Guest Blogger

Andy Hynes is a PhD candidate at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Follow him @ABHYNES on Twitter. He also seems to be fairly competent as a predictor of sporting outcomes, having won our recent bracket challenge! Whether we realize it or not we have a ministry mentality.  What I mean is, we all have ideas about the purposes of ministry.   How we view the purpose of ministry will determine our approach.  A lot of the mentality today is the need to exhaust all of our efforts to “attract” people with events and ideas. We plan and seek new ways to invite or convince the lost they … [Read more...] about Ministry Mentality (by Andy Hynes)

This was first posted at Alan's blog, "Downshore Drift." I was thinking recently about how much we simulate the experiences that we would like to have and the life that we would like to live into something that can be approached, bought, sold, and consumed. We often do not want the real thing, but we are happy with a facsimile of what we think would be nice. For example, my favorite Italian restaurant in town is made to look like Tuscany on the inside and has trees growing on the roof on the outside, but in reality, it is in a parking lot in front of a Best Buy on a bypass. I like to listen … [Read more...] about Plastic Living, Plastic Faith (by Alan Cross)

Dr. David W. Manner is the Associate Executive Director for the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists. He blogs at  http://kncsb.org/blogs/dmanner . You can follow him on Twitter:  @dwmanner.  Why are churches that so zealously defend the Bible rarely reading its text in public services of worship?  Does its limited use convey a lack of trust in the very Word professed to be foundational to faith, doctrines and practices?  And by limiting its text to a single reading prior to the pastoral exhortation are leaders implying that a higher level of credibility is found in the exhortation … [Read more...] about If the Bible Is Foundational to Worship…Why Aren’t We Using It? (by Dr. David W. Manner)

This was originally posted at Bart's blog, Praisegod Barebones. The following post refers extensively to the framework that Dr. Al Mohler articulated in his own blog post of 12 July 2005 entitled "A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity." You can find that article here. The official statement of faith for the Southern Baptist Convention is the Baptist Faith & Message. I have signed this document several times. And, in point of fact, not only have I signed it, but I also have read it and I agree with it. My signing of this document has been a matter of informed … [Read more...] about Theological Triage and Statements of Faith (by Bart Barber)

Jerry Corbaley blogs at Think the Thoughts? You think Jesus Christ was a good looking Caucasian with long flowing hair. You worship Jesus Christ as Savior, but not Lord. You think being rescued from the penalty of sin means that there are no consequences to the sins you commit. You think your pastor is responsible for your spiritual well-being. You pray often for the needs of the physical body, and have little appreciation for the spiritual treasure that is yours for the asking. You think that Jesus Christ would be a democrat or a republican. You think that America is liable … [Read more...] about You Might Be a Cultural Christian If: (by Jerry Corbaley)

Dr. David W. Manner is the Associate Executive Director for the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists. He blogs at  http://kncsb.org/blogs/dmanner . You can follow him on Twitter:  @dwmanner.  In retail, a loss leader is the practice of offering goods or services discounted at or below cost in order to draw consumers in. The strategy is that drawing them in will hopefully lead them to buy additional items at a higher price. Churches are formulating final plans for meaningful Easter worship services at the end of this week knowing they will potentially impact more attendees than … [Read more...] about Loss Leader Easter Sunday (by Dr. David Manner)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift.  I am thinking about this week and the story it tells in the Christian life and how we live according to an alternative reality that is rooted in Heaven and not this world. Tomorrow and Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments involving the legalization of Gay Marriage in America. That is not a small issue. We debate politics, the economy, and who has power and who does not. Christians live in a world that is telling and living by a story different from what we see in Scripture. What are we to think? What are we to do? I think that the … [Read more...] about Easter Story: Sin/Suffering, Cross, Resurrection, Ascension, New Creation (by Alan Cross)

Andy Hynes is a PhD candidate at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Follow him @ABHYNES on Twitter. There is much to learn from our Puritan brothers.  As pastors they spent countless hours studying, praying, and pouring over the souls of people. They were deeply embedded in pursuing the things of God.  They diagnosed the plight of man not merely as guilt for sins, but a greater pollution and bondage to sin.  Not bondage to sins of particular weaknesses of character or bad habits, but a state of being.  The depravity of man’s heart was the concern.  “They sought to expose the sinfulness … [Read more...] about PASTORS – Could We Use a Little Self-examination? (by Andy Hynes)

Joel Rainey blogs at Themelios. He is the Executive Director of the Mid-Maryland Baptist Association. I spent this morning with a colleague working on the contours of a potential Doctor of Ministry program for Maryland pastors, and among other things, we discussed the future of pastoral ministry.  For a few semesters, I've had the honor of teaching Pastoral Theology at a local seminary,and one of the units we cover relates to the task of leadership in emerging culture.  As an introduction to this unit, I give the students a description of what the world will look like in the not-too-distant … [Read more...] about The Future of Pastoral Ministry: Are we Really Up to This? (by Joel Rainey)

Bill Gernenz blogs at Broken and Undone.  Principle #4:  Faithful Biblical Application is Redemptive If God-centered, exegetically-based, faith-building application is going to prove genuinely biblical, it must be presented in a thoroughly gospel context.  Therefore, the final principle of sound biblical application is that biblical application must be redemptive.  In the midst of all applying, knowing, and striving the preacher must firmly tether his teaching and his audience to the cross.  The work of Christ in securing, revealing, and preserving salvation for his people cannot be … [Read more...] about Making Biblical Application – Principle 4 (by Bill Gernenz)