Originally posted at my blog earlier in May. ---Doug I've spent a good bit of time these past weeks reading in early medieval Britain. Fortunately for me, the books have been mostly translated into modern English. Except for one from the 1800s that left the most important quotes in the original Latin. Shows a bit of a focus change in education: Latin was once a bigger deal than it is now. Of course, I'm now going to be spending this summer getting a better grasp of it… Moving on, one of the situations I learned about in this process was the conflict in the fifth and … [Read more...] about Right on the small–wrong on the big
Bin Laden, Eternity, and Why I’m not in Charge
By now, most of you have heard the news that the US Military has killed Osama bin Laden. His identity was verified, and then he was "buried at sea" in accordance with Islamic tradition. First, I've got a confession to make. I have not been diligent in his case to honor Matthew 5:44 and pray for my enemy. I have, on occasion, prayed that a Bible find its way to him before the bullet did, but I haven't prayed for his health, wealth, or prosperity. I certainly have prayed that no missionary lose their life trying to carry the Gospel to him and his cohorts. Why? To be honest, after that … [Read more...] about Bin Laden, Eternity, and Why I’m not in Charge
I’m a Five-pointer!
I think it's time to be direct in my theology. So, here it is: I'm a five-pointer. I think the Lord Jesus Christ is a five-pointer as well. Don't believe me? It all depends on your five points. I know we tend to use that term to identify the Dort formulation of Calvinism, but let's grab a different five: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ” (Isaiah 9:6, KJV 1900) Here are five points we should all agree on: 1. … [Read more...] about I’m a Five-pointer!
If I had been there
So it's not a deep theological treatise, but I thought I'd try and put myself there, in Jerusalem. Bear with this one, there's good posts coming later from the other SBCVoices team. I can see myself following behind the disciples and wandering with the crowd as Jesus makes His way to Jerusalem that week. I can see being a little excited about seeing Him do all the stuff He's been doing in Galilee up in Jerusalem (remember, Jerusalem is always "up"). I can imagine soaking up the teaching, the miracles, the cleansing of the Temple. I can see myself being a little sad I was left out of the … [Read more...] about If I had been there
The Inside Scoop on SBCVoices
It's a busy season for many of us that post around here, and so we're running on a "write-it, post-it" schedule rather than a "write-it, let-it sit and be scheduled, then post-it" kind of schedule. Well, except for one person that's not me, who has lots of posts in the queue. However, since we're a little short on content this week (How do I know we're short? When you see more than 1 Doug post in any 7-day time frame, we're short on good content), I thought I'd peel back the curtain with a few lesser-known facts about SBCVoices and the contributors here: Little known fact #1: There is … [Read more...] about The Inside Scoop on SBCVoices
Peacefully in my sleep
The old story goes that once upon a time in a Sunday School class, the children were talking about how they wanted to die. (Scary Sunday School class, I know.) One child expressed his feelings quite clearly: "I want to die peacefully in my sleep, just like my grandpa did." "Oh, really, Timmy?" "Oh yes, peacefully in my sleep. Not screaming in terror like the 4 people riding with him." Now, you may think that's an absolutely horrible story. If so, I'd recommend you not listen to me teach classes. I'm not that bad when I preach, but I get that corny on Wednesday nights … [Read more...] about Peacefully in my sleep
The parable of the preservationist
No, I'm not making this up like the Fire Department Story. This is one of the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us this during the last week of His earthly, pre-Resurrection life. (Side note: it's hard to label the Lord Jesus Christ with time: "last week of His life" is not accurate, kind of like calling Him "young" isn't. He's eternal, so He's never really been young, even if His incarnate body was. He's eternal, so He hasn't, and never will have, a "last week." So, last week of earthly, pre-Resurrection life is the best I can do.) Why don't you see the Parable of the … [Read more...] about The parable of the preservationist
Being a Radicle Person
No, that's not misspelled. I'll explain: This past week I was listening to back issues of Russell Moore's podcast of The Cross and the Jukebox. Once I got over my envy that he's getting to mix pleasurable work (talking about Jesus) with pleasure (country music), I was able to glean a good bit of information. The issue (episode?) I listened to that struck me the most, though, was this one about Don Williams' song Good Ole Boys Like Me. Dr. Moore spoke of growing up in southern Mississippi and how much he felt bad for the kids from the nearby Air Force Base that answered the "Where are you … [Read more...] about Being a Radicle Person
The SBC Annual Meeting: Secrets Revealed
All kinds of information comes in to the various people that contribute to SBCVoices. Some of that information is good, some not, and much of it never leaves our dear heads. However, every now and then, one of us gets a hold of something SBC related that must be published without delay or evaluation. So, available here for the first time is the tentative proposed order of business for the Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. I can't tell you where it came from for at least the next 15 years, so I hope you understand. There's a rumor that the Pastor's Conference may have a similar … [Read more...] about The SBC Annual Meeting: Secrets Revealed
Things we left behind
I put this on my blog on March 17. Yes, every bit of the history is oversimplified. I think, though, we would do well to consider whether we've chosen to neglect too much of the last 2000 years.--Doug For those of you that didn’t realize it, today is St. Patrick’s Day. What does that mean? Well, if you grew up in the Southern US, it means you wear green and maybe pretend you’re Irish. Other places, though, it means other things. For some, it’s a much more important day. Why? Because they know who St. Patrick is. Unfortunately for a lot of us Baptists, we’re not so aware. You see, … [Read more...] about Things we left behind