In the blockbuster Broadway musical Hamilton, Aaron Burr sings about a deal struck between political rivals Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison concerning where the permanent capital of the United States should be located. Burr laments that, “no one else was in the room where it happened.” Of course, Burr harbors some significant political ambitions himself, so before the song ends, he switches to singing, “I’ve gotta be in the room where it happens!” The message is that you have to actually be there to really understand what is going on. Last week, the Southern Baptist … [Read more...] about Southern Baptists and the Alt-Right: On Being in the Room Where it Happened (by Nathan Finn)
Learning from Our Family History: Race Relations and the Southern Baptist Convention (Dr. Joel Rainey)
Joel Rainey is the lead pastor of Covenant Church in Shepherdstown, WV. For more than 4 decades, I’ve been in denial. It’s not as though the signs weren’t there for me to heed. My mother has been on blood pressure meds for three of those decades. My grandmother died of a sudden heart attack due to a blood clot. My grandfather passed from hardening of the arteries—a complication of his diabetes. He was 64. But not me. No way! Wasn’t going to happen. I was a former athelete who had convinced himself that my metabolism in my 40s at *#@ pounds was identical to when I was 19. I was … [Read more...] about Learning from Our Family History: Race Relations and the Southern Baptist Convention (Dr. Joel Rainey)
Loved and Not Forgotten
This is a guest post from John Ambra, Director of Development, GuideStone Financial Resources _____ In 21 years of working with our Mission:Dignity ministry at GuideStone, I’ve gotten thousands of thank-you notes from the retired ministers, workers and their widows we assist through the program. Some of these have been typed, but many are written with a shaky hand made weak from old age and deteriorating health. As you can imagine, there are lots of reasons for these old soldiers of the cross to be grateful. In particular, living on low incomes after decades of sacrifice in small … [Read more...] about Loved and Not Forgotten
Financial Overview of the IMB: A Ten Year Summary (by Roger Simpson)
Editor's note: This article was written by Roger Simpson. Roger is a regular commenter at SBC Voices, a retired software engineer, and decades long Southern Baptist. His statistical analysis in this post is very much appreciated. I. Introduction The International Mission Board is again facing a shortfall in recurrent sources of funding. Recurrent revenue sources are received periodically such as a portion of Cooperative Program gifts from the churches forwarded to the IMB via the Executive Committee, Lottie Moon offering monies, and other gifts. Many will remember the “hand raising … [Read more...] about Financial Overview of the IMB: A Ten Year Summary (by Roger Simpson)
Text-Driven Preaching at the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference
The Following is a guest post by Dr. David Allen: Pastors love to preach and love to listen to preaching! Every year Southern Baptists converge at the annual Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference to hear good preaching. This year’s Pastor’s Conference will be a first! Twelve pastors will preach paragraph by paragraph through Philippians. When I first heard of President Dave Miller’s brainchild, I was excited and skeptical—excited that Dave would foster expositional preaching through a book of the Bible at the Pastor’s Conference; but skeptical as to how it might work. Dave … [Read more...] about Text-Driven Preaching at the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference
Pastor – Why You Need Space To Breathe
* This post was shared by our friend Steve Austin, he's an Author, Speaker, & Coach. Click here to join his free 7 day self-care challenge. Four years ago, I was a youth pastor, sign language interpreter, wedding photographer, radio host, husband, and father. In that order. Long days and nights were the norm. I worked in a school full-time, had after-school activities, a radio show two nights a week, and church activities Wednesday night and all day Sunday. Even Saturdays were consumed with photoshoots and youth group activities. People wondered how I kept so many plates spinning. In my … [Read more...] about Pastor – Why You Need Space To Breathe
A Christian, and Baptist, Response to Syria and War (by Joey Giles)
A few days ago Brother Dave Miller presented, what I thought, a very good article on the recent actions of President Trump and the response to Syria’s chemical attack on its own people. His ultimate conclusion was that he saw the argument from both sides of the perspective, and that there isn’t a clear cut, right/wrong answer, especially with a subject like war and conflict. Unfortunately, as has happened on too many occasions, people used the comment section to go from healthy, constructive dialogue to name calling, baiting, and just plain hateful, non-Christian jargon. [Last couple sentences … [Read more...] about A Christian, and Baptist, Response to Syria and War (by Joey Giles)
Five Lies People Tell about the Church (by Joel Rainey)
As a pastor, I've had many unfortunate encounters with domestic violence and its consequences. I've sat in my office across the table from a woman wearing sunglasses to hide the bruises. I've tried to comfort children as their father was handcuffed and taken from their home for beating up mom. In a few situations, the husband was escorted to jail as he simultaneously declared his love for the woman he just battered. But no one--not the police, his children, or me--was buying it. The violence and vitriol that brought all of us to that house was evidence enough that he didn't truly love … [Read more...] about Five Lies People Tell about the Church (by Joel Rainey)
The Sufficiency of Scripture & Practical Bible Doctrine by Darin Smith
The backdrop of opinions on the Bible vary from contempt to celebration. Some are bothered by passages they don’t understand; others are troubled by the ones they do. Scripture is seen by some as a stumbling block in the path of progress, while others see its meaning widen and deepen over the years. Either the Bible is right or it is wrong; it is either an ordinary book or a divinely-inspired text. This is why many today will say, “What is right for you is right for you. But what is right for me is right for me.” According to this worldview, all universal moral absolutes lose all … [Read more...] about The Sufficiency of Scripture & Practical Bible Doctrine by Darin Smith
Screwtape Letters: SBC Edition (Anonymous)
I (Dave) am doing something today I've never done before. I have previously published anonymous or pseudonymous articles for reasons I thought were valid, but I always knew the identity of the author. I received this submission today, ran it past Adam and others, and decided to go ahead and run it - even though I have absolutely no idea who wrote it. I would never run a "hit piece" in this way, but this bit of pointed fiction takes a centrist position and makes some powerful points. I honestly have no idea who wrote this. Even the email submission came from an anonymous source. … [Read more...] about Screwtape Letters: SBC Edition (Anonymous)