We Baptists are a bit reserved about the summer solstice primarily because we are too spiritual to even mention such an event we see as pagan. I am happy to fill in the void by saying that the longest day of the year is a splendid event - the sun is shining, birds are singing, kids are playing (even a few of them are playing outside), and flowers are blooming. The Almighty Himself is responsible for the sun, moon, and stars and the length of a day. Sad, though, that the sun repents and starts a slow march backwards and we know that come October, November, and December we will have a SAD time … [Read more...] about Stray Summer Solstice Stuff
Lost in the #SBC18 Noise: Cooperative Program Numbers
Almost lost amid the more gaudy news out of Dallas this week is something that is assuredly more important to the SBC's future: news on the Cooperative Program. Average percentage of undesignated receipts given to CP: 4.86% down from 5.16%. Although the decline is just a fraction, 3/10 of one percent, it's a pretty steep one year drop, about 6%. Think what it would mean if we had five consecutive years of the same. We would be looking at a CP that is down to 3.5% of church receipts. Weeping and gnashing of teeth everywhere. Churches have been giving on average around five percent … [Read more...] about Lost in the #SBC18 Noise: Cooperative Program Numbers
#SBC18 Winners
OK, so I wished we could have had all winners and no losers for #SBC18 but, alas, didn't happen. There were many winners though. Here they are: J.D. Greear: The election wasn't close. The Convention coalesced around a next-generation candidate with a stellar church growth and mission support record. OK, so he talks so fast I have to try and understand what he's saying while catching only every third or fourth word. I'll manage. Ken Hemphill: Quality and integrity from crown to cowboy boots. Women in general and not just in the context of abuse. SWBTS trustees. The … [Read more...] about #SBC18 Winners
#SBC18 Losers
Don't take it personally, but... The AC system. The messengers from the North Pole were quite comfortable. Wise pastors know you can never win the thermostat wars. Just shut up and suffer whether it's too hot or too cold. Paige Patterson. We didn't have to go through all this. I suspect it's not over. Committee on Order of Business. Sure, I get that they were put in an impossible position by Steve Gaines shuffling the VP's self-invitation off to them but when a motion was made that might have uninvited him, the chair had to belt out a sermonette on why it was biblical for the SBC to … [Read more...] about #SBC18 Losers
SBC18 news you’ll only find on SBC Voices
Hard news about the SBC annual meeting doesn't exhaust the things coming out of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center this week. To wit... We are in the heart of Texas, there are about 10,000 registered messengers and I've seen only four or five cowboy hats. Probably a couple of ringers among those few. What's this state coming to? I was at the bar today, twice, a record for me. It was because restaurants were crowded. I asked one bartender if the alcohol was flowing freely. "Only one or two," he replied. I baptist-splained the situation to him. Great guy. A highly placed source … [Read more...] about SBC18 news you’ll only find on SBC Voices
Well, here we go…
...Dallas wasn't on my June 2018 agenda but my wife and daughter wanted to come, so here we are. I'm resigned to being bossed around a bit this week. Good to have a millennial along for Ubering, and tech stuff anyway. The only thing I wanted to do outside of SBC18 is stroll around Dealy Plaza. I was in eighth grade back then. School let out early. Zapruder, sixth floor, grassy knoll...seems like the two crude "X" marks in the roadway don't quite fit the event but I suppose if there were permanent markers they would be stolen. Even 911 didn't have the somber gravity of Kennedy's … [Read more...] about Well, here we go…
An evaluation of Randy Adams’ SBC Recovery Program
Randy Adams is the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention, an area covering Oregon, Washington, and northern Idaho. He is a supporter of Ken Hemphill and a critic of J.D. Greear or at least of the type of Southern Baptist that JDG represents. Adams classified most SBC churches as "not fully cooperative" about which I had an earlier piece, Who fully supports the Cooperative Program? In that Adams wrote, "Southern Baptists are at a critical crossroad. One road leads to the continuation of decline in CP missions giving and the continuation of the decline of the SBC (that is a … [Read more...] about An evaluation of Randy Adams’ SBC Recovery Program
Try Something Different at #SBC18: 10 Suggestions for Dallas
Go to the Messenger Orientation. It's Monday, June 11 in the Convention Center - Level 2 , Room D221, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Augie Boto, SBC Executive Committee Interim President, led it last year and it was helpful and informative. Since he has additional responsibilities as interim leader of the EC, I don't know if he will do so this year. I have a report on it in which I mislabeled the event as "New" messenger orientation. Even seasoned old salts who have been to a couple of dozen annual meetings will learn something. Don't greet folks this way...with a firm handshake, a 'great to see you … [Read more...] about Try Something Different at #SBC18: 10 Suggestions for Dallas
The Annual SBC Statistical Release Weepfest
Just prior to each year's annual meeting LifeWay releases the previous year's Annual Church Profile statistical summary. Baptist Press reported on it yesterday, ACP: Worship attendance rises, baptisms decline. Last year I had an article on the previous year's data: ACP 2016 Stats: Add a chapter to Lamentations. There's a pattern here and I have the freedom to be more creative in my titles than BP. Here are some highlights and lowlights from the 2017 data: 1. Baptisms are down, and by almost 10 percent. We in the SBC are highly spiritual and prefer not to talk about money. Baptisms are … [Read more...] about The Annual SBC Statistical Release Weepfest
What Does Al Mohler Mean by “Independent, Third-Party Investigation”?
A church, denomination, or Christian ministry must look outside of itself when confronted with a pattern of mishandling such responsibilities, or merely of being charged with such a pattern. We cannot vindicate ourselves. I believe that any public accusation concerning such a pattern requires an independent, third-party investigation. This was Al Mohler, our leading denominational spokesman and SBTS president, in his May 23rd commentary, The Wrath of God Poured Out - The Humiliation of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mohler covers a lot of ground in that piece about clergy abuse … [Read more...] about What Does Al Mohler Mean by “Independent, Third-Party Investigation”?