We are shaped by our experiences and my year as president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference opened my eyes in many ways. I saw the very best of the SBC and I saw some things that disturbed me greatly. I was blown away at the support we received from our entities as they helped a group of smaller church pastors put on what our feedback indicated was a successful conference. We also saw resistance from those who felt the conference belonged to the celebrity pastors and that by running and winning that election we had done something wrong. But from the day we found out we had won to the day we … [Read more...] about The Man We Need in Nashville
JD Greear names Curtis Woods as Chair of Resolutions Committee
Curtis Woods, co-interim executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention since November, has been named by SBC President J.D. Greear as the chair of the Resolutions Committee. Keith Whitfield, a vice-president as Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has been named the vice chairman. The rest of the committee will be named at a later date. The Baptist Press article can be seen here. A few relevant passages from the article, written by David Roach. Woods, who served on the 2018 SBC Resolutions Committee, will be only the second African American to chair the committee, according … [Read more...] about JD Greear names Curtis Woods as Chair of Resolutions Committee
A Plea to the Trustees of Southwestern
There are things I believe I know something about and things I know I know nothing about. Running a seminary is one thing I know that I know nothing about. I know a little something from my years on the Executive Board of the BCI, and on its Admin Team, about accounting for a non-profit, just enough to know that the ins and outs of the use of temporarily restricted funds at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is beyond my ability to understand and opine. I have largely stayed out of those discussions. I have also advocated "trusting the trustees" because we don't have a lot of … [Read more...] about A Plea to the Trustees of Southwestern
Sunday Is a “Super Blood Wolf Moon” – Ugh!
As a moderately dispensational premillennialist, I groan a little every time there is some kind of celestial wonder such as is supposed to come our way Sunday night - a Super Blood Wolf Moon. Two things happen that irritate me - and as someone who six weeks out from surgery, is not healing well, still has a lot of pain, and feels tired and grumpy all the time, I don't need this kind of irritation. Eschatology wingnuts come out of the woodwork telling us about the powerful portent of this sign, and of the next, and of the next, and of the goings on in Israel and in the Middle East and … [Read more...] about Sunday Is a “Super Blood Wolf Moon” – Ugh!
Common Sense Reflections on Bowl Season
I know, I am more noted for my passionate opinions on sports. Love the Yankees. Hate the SEC. Consider Alabama and Nick Satan an abomination against all that is decent and good in America. There. But as the college bowl season draws down (I know there is one big game still out there, and perhaps a few others I am not aware of), I would try to make some reasonable reflections on what we have seen. 1. This year, there were probably only TWO teams that deserved to be in the College Football Playoff. It would appear that Clemson and Alabama are the two best teams in the nation this year and … [Read more...] about Common Sense Reflections on Bowl Season
In Case You Missed It!
Ten Key Questions for the SBC in 2019
Predicting the future is a dangerous thing. I have a copy of Sports Illustrated that predicts that the Atlanta Falcons will defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the upcoming Super Bowl. Atlanta was to have defeated the Vikings in the NFC title game. These football experts get fewer predictions right than a broken clock. I track it. I lack clairvoyance and am no great expert at the SBC's inner workings. I have often not foreseen the issues that would arise. Who knew that 2018 would see the downfall of icons and heroes, presidential campaign tactics scraping the barrel in ways we have never … [Read more...] about Ten Key Questions for the SBC in 2019
Prince of Peace
In case anyone has wondered, this was my sermon series this December. This was last night's Christmas Eve message, hence shorter than the others. Odd, if I read it straight through, it is about 10 minutes, but I managed to go nearly double that when I preached. I was shooting for 15 went about 17. How does that happen? If you are as old as I am, you will remember a song by Simon & Garfunkel from their 1966 album, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.” It was a beautiful rendition of Silent Night with the evening news from August 3, 1966 played over it - clips about the Richard Speck … [Read more...] about Prince of Peace
Everlasting Father
There is nothing in God’s creation that more fully reflects the glory of God more than mankind’s intelligence and creativity, something far beyond any other creature’s. We have been able to make advances in technology that boggle our minds, engineer skyscrapers and airplanes and spaceships, fight disease, map DNA, and solve many of this world’s mysteries. We look with wonder at the next 20 years, or 50 years, and imagine what might be possible. But no matter what breakthroughs there are in medicine, in technology, or in any other field of human endeavor, one thing we know, the human mind will … [Read more...] about Everlasting Father
Mighty God
The Christmas we see in our cards, in our songs, and in our nativity sets, is a sanitized, sentimentalized, safe version of what really happened in Bethlehem. It was beautiful and glorious and powerful – Mary and Joseph yielding to God’s plan, angels announcing the Messiah’s birth, a humble setting as God takes on human form, a manger as his crib, and Magi following a star from the East to worship him. But there is a side to this that the Christmas cards do not show, one that we must understand. The story of Jesus is tragic, from his birth to his death. He was despised and rejected of men, … [Read more...] about Mighty God