Dave Miller

I won't be at the keyboard much this weekend. I have to head to Des Moines for a BCI executive board meeting tomorrow, then I am flying to DFW to speak at Cornerstone Baptist in Arlington on Sunday. Sunday afternoon I'm going to be touring several airports for my return trip. And I am not sure I'll have time to do much posting during that time. I don't plan to try. Contributors, if you have something to post, have at it. Hopefully, it won't be about Calvinism! I'm nervous about leaving the site, because some of our discussions have started getting a little chippy. People wonder why we … [Read more...] about A Blogging Break

Micah Fries posted a hilarious picture on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. It was a picture of a patch of grass with a light dusting of snow on it. I joked with him that they probably cancelled school because of that blizzard. Micah surprised me by responding that, in fact, Nashville schools had been closed. We are currently bracing for a major blizzard (though most recent projections are that the snow has gone south and is nailing Kansas City instead of us - sorry, Scott Gordon!). But, if we get the 8 to 12 inches of snow originally projected, life will slow down in Sioux City for a few … [Read more...] about Snowmageddon: You Prepare for What You Expect

I just saw a post that told us that Dr. Howard Hendricks has passed away. I have never had a significant conversation with Dr. Hendricks, but he changed my life. At Dallas Seminary -  back in the old days, anyway - one of your first year classes was his "Inductive Bible Study Methods" class. After that class, you proceeded, over your four year course of studies, to do an inductive study of every book of the Bible. Dr. Hendricks emphasized a four-step process. Observation. Interpretation. Application. Correlation. I had been a preacher's kid with a lot of knowledge of the Bible that I … [Read more...] about Howard Hendricks Changed My Life: Now He Is with Jesus

I don't have much time today, either to post or to interact with comments. I'm in a week in which I've got a meeting every night, Monday through Thursday, then have to go to Des Moines for a Saturday meeting and fly to Ft. Worth later that day. Unless we have a snow day, I'm not going to be around much at SBC Voices. Hope some of my contributors will put some stuff in the queue for us to read! I'd just like to make an observation about SBC life today. It's a new world, folks, and we can love it or hate, but we should get used to it. Some of our more progressive leaders (I mean … [Read more...] about The Social Media Effect: It’s a New Baptist World

I've seen it in churches. We have certainly seen it in blogging. And we are currently seeing the phenomenon as the crisis plays out at Louisiana College. None of us likes to be criticized. It is uncomfortable, painful, frustrating and infuriating. And in today's "everything has to be positive," "never admit a problem," "sweep it all under the rug" Christian world, we see the unfortunate response that we are seeing at Louisiana College. Never admit or address the problem. Attack the people who identify the issues. If you have blogged very long, you've seen someone in power respond to … [Read more...] about Leadership 101: Fix the Problems, Don’t Attack Those Who Identify Them

Bart Barber has published a post, "A Statement of Southern Baptist Soteriological Unity." It contains, if my count is correct, 33 affirmations, acknowledgements and denials concerning how Southern Baptists can find common ground in the Soteriological wars. I only have one problem with the document: I wish I'd written it.  Go, read Bart's statement and think about it. Do we not all agree on these issues? Can we not unite around these things. Is there anyone within the SBC who cannot affirm that document? Doesn't it show that we have MUCH more in common than we do in distinction, even in … [Read more...] about An Important Post from Bart Barber: A Statement of Southern Baptist Soteriological Unity

(Not that Dr. Hankins needs my defense! He works at academic heights and I am more of a blue-collar guy. But I want to defend his right to forcefully state his views, as he did today at SBC Today.) I did not sign the Traditionalist document last summer for a simple reason - I don't agree with some of the theology expressed in it. In addition, I believed that some who promoted and supported the Traditionalist document came from a mindset that threatened to divide and destroy our denomination. I perceived a definite anti-Calvinist bent within many, especially those who blogged about it, in the … [Read more...] about In Defense of Dr. Eric Hankins and SBC Today

A few years back at our annual pastor's conference I was sitting around a circle talking to a bunch of young guys. (I shouldn't mention that the circle was the hotel hot tub, because our readers might not want that mental picture.) I had a sudden moment of realization  sitting in that circle. I was now the old, established, voice of experience doling out advice to these young pastors. When did that happen? So, I'd like to invite you young whippersnappers to my virtual hot tub today to give you a little unsolicited advice. Some of you are old codgers like me - you can take the day off or … [Read more...] about An Old Codger’s Unsolicited Advice to You Young Whippersnappers

Is a Christian required in the New Testament era to tithe - to give 10% of his or her income to the Lord's work? Do the Old Testament commandments on tithing apply to New Testament Christians? Blogging is a fascinating thing. Topics seem to run in cycles. A few years ago there were few topics more controversial and common among Baptist bloggers than tithing, but I can't remember the last post I've seen on the subject. I guess we have been more focused on how churches are giving to the convention than how people are giving to their churches. We've hashed and rehashed soteriological issues ad … [Read more...] about The New Testament Standard of Giving

Some months ago, I reached my limit on Calvinism discussions here at SBC Voices. We've had a few articles posted here related to the topic, but I have turned down several posts that have been submitted to me that focused on Calvinism - pro or con. Based on my observations of dozens (hundreds?) of posts and thousands of comments on the topic, I formed the opinion that Southern Baptists generally lacked the ability to discuss this issue in a Christ-honoring and productive way. Comments seemed to devolve into petty mudslinging almost immediately. Then Dr. Frank Page formed a Calvinism study … [Read more...] about Toward a Productive Discussion of Calvinism