Mohler, somewhat long winded, in his own words, here. The Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., one of the key leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, plans to vote for President Trump in the fall, a reversal of his position in 2016 when he argued that support of Trump risks destroying evangelicals’ credibility. One of the country’s […]
Will COVID-19 see 2,500 SBC churches close over the next twelve months?
LifeWay Research director Scott McConnell was interviewed about our current health care crisis where almost every church in the country is not holding physical services. In an article entitled, Empty pews, empty collection baskets, coronavirus hits U.S. church finances he said: “It would not surprise me at all if 5% of churches close over the […]
Change comes hard for Southern Baptists but better come quickly
And I’m one of them. Hardheaded or stubborn might be the words used by my wonderful wife about her wonderful, retired SBC pastor husband. It was less than a month ago that the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Things moved rapidly. Here are a few observations about the past month. Many of these […]
“My God! What are we going to do about this?”
In the dark days of 1942 one of the United States Navy commanders in the Pacific was reported, twice, to have exclaimed, “My God! What are we going to do about this?” in response to critical communications about the war situation in his command area. Such didn’t inspire confidence in his ability to lead and […]
Government Paycheck Protection Plan for your church
I’m not the best person here to explain or opine on this, since I’m not an active pastor and don’t have a payroll to meet. I know that many pastors are considering this. The Payroll Protection Act is a part of the CARES Act, the multi-trillion government response to the COVID-19 crisis. Here’s how Baptist […]
The government bailout of your church…possibly…but hopefully you won’t need it.
Hearty credit to GuideStone for their fast action, research, and simple explanation of how the COVID-19 Pandemic Phase III Stimulus Package might affect you and your church or ministry. Great work also by Baptist Press (which carried GuideStone’s Q&A Friday and a FB live event yesterday with Jonathan Howe asking questions of GuideStone Chief Legal […]
On releasing my inner misanthrope
Social distancing? Hey, I got this. I was born for this, brethren and sistren (“Hey doc, back off a bit would you? You’re in my space”). Six feet, you say. How about sixty? I DNA tested at four percent Neanderthal. Is it necessary to point out that the socially obtuse Neanderthals died out. This requires […]
My drive-in church this morning
Been a while since I’ve been to a drive-in theatre and I’ve never been to one in the daytime but we had drive-in worship this morning. It was novel. Pretty good. I commend my pastor and staff for setting up this addition to live streaming a sermon. The design of our building is such that […]
In times like these…folks get generous.
I gather that some people are hoarding items. My stash of frozen Mrs. Callendar’s Chicken Pot Pies is down to just a couple (my wife says they are inedible anyway, so they are mine! All mine! I like the KFC chicken pie, heavy on bread, fat, and salt but I’m not all that keen on […]
Does it really matter that the Annual Meeting is put off until 2021?
My simple opinion: “No.” Seems like just last year we were agonizing over the fact that no one wanted to attend the annual meeting any more. Attendance was down. Interest was flagging. God has a sense of humor and the SBC provides plenty of occasions for a good laugh. We’ve had this covered for 175 […]
I’m going to church online today…
…if you don’t mind a very loose use of the word “church.” I’m not going anywhere and watching a streamed service isn’t church, since I’m an unapologetic recalcitrant ecclesiastic who will never believe that church can be done without assembly of the saints. But, by necessity and for a few weeks, I’ll listen in and […]
BREAKING USELESS INFO: Hunkered down in my survival domicile…watching stuff.
I know one guy who has an actual survival bunker – underground with a year’s supply of food and water. I don’t think he has made the transition yet. I know a couple of people who have been big on accumulating guns and ammo, like dozens of guns and thousands of rounds of ammo. If […]