Guest Blogger

(from the SBC Plodder) Here is an abstract of one of those Calvinist church situations that caused me to write an earlier piece on being wary of my five-pointer brethren -  another place, I know some of the players, passed along to me by one close to the matter. Before anyone accuses me of making this stuff...you CAN'T make this stuff up. And, you can't survive in the SBC without a sense of humor. Good church calls Calvinistic pastor who proceeds to implement his vision of what the church should be. Things don’t go well. Church declines. Pastor encouraged to leave. He leaves...but not … [Read more...] about You Can’t Make This Stuff Up (by William Thornton)

(A friend who has been following my Brick Walls and Picket Fences series sent this to me and asked if I would be interested in publishing it.  I appreciated that he interacted with what I wrote.  For reasons that seem reasonable to me, my friend desires to remain anonymous.  For those who are interested, he DOES attend a Southern Baptist church!) Dave Miller has been writing this past year about Brick Walls and Picket Fences that has caused me to think quite a bit about how I would define who I believe are outside a Brick Wall. I mean, the Picket Fences is to me simpler to explain than a … [Read more...] about My Brick Wall: Three Simple Questions (Guest Blogger)

Jerry Corbaley lives in Hawaii and blogs at "Think the Thoughts?"  This article first appeared there.   Yes, I am also unhappy with what the United States is doing in regard to defining marriage. Yes, I am glad that many are working politically against the trend of redefinition. Yet, Christians are still free to emphasize God’s purpose of marriage. Why wait until the concept of ‘marriage’ is further maimed within our culture? Perhaps we could equip our congregations with what is right in God’s eyes whether the culture ever agrees or not. I wonder, should we ignore the need for our … [Read more...] about Christian Marriage: A Model for Surviving the Future (by Jerry Corbaley)

I am writing in response to Brad Whitt’s article “Young, Southern Baptist and irrelevant?” which was recently published in The Baptist Banner (vol. 24, no.6, pp. 5-8).  He laments over what seems to be a self-perceived irrelevance brought on by a minority that he describes as “outsiders from within” (p. 8; code, I think, for Calvinists).  This minority of men in the SBC has appropriated the Convention microphone and is taking its cues from not a few prominent non-traditional, non-SBC pastors.  The bottom line is that these me are hurting the Convention, and if he, and others like him, could … [Read more...] about Young, Southern Baptist, and Self-Important? (by Alan Pearce)

Hi all, Today I want to write about a topic that is near and dear to my heart – adoption. Adoption is wonderful in so many aspects. I have had the wonderful privilege to adopt three children (and perhaps more in the future). I want to say a few things about adoption. First, it is a wonderful way to rescue children. I cannot imagine what it is like to not have a home. But every time I look at my children, I see children for whom there was a time when they had no mom or dad. My boys were too small to remember it, and likely my daughter won’t remember it as she grows older either, but it is … [Read more...] about Adoption: It’s For All of Us (by Jim Giffords)

Hello, all. My name is Jim Gifford (I post as Jim G. on SBC Voices) and this is my first post as a contributor to Voices. A week or so ago, Dave Miller asked if there would be any non-Calvinists that would want to contribute and I volunteered. I will be contributing postings largely in theology from time to time. I’ll do my best to stay away (most of the time) from the C-A debates, as there are things I think that are far more important and more fun. A little about me: I currently live near Charlotte, North Carolina after living my whole life (until this May) in West Virginia. I graduated … [Read more...] about Why the Virgin Birth is Necessary (by Jim Giffords)

The SBC Plodder is back with another examination of Calvinism. I will put on my Karnak turban and predict a lively discussion. After all, I have ESP-N.   I'm a hacker and a plodder and am no different than the other fifty thousand or so SBC pastors but I do have a thirty year history with Calvinism and Calvinists and, unsurprisingly, have an opinion about it and them. To be candid, while I’m mostly ambivalent about Calvinismm, I'm decidedly wary of Calvinists. Here’s why: 1. Calvinists can be, well, rather arrogant. No, they don’t have a monopoly on such but my observation is that they … [Read more...] about Why I’m wary of Calvinists (by William Thornton)

Here's another submission from our friend William Thornton, the SBC Plodder.  Somehow, I'm guessing this one could be a little lively. I'm of the opinion that the internet was made for Calvinists, since there seems to be so many of them who love endless discussions. I've been interacting with my Calvinistic brethren/sistren online for almost twenty years, going back to the SBC's old SBCNet Forum in the 1990s. I do like some things about them: Almost all of the calvinists I know are serious about their beliefs. An old prof said to our class years ago, "All you have is what you believe. … [Read more...] about What I like about Calvinists

Alan Cross has been one of my favorite bloggers for years - insightful and incisive.  He writes at Downshore Drift.  We are glad to have one of his posts here at Voices. I walked into the massive building with my young children and was immediately overwhelmed and similarly impressed. We were visiting a megachurch on a weekend that I was away from home and we brought our children to the childcare center.  Behind the long desk was a bank of closed-circuit televisions that broadcast the goings on in each classroom. We gave our children over to the smiling people behind the desk and they gave us … [Read more...] about How Is Technology & Megachurch Altering Our Understanding of the Gospel? (by Alan Cross)

David blogs at "Gulf Coast Pastor" and recently posted this article.  I am very well aware that it is a counterpoint to the views of some of our writing team and readers.  That is what we are about - discussing issues in a collegial way, even when we disagree (or that's the goal anyway).  So, let us set the bar high here.  A lively exchange free of personal insult and invective. Can we be patriotic in our July 4th Worship Service? Can we sing patriotic songs and have the American, Texas, and Christian flags in our sanctuary? Yes, of course we can. It seems rather strange that practices I … [Read more...] about Patriotism and Christian Worship (by David Brumbelow)