It’s been 31 years since Joel Gregory’s famous “The Castle and the Wall” sermon at the 1988 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). As the illustration goes, Lord Londonderry owned a castle in Ireland with fine stones that the local villagers began pilfering in order to rebuild broken roads and buildings. Prior to an extended trip, Londonderry […]
The Handwriting on the Wall: What We Can All Learn From the Paige Patterson Scandal
In many ways, I am a son of Paige Patterson. Some would describe me as a son of the Conservative Resurgence, the movement he helped spearhead. Over the course of my fifteen-year ministry, I’ve been able to serve in conservative churches and on conservative boards because of a conservative convention, and I have Paige Patterson […]
What it Means to be Someone’s Pastor
I was in my thirties before I understood what it meant that I was someone’s pastor. This is saying a lot, because I’ve pastored since I was twenty years old, and I’m now thirty-three. I understood pastoring in an intellectual sense, but it took a decade before I understood the fundamental nature of the calling, which […]
Casting the CP Under the Swine of ERLC Differences
I wasn’t raised Southern Baptist, but I became one when I was seventeen years old. I pastored my first Southern Baptist Church when I was twenty, and have since had the privilege of pastoring in the denomination for thirteen years. I also have the honor of serving on both the Southern Baptists of Texas Executive […]
Yellow Dog Christianity
In sixth grade I donned a “chili-bowl” haircut, named such because it looked like someone put a chili bowl on my head and cut off the excess hair. I thought it was the coolest haircut imaginable, but it wasn’t. In Spanish class my teacher used it as an illustration to teach us a new Spanish […]
Is it time to reconsider church-sponsored Super Bowl fellowships?
I was in fifth grade when I first witnessed a tragic football accident. I remember seeing a boy lying motionless on the 50-yard line, surrounded by the coaches, his parents, and eventually paramedics, who would carry him off on a stretcher. He would live, but for now he was lifeless. The boy had collided with […]
WHY THE IMB’S DECISION TO BRING HOME 600-800 MISSIONARIES IS A WELCOME WAKE-UP CALL FOR THE CHURCH
Several years ago I pastored a small church in East Texas. Our annual budget was slim, and we barely scraped enough together each week to pay the light bill. A stout conviction of our fellowship, however, was giving to missions. We designated 10% of our annual budget to it. The experience was difficult, one that […]
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service: Analyzing the Alleged Hatefulness of Intolerance
The other day I walked into a local restaurant without a shirt or shoes on, and, can you believe it, they refused to serve me. They said that my lack of clothing was uncouth and inappropriate. Feeling dejected, I decided that I wanted to do something nice for someone in need, so I visited one of […]
The Politically Incorrect Truth ISIS Teaches Us About Islam
In a recent contribution in The Atlantic, Graeme Wood published a piece entitled, “What ISIS Really Wants.” It’s an enriching read, offering a crystalline examination of ISIS. Personally, it wasn’t until I read this particular piece that I truly understood the difference between ISIS and other Islamic terroristic organizations, like Al-Qaeda or Hamas. Before today I lumped such groups into the same radicalistic category, […]
God, Don’t Bless America: Thoughts on the 2015 State of the Union Address
Last night President Obama gave his annual State of the Union Address. The occasion undoubtedly aroused political gurus and, well, everyone on social media to parse the speech whilst sharing their thoughts. There is always a torrent of talking points, but there is one line that is included in every State of the Union Speech that I think deserves more attention […]
WHAT’S SO WRONG WITH THE PHRASE, “HAPPY HOLIDAYS”?
It happens every year. Before the leaves can change from green to orange–and before those leaves descend to the ground–businesses start promoting their Christmas ads. Or as many businesses call them, their “holiday” ads. And this undoubtedly Hulk-rages every Christian on the planet into a wreath-colored green. “How dare they remove ‘Christ’ from ‘Christmas!’” we cry. Just […]
Should Christians Give Mark Driscoll the “Middle Finger”?
Some years ago I watched a nature series entitled Life that depicted the life of, well, life. One of the episodes included never-before-captured footage of a pack of Komodo dragons hunting a water buffalo. The event was unique because no one thought that a reptile would pursue a mammal, but the food situation was so dire that the Komodo […]