Many memories have been etched into my mind in both the years I’ve spent as a minister and an academic, but one memory stands out in particular. I had just finished my third semester as a bible student at Ouachita Baptist University and was visiting the church I grew up in where my father-in-law was serving as the student pastor. The youth group looked different in at least two different ways. First, it was quite a bit larger than it was when I was a teenager growing up. Second, the room now had just as many, if not more, African-American and Asian teenagers as it did Caucasians. Like many … [Read more...] about Understanding Diversity and Its Denominational Implications: Unmasking Marginalization as Southern Baptists (Vinh T. Nguyen)
The Mountain and the Mundane (Ann Hibbard)
Those who have been Christians for any length of time have probably heard the term “mountaintop experience.” Scripturally, we usually think back to the experience of Peter, James, and John during the Transfiguration. We talk about our modern-day comparisons: intense spiritual encounters that tend to come through wonderful conference experiences, peaceful private retreats, or even some form of miraculous intervention that turns our weeping and pleading into joy and laughter. Whatever it may be, when we compare it to the Transfiguration story, we seem to assume that the mountain adventure … [Read more...] about The Mountain and the Mundane (Ann Hibbard)
Life, Liberty, and Happiness (Jimmy Meek)
As I observe, and reflect on all the 4th of July posts, it seems the “go to” quote is that our Creator guarantees Americans life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I suppose our constitutional framers may have been trying to guarantee this, but unless we get away from the commonly accepted definitions of these terms, don’t assign this guarantee to God. Defining “life” as this earthly existence , we see that God does not guarantee that. In fact in Scripture, and church history, we see many followers of Jesus going to an “Early” death because of their faith. The book of Revelation … [Read more...] about Life, Liberty, and Happiness (Jimmy Meek)
What Women Really Want (Melissa Edgington)
In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Chaucer creates a king who, as punishment for an evil deed, is sent on a quest to find out what it is that women really want. He travels the entire land, asking women everywhere, and much to his discouragement, every answer is different. He is beginning to believe he will never learn the truth of what it is that women truly desire. Finally, he comes across an old mystic who reveals that the ultimate wish of all women is to dominate and rule over their husbands and lovers. In the end the king is forced to marry the old woman and, once he finally concedes … [Read more...] about What Women Really Want (Melissa Edgington)
Locked Compartments (Ann Hibbard)
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ann, and I am a compartmentalized woman. I have a variety of titles, jobs, responsibilities, all of which I often need to keep individualized and separate. Even if some of my responsibilities overlap, typically each job must hold its own space on the schedule. The lines between them cannot be allowed to blur lest I fail to honor my responsibilities in one or the other. For many years, I have seen this compartmentalism as necessary for functionality, organization, balance, and excellence. And this viewpoint has, indeed, proven useful. I have seen … [Read more...] about Locked Compartments (Ann Hibbard)
SBC Women: Where Do We Go from Here? (Kathy Litton)
Ironically, we find ourselves in the midst of two pivotal, transforming moments in the life of our denomination in regard to women. The first is the significant centennial anniversary of the SBC Constitution being amended in 1918 by the necessary two-thirds majority to seat the first ever female messengers at the annual meeting. This event occurred two years before our country granted women the right to vote. It was a powerful, pivotal moment. The second is the present moment in time. Conditions are rising for a monumental shift in the way women are valued, treated, and welcomed into … [Read more...] about SBC Women: Where Do We Go from Here? (Kathy Litton)
#SBC18 Annual Meeting Recap (Karen Swallow Prior)
Last week’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention garnered more attention than others in recent memory. Controversies mounting over recent weeks and months for Southern Baptists and evangelicals—from presidential politics to #ChurchToo—led to intense media coverage in the days leading up to and surrounding the meeting. Countless news outlets reported on the issues that would define the event, from the firing of longtime SBC leader Paige Patterson from the top post at a Baptist seminary, to Patterson’s last minute withdrawal from the honored spot of delivering the meeting’s … [Read more...] about #SBC18 Annual Meeting Recap (Karen Swallow Prior)
SBC Women: Next Steps (Melissa Edgington)
I am a Southern Baptist woman. As a baby I toddled up and down the aisle of my parents’ little SBC church in central Texas, squealing with laughter as one church member after another held my chubby hands to steady me. I grew up there. I knew all of the best hide and seek spots in the building. I slept on the floor of the fellowship hall during G.A. sleepovers, and Jesus found me in that same room, when a traveling evangelist asked me if I could hear my shepherd’s voice. How many sweet people had poured God’s word into my hungry little soul by the time I was eight years old? Eventually, … [Read more...] about SBC Women: Next Steps (Melissa Edgington)
Mike Pence & the SBC – It’s a Mixed Bag (Dave “Tarheel” Cline)
I want to say from the outset that I would strongly prefer that no elected politician, candidate, or official speak at the Southern Baptist Convention. I would even go so far as to suggest that the host city send a tourism or chamber of commerce representative to welcome us to their fair city instead of a mayor or councilperson. I hope the SBC exec committee will, as a result of the referred motions regarding this, propose a formal nix going forward of our historic practice of inviting and granting space on the platform and/or on the schedule to elected politicians or candidates for secular … [Read more...] about Mike Pence & the SBC – It’s a Mixed Bag (Dave “Tarheel” Cline)
American Family Radio Picking the Wrong Fight (Jimmy Meek)
As I come home from Dallas, I am refreshed at the Gospel unity shown at the Southern Baptist convention. I was however disappointed by what I heard on a Dallas AFR station. American Family Radio has a combination of broadcast sermons and political commentary shows, with a conservative Christian bent. One of their commentators on Tuesday, hours prior to the election for SBC President between JD Greear and Ken Hemphill, was making an obvious push for listeners to side with Ken Hemphill. The reasons given seemed to be this commentator’s perception that the younger JD Greear was a liberal … [Read more...] about American Family Radio Picking the Wrong Fight (Jimmy Meek)