Guest Blogger

Joel Rainey is the Director of Missions at Mid-Maryland Baptist Association, an adjunct professor at Capital Bible Seminary and blogs at Themelios (Twitter - @joelrainey). This post was originally published at his site. The following is based in experiences I've had with churches I've consulted with over more than 20 years of service in ministry. Over that time, I have become convinced that we have perfected the pathology by which we can accelerate the decline and eventual demise of a local church. I've seen the following happen in different orders, with different emphases, and I can … [Read more...] about A Five-Fold Strategy Guaranteed to Kill Your Church (by Joel Rainey)

The Queen James Bible, published in November 2012, is a “translation” which purports to edit King James Version passages condemning homosexuality.  Claiming “interpretive ambiguity,” the editors flatly state“We edited the Bible to prevent homophobic interpretations,” assuring their readers that the bible says nothing about homosexuality.  Further, in what amounts to a clear demonstration their complete disregard for historical-grammatical/canonical-contextual exegesis, the QJV editors posit  that “things like Leviticus are horribly outdated.”  Focusing largely on the Leviticus and Romans, … [Read more...] about The Queen James Version: A “Gay” Bible (by Randall Cofield)

This message is offered as a response to Bart Barber’s request that I offer my “…understanding of the narrative passages in Acts, to refute points that I have tried to make…” Barber made this statement in the comment stream under his post, “The Nature of the Biblical Gift of Tongues:  Consideration of Relevant Narrative New Testament Passages“ This is also the message that I preached in Chapel at SWBTS in August 2006 that, in many ways, defined or redefined my relationship with Southern Baptists. I hope this message answers Bart’s questions about my view of the Acts narrative passages as they … [Read more...] about THE BAPTISM AND FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (By Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr.)

Joel Rainey is the Director of Missions at Mid-Maryland Baptist Association, an adjunct professor at Capital Bible Seminary and blogs at Themelios (Twitter - @joelrainey). This post was originally published at his site. Nearly three years ago at this time, my wife and I were in China getting ready to meet our little girl--now over 4 years old--and complete all the in-country and American citizenship paperwork that would both make her our daughter, and an American citizen.  We landed in Beijing, and spent two days touring the city while the Chinese government finalized all the details for our … [Read more...] about An Open Letter to Mosquitoes (by Joel Rainey)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift.  The war drums are beating for the United States again and this time they involve Syria. The accusation is that Syria's dictator, Bashar Assad, has attacked his own people with chemical weapons (sarin nerve gas) and that a thousand innocent civilians have been killed with thousands more injured. Assad denies this and some reports claim that the Syrian Rebels were the ones to actually carry out the attack in the hopes that the West would come to their aid and blame Assad. The Syrian Rebels have been infiltrated by Al Qaeda cells as well and have also … [Read more...] about Should Christians Support U.S. Involvement in Syria’s Civil War? (by Alan Cross)

Joshua Breland blogs at "A Return to Faith." Right now, there are jaded people among your church body. Some are laypeople, some are deacons, some are perhaps elders or pastors. But know this, there are Christians in your congregation who are hurting and struggling with their faith and their relationship to the church. Merriam-Webster can help us understand what I mean by “jaded”: jaded: made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience Merriam-Webster accurately describes where I am at in regards to the local church, Christian organizations, and theSouthern Baptist Convention. I do not admit … [Read more...] about Love The Jaded Among The Church (by Joshua Breland)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift. Today marks the 50th Anniversary of one of the most important speeches in American history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech given on the Washington Mall on August 28, 1963. It marked a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and it had such galvanizing power because it called America back to who we claimed to really be. It lifted up our nation to what we were supposed to be - to what we could be together. An excerpt: I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will … [Read more...] about Is Dr. King’s Dream Dead? (by Alan Cross)

Joel Rainey is the Director of Missions at Mid-Maryland Baptist Association, an adjunct professor at Capital Bible Seminary and blogs at Themelios. This post was originally published at his site. Much is being written of late about the milennial generation (b. 1978-circa 2000) and the profound effect they are already having on our culture, including the western church.  Since two members of that generation live in the same house as me, I have a front-row seat to how their perceptions, choices, and preferences are driving everything from marketing and education to social policy and perceptions … [Read more...] about The Promise and Peril of Young Evangelicals: Passion, Politics, and Idolatry (by Joel Rainey)

Joel Rainey is the Director of Missions at Mid-Maryland Baptist Association, an adjunct professor at Capital Bible Seminary and blogs at Themelios. This post, the second in a series, was originally published at his site. Here is the introductory post and the first post. There is much talk these days among organizations of all stripes about "de-centralization."  For most, this term simply means a spreading of a still-centralized bureaucracy to more than one location.  But the essence of whether an organization is truly de-centralized surrounds the location of three things:  power, personnel, … [Read more...] about The Future of the Baptist Association: Spreading our Influence (by Joel Rainey)

William Thornton is the SBC Plodder. Perhaps I am in the wrong churches to evaluate the state of congregational singing in the Southern Baptist Convention but I rarely find a church where it appears that there is much concern about the congregation, rather than soloists or the choir, doing any serious singing in worship. The whole assembly was worshiping, singing the song, and blowing the trumpets...   2 Chronicles 29:28a There is always music planned for worship that is called congregational singing but not much singing seems to occur. The choir, praise team, music leader, platform … [Read more...] about The Death of Congregational Singing (by William Thornton)