I read a helpful illustration somewhere about the nature of pastoral ministry. The illustration likened ministry to mowing around a troublesome stump in your yard. Ultimately things would be easier if the stump were removed and you could just mow a straight path. But uprooting the thing might cause more trouble than it’s worth and […]
From the Voices That Matters Most: Ephesians 4:11-16
Do you remember Wordle? It was a fun little app we played with for awhile that made word clouds. About a decade ago Thom Rainer asked the question of many people what they thought of when they thought of Southern Baptists. This is what he got: Looking at this Wordle it is pretty clear that […]
A Concern with Paige Patterson’s Apology
Editor: This article was originally posted at Mike’s website, Borrowed Light, on Friday, May 11. I really don’t want to write this. It is going to be seen as dog piling or as harboring bitterness and unforgiveness. I pray if those charges are leveled that they don’t have truth in them. I pray that my […]
The Radical Remedy: Ephesians 2:1-10
“It is a failure to recognize this gravity of the human condition which explains people’s naïve faith in superficial remedies…A radical disease requires a radical remedy.” -John Stott So what do you think is needed in order to provide change? What will it take to change the world? Your life? Are you thinking of circumstances? […]
From the Voice that Matters Most: Ephesians 1:1-2 – Is This Someone Else’s Mail?
We share our opinions and insights at SBC Voices, but we believe that the Voice that matters most is the one that comes from God’s Word. We present these daily expositional devotions, beginning with a tour of Ephesians called, “Walk Worthy,” in hopes of encouraging our readers to remember to Voice above every voice. Passage: […]
What To Do When Your Sin Makes Enemies Pounce
“It is a marvel that any man escapes ruin, the dangers which beset even the best being many and terrible.” –W.S. Plumer Have you noticed 90% of news stories necessitate a person being ruined? Occasionally the ruin is not a result of a bone-headed decision or immoral choice. But more often than not, it is because sin […]
Even If The Foundations Are Destroyed Fear-Mongering is Not an Option
“if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” –Psalm 11:3 In America we are seeing many of our foundations destroyed. There are godly principles upon which for hundreds of years we have stood. These pillars of our society are being decimated by an increasingly liberal and progressive culture. So, what should people of […]
The Cautionary Tale of John Rockycana
With a name like Rockycana (pronounced Rockitsanna) you have to be destined for greatness. Had competivie bobsledding or battle rapping been invented by 1448 perhaps John Rockycana would be a name that more people would know. But as it stands he’ll have to settle for having been a 15th century Archbishop-elect of Prague. Rockycana was […]
How a Presbyterian Principle Reinforces My Baptist Conviction
My son and I went to a community wide service the other day. This began an interesting conversation about the difference between denominations. I tried as best as I could to explain to him all of the different distinctives which both unite us and separate us. Part of our discussion centered around why we’ve been […]
Brothers, Don’t Make Us Flip the Sign
I try to stay out of most of the discussions in the SBC on Calvinism. It’s been my experience that more heat than light is delivered in these debates. So, it’s with some trepidation that I even write this article. Or rather rewrite this article and update it a bit for our Voices audience. (Original […]
Does That Ministry Count?
I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from David Murray’s latest book, Reset. It’s a phenomenal book on preventing burnout. Though not specifically about burnout, I want to share a paragraph I read that was incredibly helpful. In the seventh chapter Murray encourages his readers to assess their calendars. He suggests making statements of purpose over four life […]
What If Church Isn’t Meant to Be a Weekly Cataclysm?
Chew on this: In his wisdom, God has crafted a life for us that does not careen from huge, consequential moment to huge, consequential moments. In fact, if you examine your life, you will see that you have actually had few of those moments. You can probably name only two or three life-changing situations you […]