Guest Blogger

Wm Dwight McKissic, Sr. is the pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, TX. He blogs at Wm Dwight McKissic, Sr. While watching the Dallas Cowboys versus the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving Day, I was excited to see the advertisement of the Christmas Day release of a movie featuring Jamie Foxx entitled, “Django Unchained.” I am not a movie-goer. I am a man in love with my wife, and she loves to go to movies. Therefore, from three to six times a year, we make our way to the movies together. One of our favorite times to go together is during the Christmas Holidays. This … [Read more...] about Why Born-Again Believers Should Boycott the Jamie Foxx Movie “Django Unchained” (by Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr)

William Thornton is the SBC Plodder and always has an interesting take on the happenings in the SBC South Carolina Baptists are doing something that ought to raise at lease a single eyebrow around the Southern Baptist Convention. They are taking a significant portion of their Cooperative Program receipts from the churches and sending it directly to the International Mission Board thereby bypassing the Executive Committee, all of the seminaries, the North American Mission Board, and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. I am unaware of any other state convention taking this … [Read more...] about New wrinkle to the Cooperative Program (by William Thornton)

Ron F. Hale -- serves on the pastoral staff of a Baptist church in his hometown of Jackson, TN.  He has served as church planter, pastor, director of associational missions, and evangelism director of a state convention. Dr. Al Mohler, president of the SBTS, received a “liberal lashing” from Dr. Miguel De La Torre in his Associated Baptist Press article on November 7th.  These days it seems that “fundamentalist” Christian white men who might also be Republican are scarier than plane-flying al-Qaeda hijackers bent on jihad. I am certainly no fan of Dr. Mohler’s reformed theology (with all … [Read more...] about The Post-election Chest-beating of Miguel De La Torre (by Ron F. Hale)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift. Acts 1:8 is where Jesus is speaking to his disciples right before his Ascension into Heaven where he says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This was spoken to a small group of Jesus' followers in Jerusalem around 33 AD. He was telling them that the Holy Spirit would come upon them and empower them to be witnesses/martyrs for him starting in Jerusalem. Then, the gospel would go throughout Judea and north to Samaria and then … [Read more...] about Are We Interpreting Acts 1:8 Wrong? (by Alan Cross)

..and I'm guessing that most of my ministerial colleagues will be loath to make such an admission as well. There is a perfectly good reason for such an attitude: No pastor wishes to be seen as damaged goods. I have admitted to being "a bit tired" and did so many times over the past couple of years when people in my church would ask why I am retiring at such a young (er, 62, young?) age. A feeling of mild ministerial fatigue was for me merely one of the Lord's signposts that my ministry at the church I had served for almost 15 years was drawing to a close - a normal progression. I will … [Read more...] about No sir, I’m not admitting to clergy burnout… (by William Thornton)

Alan blogs at Downshore Drift. This article is a follow-up to the article we published here a couple of days ago (link is below).  After my resolution on ministering to immigrants in Alabama did not make it out of the resolutions committee on Tuesday, I have become pretty motivated to think through this issue and I wonder if it might not be possible for Alabama Baptists to tell a better story than we have. I wrote about what happened here: http://www.downshoredrift.com/downshoredrift/2012/11/are-alabama-baptists-wrong-to-minister-to-illegal-immigrants.html I understand the desire to … [Read more...] about Could Alabama Baptists Lead the Way in Immigration Reform In America? (by Alan Cross)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift and delivers devastating nominating speeches! Admittedly, this is just going to be one side of the story. And, I am used to not getting my way or have people listen to me, so that is not the issue here. But, today, I submitted a resolution to the Alabama Baptist Convention during our annual meeting that sought to address the balance between our duty to obey the law of the land and our duty to obey God's law in loving all people and helping them, despite whether they are here legally or not. It did not make it out of committee and I wanted to explore some … [Read more...] about Are Alabama Baptists Wrong to Minister to Illegal Immigrants? (by Alan Cross)

Lynn Mitchell is a husband of one wife, a father to five children, and a faithful member of Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville NC where he lives while pursuing a PhD from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His PhD focus is in missions and specifically how Christian missions is more than evangelism. Lynn loves to teach and preach specifically in the areas of mission mobilization and men's ministry. Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/lynn.mitchell.984 and Twitter: @MLynnMitchellJr To the amazement of many, myself included, the election Tuesday went to Obama. The obvious question is, … [Read more...] about What happened?: An Anthropological Insight into the State of the Union (by Lynn Mitchell)

Dr. Timothy Paul Jones is Associate Vice President for Online Learning and Professor of Leadership and Church Ministry at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He blogs at his eponymous site. A editorial comment is in order here. I have pretty much shut off discussions of Calvinism, because they have been so unproductive. But this post was too good to pass on!  When have we ever discussed the "Defenestration of Prague?"  So, let's defy the odds and have a productive discussion of Calvinism and Arminianism! Defenestration and Divine Election in Seventeeth-Century Europe By the opening … [Read more...] about Church History: How Christians Settled an Argument About Election (by Dr. Timothy Paul Jones)

 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.  A new lexicon has evolved in response to the advent of modern worship.  You may want to add some of these selections to your worship vocabulary: Worshipappens – Standard response to congregants who constantly complain about worship change. Worshapparition – The belief that what and how we sing or play it will determine if the Holy Spirit shows up. Worshapathy – for definition see:  … [Read more...] about Modern Worship Lexicon (by Dr. David Manner)