Guest Blogger

Editor: Rob Freshour is the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of South Lyon, Michigan. I am going to risk some stuff today with this article.  I am going to risk my reputation.  I am going to risk your opinion of pastors and of me as a pastor.  In fact, I am going to risk the safe ground for a higher ground, a more adventurous and more fulfilling ground, to be sure, but also a less-charted and more dangerous ground. Who are your heroes, and why?  My dad liked John Wayne.  I favor the same archetype in James Bond or Clint Eastwood.  My sons look up to Jack Bauer or Chuck Norris.  We … [Read more...] about The Great Risk (by Rob Freshour)

 Joe Blackmon attends an SBC church in Tennessee.  He blogs at Hear God Speak.  You can follow him on Twitter @joe_blackmon_72 “It’s for your own good.” Did your mother ever tell you that? Mine did on a few occasions—usually when I had some medicine I didn’t want to take or perhaps when I had started an activity (tee ball) that I didn’t want to finish. Now that I look back, I’m thankful that she, well for lack of a better word, forced me to do what it was she was telling me to do. While it may have been unpleasant at the time, it was for my good as I can clearly recognize now. As Christians, … [Read more...] about II Peter 3:15a The Four Imperatives of a Forward Looking Faith Part II (by Joe Blackmon)

Another entry from our newly named Sports Editor. Hey Sports Fans! The Fall Classic is just around the corner of the MLB Baseball Season, yeah boy! I know you all love it because it is a Sports tradition, maybe even the biggest one in all the Sporting World. And that is saying a lot for someone who has seen the ultimate greatness of the FOOTBALL UNIVERSE as I have, being a Sabanite and a member of the SABANATION. With the World Series coming up in mind, my good friend and big time SBC analyst, Scott Gordon, made a statement about the great Mickey Mantle that caused me to ponder something … [Read more...] about THE GREATEST EVER? (by CB Scott)

Editor:  Rob Freshour is the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of South Lyon, Michigan. Several years ago, as a church planting missionary, I took on secular employment to supplement our family income.  In addition to my work as a planter-pastor, I worked with the United States Postal Service, first as a clerk, then as a mail carrier.  I learned a great deal about people and life as a postman. As you are probably aware, every postal worker who walks a route tries to be on the alert for dogs in the neighborhood.  Seems every puppy is born with an innate dislike for uniforms and the … [Read more...] about The Invisible Fence (by Rob Freshour)

Dr. David W. Manner is the Director of Worship and Administration at the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists. He blogs at http://kncsb.org/blogs/dmanner. You can follow him on Twitter:  @dwmanner. Thank you for sharing this with us, Dr. Manner. Most worship pastors crave the leadership investment from and healthy ministry communication with their senior pastor but don’t often realize the freedom or job security to initiate that relationship.  Consequently, a trial and error process of determining ministry direction often discourages the worship pastor and causes frustration for … [Read more...] about Senior Pastor: What Your Worship Leader Needs from You (by Dr. David Manner)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift and is a fantastic nomination speech-giver! I believe that God continues to work through His Spirit in the church via miraculous gifts and through His power. This belief is called "continuationism."  Cessationism is the belief that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit ceased with the completion of the canon of Scripture in the New Testament, or at the end of the first century when the last of the original apostles died. This is a big argument and I will not be able to cover it all here. A discussion arose last week on SBCVoices.com that made a case … [Read more...] about Another Case for the Continuation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (by Alan Cross)

William Thornton, the SBC Plodder is kind enough to share his posts with us from time to time. This is a companion piece - a point/counterpoint - to the next piece that will be post a few minutes later, from Rick Patrick.  Comments on this entry will be closed. Read both articles and then comment on the next post from Rick Patrick. Here is a link to Rick's article which will post a few minutes after this one. I have seven articles on the clergy housing allowance, our Sacred Tax Loophole. Seven is a good number, the number of completion, unfortunately there will be more to follow, since … [Read more...] about How do you explain your government tax break, the clergy Housing Allowance? (by William Thornton)

Bill Gernenz blogs at Broken and Undone and is a pastor in East Texas. Proverbs 22:6 has become to many parents, a golden strand of hope that their prodigal son or daughter will one day return to the Lord.  I greatly empathize with parents going through that terrible trial.  Friends and church members should comfort, pray for, and encourage these hurting parents. Indeed, parenting is the most painful calling God has entrusted to human beings.  It alone has the unique capacity to bring both unspeakable joy and immeasurable sorrow. A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to … [Read more...] about Proverbs 22:6 – A Better Promise for Parents (by Bill Gernenz)

Editor: Rob Freshour is the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of South Lyon, Michigan. When my son was twelve years old, he got my attention one Monday after school with an unusual question.  He asked me, “Dad, what’s the biggest problem you have ever faced and how did you solve it?” As any sane father should always do before blurting out whatever comes to mind, I responded to Joshua’s question with one of my own: “Why do you ask?” “I need to interview someone and write about it for school tomorrow,” he responded. Immediately, I began to make a mental short list of the … [Read more...] about My Biggest Problem … Ever (by Rob Freshour)

Marla Rogers is a pastor’s wife and blogger who lives in Biscoe, AR with her three cats and her husband David. (Note: David is a regular commenter here at SBC Voices, but is not the David Rogers who is a regular contributor here.) Remember the days when you were a kid that making an adult “promise” seemed like some magical binding contract to force them to do what was promised. Now, of course, we know there is no “power to the promise.” Or is there? Why do we keep some promises with gritted teeth, yet toss others away like yesterday’s garbage? Why are some promises so central to who we are … [Read more...] about Promises, Promises (by Marla Rogers)