Guest Blogger

This entire post is from James White: This was just reported by the News and Advance out of Lynchburg: Liberty University announced today that Ergun Caner will no longer be dean of the university’s Baptist Theological Seminary. After an investigation conducted by four members of Liberty’s Board of Trustees, the university said it found that Caner has made “factual statements that are self-contradictory” concerning “dates, names and places of residence.“ The statements included his description of being raised as a Muslim in Turkey, when documents indicate he moved to the United States at … [Read more...] about Unofficial Report: Caner no longer dean of LBTS as of June 30

When we gather next week in Orlando for the annual Convention of Southern Baptists, I will be enthusiastically voting to elect Dr. Ted Traylor as the new President of our great convention. I believe he is the best servant to lead our denomination during this critical time. I have had the great honor of knowing this man for most of my life. I have found him to be a man of tremendous courage, conviction, and consistency. In the past years Dr. Traylor has led his church into a new outreach called The Ministry Village.  This endeavor has led his church to live out the commands of Scripture to … [Read more...] about A Cry From The Little Church

This is part of a post by J.D. Greear. The entire post can be found here. I want to address those of you who, like me, have a Baptist past but have often found yourself wondering, regarding the Southern Baptist Convention, “What is the point? Aren’t denominations a thing of the past?” I want to try and persuade you that this movement, the Great Commission Resurgence, is something of God, is valuable for the Kingdom, and worth the investment of your time. I do so simply as a pastor of a young Southern Baptist church, not as an official spokesperson of the Great Commission Resurgence Task … [Read more...] about A Word to Young Southern Baptist Pastors

Why does the President of the West Virginia Baptist Convention support the GCR? 1) The GCR says out loud, what I have been thinking for a long time. The Southern Baptist Convention is losing ground in an increasingly lost culture. In the United States, we baptized 33,000 fewer people in 2008 than in 1950, and we have 17,000 more churches than we did then, while at the same time the population has effectively doubled. The demographics and population centers of North America have changed rapidly and we have not kept up. Two thirds of Cooperative Program dollars are remaining in states with … [Read more...] about Why One State Convention President Supports the GCR

Chuck Warnock On Pentecost, the community that was divided by God at the Tower of Babel is recreated in the miracle of communication at the coming of the Holy Spirit. Babel Revisited Acts 2:1-21 1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled … [Read more...] about Pentecost Sermon: Babel Revisited

The following is a post by Kevin DeYoung. A lot of our readers are pastors so I thought it would be good to post here. The gospel minister must help his people live well. But more importantly, he must prepare his people to die well. Those of us who are young and healthy can scarcely imagine what comfort the gospel of Jesus Christ provides for dear saints in their dying days. John Newton tells a story of visiting a young woman who died too soon from “a lingering consumption.” She was wise, but plain. She could read her Bible, but had read little else. Newton supposes she never traveled … [Read more...] about Kevin DeYoung: Realities Indeed

A GREAT COMMISSION RESURGENCE END-VISION By Dr. Rodney L. Hammer I’d like to express deep gratitude for the work of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.  They have demonstrated courageous leadership in helping us evaluate how we move forward with greater focus.  I support each recommendation of the GCRTF Final Report and pray we will embrace the challenges. I’d like to suggest our SBC family also consider adopting a “SBC 2020 End-Vision”. An end-vision can be called a picture of a preferred future.  While not comprehensive in detail, such a picture revealed to us from the … [Read more...] about A Great Commission Resurgence End-Vision

Someone that I have really come to appreciate in the blogosphere wrote this and he gave me permission to post it at length- Josh Collins.  While I consider Josh a "blogosphere friend" he is also quick to challenge some of my thoughts, which I appreciate. Enjoy the post!- Matt Svoboda For the record, I’m just a lowly blogger with a readership of about 2 (3 if my mom is in town).  I don’t really know the pressures of consistent blogging that many of you face.  I honestly get more hits per day often when I don’t write anything. That said, in a recent comment thread I was in, the topic … [Read more...] about Subverting Negative Expectations in Blogging

This post is by Kevin Howard: Southern Baptists owe much to Lottie Moon.  As a missionary, I probably owe her more.  She did much for what is now the IMB. Her work was risky, exhausting, and commendable, to say the least.  (Listen to Danny Akin's sermon, The Power of a Consecrated Life Lived Out in the Ministry of Lottie Moon.) While I'm no expert on her life, I've read a bit about her from various sources.  I'm currently reading Catherine B. Allen's, The New Lottie Moon Story, 1980.  Allen is undoubtedly an admirer of the great Moon and seems to give a fair portrayal of her subject's … [Read more...] about Women Preachers: Is Lottie Moon Our Standard?

This post is written by Kevin L. Howard Should Southern Baptist women use the Scriptures to teach or train men in Sunday school or other settings?  It's a simple thesis with many implications, so let's get into it. The Baptist Faith & Message of 2000 and Scripture Article 6, The Church, of the BF&M 2000, says, "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture." I agree with this BF&M statement.  I just wished it went further.  Scripture doesn't say, "Women can't pastor or hold the office of … [Read more...] about Women and SBC Ministry: Clarifying the 2000 BF&M