Howell Scott

This post was originally published on From Law to Grace on May11, 2011. Advocates of a big tent believe that people with a broad variety of political approaches and viewpoints can unite within a single party to advance shared core issues, even if they disagree in other areas. This way the party can attract a large base of support at the polls. (full article here) The "Big Tent" political philosophy remains alive and well in our nation today.  We are beginning to see some Republicans -- particularly supporters of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels -- advocate for the Big Tent.  What these people … [Read more...] about The SBC & a Collapsing Big Tent Philosophy

As I was coming of age in a Southern Baptist church in the late 70?s/early 80?s, the question that one of our own students recently asked our Student Pastor, “Why is Monday on a Thursday?” never really came up.  I think I would have been confused as well.  Turns out, our church is not observing Monday on a Thursday, but rather observing what is known as Maundy Thursday. Like our students (and many of our adults prior to my arrival as Senior Pastor four years ago), I had never heard of Maundy Thursday until I came to First Baptist Church of Poinciana, FL as Associate Pastor following … [Read more...] about “Why is Monday on a Thursday?”

On Wednesday, SBCVoices published my post, "SBC's New Calvinism & Patriotic Worship: Part 1." Part 2, which is my response to Professor Stam's original letter that was published at B21, can be read here.  Since my initial posts (both here and on my blog, From Law to Grace), I have gotten many responses — both positive (here and here) and negative (here and here) . Based upon this admittedly limited response, one could begin to understand one of the SBC's major fault lines – “majority Baptist theology” vs. “Reformed Baptist theology” – that Dr. Steve Lemke described in his recent post, “The … [Read more...] about SBC Calvinism & Patriotic Worship: A Final Word

This post, containing minor revisions, was first published at From Law to Grace on April 6, 2011. Should Southern Baptist churches discourage expressions of patriotism in their corporate worship services on national holidays such as Memorial Day and Independence Day?  According to Professor Carl “Chip” Stam and some younger Southern Baptist pastors represented by Baptist21, the answer is apparently yes.  Well, maybe not yes in so many words, but unwise and unhelpful to be sure.  While perusing the B21 website to watch an interview with Nathan Akin (which I still have not been able to … [Read more...] about SBC’s New Calvinism & Patriotic Worship: Part 1

This is the second part of a two-part series on how Hollywood and others limit their potential audiences.  You can read part one, Limiting Your Audience: Janeane Garofalo and Criminal Minds, on Howell's blog, fromlaw2grace.com. You would think that leaders of the first GCR Era Southern Baptist Convention Pastor's Conference -- scheduled to debut in Phoenix this June -- would desire to have the biggest possible audience for this annual event.  Knowing that the southwestern location would itself limit the number of pastors who could attend, one might assume that the Aspire 2011 SBCPC would … [Read more...] about Limiting Your Audience: SBC Pastor’s Conference

"He didn’t say it, but I think that traditionalists feel as if we are committing denominational suicide by promoting to prominence those who do not have much denominational loyalty or commitment.  We are hiring entity heads who showed little commitment to the denomination in their pastorates.  The podium at our conferences and conventions are largely filled with people whose Cooperative Program giving and denominational commitment are either minimal or non-existent.  Are we turning our denomination over to people who don’t care about the future of our denomination?"  (From "It's Deja Vu All … [Read more...] about Re-framing the Debate About the Future of SBC

"But, add feelings to the list of those things that are now subject to scrutiny by the Islamist lobby in this country.  First actions (South Park).  Then words (Franklin Graham).  Now feelings (Juan Williams).  But, where will it end, especially in regards to Islam?  Your guess is as good as mine.  If CAIR and NPR keep getting their way, most Americans — both conservatives and even a few liberals — may no longer be able to recognize the First Amendment.  Remember, the slippery slope always starts somewhere!"  (From "Slippery Slopes:  Speech, Islam & NPR") We can now add common-sense, … [Read more...] about Mike Huckabee, Radical Islam & Slippery Slopes

I just received an email from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego inviting me to purchase tickets for “A Night of Hope” with Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen: “A Night of Hope” with Joel and Victoria Osteen is an outreach of Joel Osteen Ministries and is an exciting time of praise and worship where attendees will hear an inspirational message from Joel and Victoria along with the electrifying music of Dove Award winning Cindy Cruse Ratcliff, Steve Crawford, Da’dra Greathouse, and the Lakewood Band and Ensemble. Joel and Victoria Osteen are pastors for a new generation.  Referred to … [Read more...] about Joel Osteen, King Ahab & Delusional Celebrations