Todd Benkert

I attend a smaller SBC church. Up until recently, I was pastoring a smaller membership church. Throughout my time in ministry, though, I’ve found myself being an apologist for the large churches in the areas where I serve. In Northwest Indiana, where I live now, there are a number of large, bible-believing, gospel-preaching churches of different denominations that are healthy and impacting the community in various ways. Most of them, too, are “kingdom” minded and there is a great unity among the evangelical community here. Still, my ministry has been in small churches and to members of small … [Read more...] about False Criticisms of Large Churches

Conservatism is not Christianity. Pursuing the kingdom of God and His righteousness includes both conserving what is good and progressing in what is lacking. When it comes to politics, we religious conservatives are quick to point out that much of what the world calls “progress” is neither good nor pleasing to God and in terms of pursuing God’s kingdom, is not progress at all. We have fought hard, and rightly so, for the right to life at every stage, for the preservation of traditional marriage, and for religious liberty of all people. At the same time, not all about our history should be … [Read more...] about Beyond Conservatism and Toward God’s Kingdom

A late-night session, calls and tweets to get back in the hall, through creative procedural maneuvers we are able to schedule a vote against the “anti-gospel, alt-right, white supremacy” movement – the hall was packed to overflowing and the vote was made – unanimous! Not a NO-vote to be seen anywhere in the hall. We will assuredly pass the resolution this afternoon to another unanimous vote and cheers. All is right with the world – we got it right, right? Not so fast. I awoke this morning tired and frustrated that we didn’t, in fact, get it right. The world is watching. Our brothers and … [Read more...] about The Alt-Right resolution – Did we get it right?

Being a Southern Baptist is a joy in my ministry. I am thankful to be a part of this diverse group of Christians that have chosen to partner with one another to do together what we could not do alone. I understand that sometimes we will have differences in the ways we see theological issues, differing ministry philosophies, and different ideas on what we should do together and how we should do it. Add to that, that we all have sin natures and sometimes act in ways that are sinful or respond to the offenses of others in less than gracious ways. Sometimes those differences and conflicts … [Read more...] about Unity – The Joyful Choice of Being Southern Baptist