Guest Blogger

Last week I posted an essay on women pastors, and I want to share some additional thoughts and information. I believe many critics of the complementarian position on women pastors miss a key point. Those of us who oppose women pastors are not claiming that women are incapable of serving as pastors. No, obviously women could (and do) serve as pastors. Women work in all the professions—law, medicine, counseling, etc. They serve wonderfully well. In my life, I’ve had two female family physicians, and they were both great. I followed their instructions and was the better for doing that. We’re also … [Read more...] about More Thoughts on Women Pastors [Mark Terry]

Mike Stone has launched a second campaign for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he is focusing on the SBC ‘s handling of sex abuse. On a recent podcast interview, he spoke about one of the SBC’s most painful instances of sex abuse and its mishandling by a Georgia Baptist church, a Georgia Baptist association, the Georgia Baptist Convention, and the Executive Committee of the SBC. Instead of pointing to the failures and bitter lessons learned, Mike took credit for keeping Trinity Baptist Church, Ashburn, Ga, from leaving the SBC and for having an abuser terminated who … [Read more...] about Mike Stone’s Campaign Story—An SBC Case Study Not to Be Repeated (Troy Bush)

There is a reason that previous generations referred to the pulpit as "the sacred desk;" it is, no doubt, the same reason that the prophets of the Old Testament sometimes referred to "the burden of the Lord". The responsibility of proclaiming the Word of God to the people of God is a serious and oftentimes heavy calling, and those who have been entrusted with this task should carry out their service with the utmost theological fidelity and personal integrity. In recent years, this concern has become even more evident in light of the growing awareness of the problem of plagiarism. This problem … [Read more...] about On Celebrity Preachers and Plagiarism (Phillip Powers)

A well-known seminary president recently tweeted, "Any consideration of Christian preaching must begin with the realization that preaching is essentially an act of worship—the central act of Christian worship." Putting the possible overstatement aside, the preached word has been a staple of the church's theological, doxological, and ethical life together since its very inception. Even today, in most churches, preaching occupies the primary place of emphasis and importance in the weekly worship gathering. However, more often than not, the priority of preaching in today's churches has to do with … [Read more...] about On a Vision for Cooperative Preaching Ministry (Phillip Powers)

… [Read more...] about On the Annual Celebration of Christmas and Easter (Phillip Powers)

Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series of articles exploring the monumental contributions slaves and convict laborers made in Georgia Baptist history. This article was first published by The Christian Index and is reposted here by permission of the author. Thousands of enslaved Black people were members of Georgia Baptist churches. They supported their churches through active membership, including voluntary gifts, and through the profits taken from their labor. Willis Williams and Lucrecia “Creecy” Daniel were two such enslaved persons and were members of Shiloh Baptist … [Read more...] about Georgia Baptist bicentennial: Lamenting a heritage of racism and slavery