler will nominate Pastor Ronnie Floyd for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention this year in Baltimore. In my judgment, it would be inappropriate for me as a sitting officer of the SBC to make any sort of an endorsement in the upcoming elections. I suppose it is possible that I might even be moderating the meeting during the election itself, in which case my impartiality would be of some small measure of importance. So, let me make it clear that I am not endorsing Ronnie Floyd by this post. We don't even know whether anyone else will … [Read more...] about Why I’m Glad Ronnie Floyd Will Be Nominated for SBC President

OK, first a refresher course: I am an a posteriori cessationist. Basically, I do not believe that an airtight case can be made from the New Testament to demonstrate any promise either that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease at the end of the apostolic age or that they would not. Either the continuation of the gifts or the cessation of them would be a possible outcome from the New Testament data. In other words, if the gifts have ceased, this would not impugn the reliability of the New Testament at all, since the New Testament makes no definitive claim about the duration of these … [Read more...] about An A Posteriori Cessationist Considers Evidence for A Priori Cessationism