Will it be Ohio State or Alabama? Will the committee send up the white smoke and surprise us all by selecting Southern California? I don't know. By the time church is done today, I will. I have the selection show on my Tivo and the interwebs will be screaming it. I'm glad I won't have to watch the whole show as they drag out the naming of four teams over 60 minutes. Really? And we know this - there will either be weeping and wailing coming out of Columbus or Tuscaloosa. Before I make my point, let me make my prediction. I will make the startling prediction that Clemson will get … [Read more...] about Let’s Talk Football: Fix The Bowl Selection Process
Baptist in the Spirit, Part 6: Jesus’ Shocking Words – The Spirit in Us Is Better than Jesus with Us
Jesus says some strange and difficult things in the Gospels. Some just leave us confused and some are downright mind-boggling. But in John 16:7 he says something that most of us simply do not believe – even though we are inerrantists! Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. Don’t worry, the disciples didn’t believe it either. He told them that he was going away and that he was doing so for their benefit. It is a remarkable assertion. The Spirit would be … [Read more...] about Baptist in the Spirit, Part 6: Jesus’ Shocking Words – The Spirit in Us Is Better than Jesus with Us
Responding to the Pandemic of Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Who got outed today? It is likely that in both Hollywood and Washington, DC (as well as many other places) there are celebrities, politicians, and news figures hoping and praying (if they do that) that their past misdeeds will not be the next to surface. Anita Hill broke the ice with her vivid testimony against Clarence Thomas, which he called a "high-tech lynching." When Bill Clinton's sexcapades were revealed it was still shocking. When soon-to-be President Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women, evangelicals lined up to support him anyway. Hollywood mogul Harvey … [Read more...] about Responding to the Pandemic of Sexual Misconduct Allegations
It Ain’t Easy Makin’ Green: The Modern Struggle of Seminary Education
Southwestern Seminary's recent financial struggles have been in the news and have been a bit of a Rohrshach test for Baptists. To supporters and defenders of Dr. Patterson and the seminary, they are a blip on the radar screen, a hiccup, a bump in the road toward a greater future. To those with less warm and fuzzy feelings toward Dr. Patterson's leadership (mostly, his anti-Calvinist rhetoric and perhaps his old-school ways) they are seen as further evidence that his leadership is causing the school to swirl the bowl. I am absolutely unqualified to figure out what is happening there, but I … [Read more...] about It Ain’t Easy Makin’ Green: The Modern Struggle of Seminary Education
IMB’s Excellent Lottie Moon Christmas Offering Videos
I consider the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions one of the great privileges of being Southern Baptists. My son is a pastor in another denomination (married a girl from that church and left the faith - what can you do?) and I jokingly asked him what they were doing to promote the Lottie Moon offering this year. I cannot imagine Christmas without Lottie. Every year the International Mission Board produces a series of videos to use in promoting their mission work around the world. These videos are especially important in places like Iowa. I believe in the Cooperative … [Read more...] about IMB’s Excellent Lottie Moon Christmas Offering Videos
C’mon, People, Baptists Don’t Do Petitions
A friend said he was approached by a friend of his to sign an anti-NAMB petition that is being circulated by a group seeking to undermine the current leadership there. I am not going to opine on the merits of the petition itself other than to make a few general observations: NAMB funds the new work states to a high degree and it exerts a lot of authority and control. If NAMB doesn't like it, they don't fund it. They work with the states, but in the end, NAMB's hand is on the purse strings. NAMB has developed a reputation in my neck of the woods as being very sensitive to criticism … [Read more...] about C’mon, People, Baptists Don’t Do Petitions
A Point of Curiosity: Is Your Church Doing Things Differently This Week?
Last week, the worst tragedy in American church history (on a physical level, at least) took place in Sutherland Springs. Is your church going to be any different this week? Are you making plans to change your security measures? There has been some chest thumping among some preachers that make you envision men in suits draped with bandoliers, holding an AK-47 in one hand and a Bible in the other. I am wondering what the reality will be today. At my frozen corner of the world we are not doing anything differently...yet. I pointed out to those I have talked to that while last week … [Read more...] about A Point of Curiosity: Is Your Church Doing Things Differently This Week?
Entities, Trustees, Crises, and Trust: Thoughts about the SBC’s Future
We were all stunned a couple of years back when David Platt stood before us and laid out, gruesome detail by gruesome detail, exactly what was going on financially at the IMB. In the previous 5 years, the IMB had overspent by 210 million dollars. Platt did several things right in that moment. He was open and honest about the problem. He did not try to scapegoat or pin blame. He was the new IMB president and it would have been easy for him to throw shade on previous leadership, but he did not do that. He presented a clear path to fix the problem and expressed his determination to do … [Read more...] about Entities, Trustees, Crises, and Trust: Thoughts about the SBC’s Future
And So We Pray: Answering the Anger over Christians’ “Thoughts and Prayers”
The hostility toward Christianity is reaching a boiling point in some circles of our society. Evidently, a large segment of our society is offended and angered by the fact that we pray for one another when tragedy strikes. California representative Ted Lieu walked out of Congress' moment of silence that was honoring the victims of the massacre at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs - a stunt to get attention to promote gun control legislation. When Paul Ryan tweeted a relatively benign blessing it set off a Twitter firestorm. The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers … [Read more...] about And So We Pray: Answering the Anger over Christians’ “Thoughts and Prayers”
What Do You Say When Words Fail?
An evil man fires on helpless people at a concert in Vegas and we are sickened. A lone wolf rents a truck and mows down helpless people on a bike trail in New York and we are angry. But then a man entered a church - one of ours - in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and opened fire and we have no words. Counts say that 27 people may be dead, among them the 14-year-old daughter of the pastor, Frank Pomeroy. Somehow, that gets me the most. I know it's selfish, but as a pastor, the idea that Pastor Pomeroy lost his daughter strikes a cord in my heart. I search for something to say, something … [Read more...] about What Do You Say When Words Fail?