Guest Blogger

John Elkins is the Student Pastor at First Baptist Church of Brazoria, TX.  The current reality of tenure in youth ministry is atrocious.  I’ve see youth guys come and go at a rapid rate since I started in the ministry and have mourned the losses to my fellow churches.  I have been at my church for almost 8 years now as the Student Pastor (official title).  I serve at First Baptist Church in a small town south of Houston Texas.  Last weekend I was privileged to stay with some great friends and through the course of our conversation it came to light that their church has not been able to keep … [Read more...] about How to Keep a Youth Guy: Ten Ways My Church Encourages Me to Stick Around (by John Elkins)

Thomas Magers is the pastor of Tiplersville Baptist Church in Tiplersville, MS and is a student at NOBTS.            Physics is the study of the physical world. In studying the physical sciences, a student learns about the law of conservation. The law of conservation applies to many different areas. Some of the areas are energy, momentum, mass, and electrical charge. The law about conservation of mass posits that matter cannot be created or destroyed.[1] For instance, burned wood is not destroyed completely; it has gone through a process of change resulting in ash and gasses.             … [Read more...] about God’s Attributes In/Through Us (by Thomas Magers II)

As we prepare for another national holiday devoted to drunken revelry tomorrow, CB reminds us of who St. Patrick really was.  The saint of God who became known as St. Patrick to the world was born in his native homeland of Scotland in A.D. 389. Below is a very short history of this tough-as-nails follower of Christ who became known as St. Patrick. (This is a story of the slave trade. Slavers have been parasites upon humanity since the early years of creation. The Bible records many such stories. The Bible also records the stories of God’s wonderful works of grace and deliverance in spite … [Read more...] about Patrick of Ireland was a Scot (by CB Scott)

Thomas Magers is the pastor of Tiplersville Baptist Church in Tiplersville, MS and is a student at NOBTS. The movie Noah will feature a disclaimer to announce to moviegoers that Noah is not entirely biblical. The disclaimer reads, “The film is inspired by the story of Noah. While artistic license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values, and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis.” The movie has not been released yet, so I cannot comment on the … [Read more...] about Artistic License: Noah the Movie and Biblical Interpretation (by Thomas Magers II)

THE KINGDOM FAMILY GATHERING, 2014 A Gathering for a New Millennium BY WILLIAM DWIGHT MCKISSIC, SR. Waiting in the baggage claim area at the Washington, DC, Airport, I made eye contact with a gentleman who paused, looked at me, then looked at a picture that he was holding in his hand, looked at me again, and then he continued to walk pass me. He made his way around to me again and repeated the previous actions; only this time before proceeding without speaking, he paused to ask—“Are you Rev. Dwight McKissic?” I said, “Yes!” He then said, “You don’t look like your picture.” My assistant … [Read more...] about The Kingdom Family Gathering (by Dwight McKissic)

THE FORGOTTEN “N” WORD IN THE BIBLE By William Dwight McKissic, Sr. The NFL is currently discussing penalizing players who use the “N” word during a game. Two White NFL players, Riley Cooper and Incognito, have been recorded using the “N” word as a slur directed toward African American males. Black NFL players reportedly commonly use the term during games in a myriad of context, some affirmative and some pejorative. Recently, an Anglo female student at the high school in Texas where my daughter teaches—at a school-wide sanctioned event, across a microphone—made reference to all the “high … [Read more...] about The Forgotten “N” Word in the Bible (by William Dwight McKissic, Sr)

Paul Thompson blogs at "The Bridge."  It was early on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. David and Emily came by the house at 4:30AM to drop their dogs off to stay with Renee because we would be away until Wednesday afternoon. We then met up with Jeff Norton, pastor of NorthRidge Fellowship in Jerome, ID at 4:45am to begin the drive to Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. This would prove to be an historic day for all of us. The drive to Provo, was pleasant. Any time to be in good discussion with family and friends is a good moment. It may be worth just going for a long drive some time; if for … [Read more...] about A Gospel Moment at BYU (by Paul Thompson)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift. A recent post on SBCVoices.com raises that question. Bart Barber, current 1st VP of the SBC and a friend of mine writes about a recent meeting of the SBC's Executive Committee. They put forward a proposal to amend Article III of our Constitution which deals with member churches and messengers to the annual meeting. There is the business about trying to raise contribution requirements and a few other things, but what really caught my attention was the part about requiring firm adherence to all points of the BFM2000 to be a participating SBC church or … [Read more...] about Is the SBC Positioning to Be Able to Oust Half Of Its Churches? (by Alan Cross)

William Thornton is the SBC Plodder. The SBC Executive Committee is considering a proposal to change the messenger allocation formula for the annual meeting. Baptist Press reports on the proposal. Updated qualifications weighed for messengers. This subject erupts regularly at our annual meetings. BP says that motions concerning the messenger allocation formula have been made no less than 16 times in the past 35 years. For the past 136 years messengers have been allocated as follows: One per cooperating church. One additional per $250 "paid to the work of the Convention" or per … [Read more...] about Proposed SBC Messenger Formula: Not Very Small Church Friendly? (by William Thornton)

This article originally appeared at Tim's blog, "Southern Baptist in NC". It was 2006 and many were pushing for leadership to come from churches that had ten percent of their undesignated funds being given to the Cooperative Program (CP).  The Executive Committee (ExComm) was entertaining a motion to come before the convention by the State Executives that year calling for trustees of entities to be from churches that give 10% to the CP. A small group met in Memphis calling for public repentance and holding trustees accountable to the convention’s sacred trust. This call was more loudly voiced … [Read more...] about Dr. Ronnie Floyd: Putting His Money Where His Mouth Is (by Tim Rogers)