William Thornton

...that you might like to return: The new tax bill, signed into law by President Trump the other day. Evangelical leaders warn of ‘devastating’ impact of GOP tax plan on the charitable deduction God loves a cheerful itemizer Bad news for nonprofits Charities in the Chicago area and across the country are bracing for the potential loss of billions of dollars in annual contributions  The gloom-and-doomers that are worried about churches and other charities losing revenue as a result of the tax policy changes in the new bill (most provisions go into effect January 1, 2018) are … [Read more...] about Your church’s Christmas gift from the government…

I think alliteration is silly...except when I use it. The lawsuit against LifeWay over Glorieta (the sale of which was over four years ago) continues to hang by a thread. It's like the wierd uncle that won't go away. The underlying issue is a complaint about compensation of one couple who had a house on camp property, a land lease renewed annually. For those who complain about fair market value not being offered to the few dozen who were in this situation, exactly what would the fair market value of your house be if you did not own the land it sits on? Not a whole lot if the landowner could … [Read more...] about Irreverent, renegade, random thoughts about SBC stuff

I always appreciate little language nuggets and interesting things I haven't thought about. While they are rather scarce among us, here are a few I've run across (trigger alert: political hot topics included): Let’s face it: the Roy Moore situation is a sticky wicket. This from Fox News contributor and Southeastern Seminary Provost Bruce Ashford. I like the metaphor, sticky wicket, and am a bit of an anglophile myself, but what is it about these seminary profs and their affection for British figures and language? We're talking cricket here, a game no American has ever seen. We improved that … [Read more...] about Roy M., sticky wicket, a soul-sucking rabbit hole, and The Edicule

The Baptist Faith and Message says, in part, about the Bible: The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.  The phrase "truth, without mixture of error" is our most popular operative phrase about Scripture. Most of us are completely comfortable describing themselves and being described by others as "inerrantists." The inerrant Bible, of course, refers to the original writings, … [Read more...] about Let’s reserve “without error” for Scripture and Scripture alone

Back in January I did a "things to watch in 2017" piece.   Here's my list: What will be the response to the revamped Pastors Conference in Phoenix?  I thought it was very well done and well received. Will we start to see leadership transitions in southern states?  Nope. Will limitless missionaries start to become a reality in 2017? I'm not seeing much different. Will we continue to see increasingly diverse representation on trustee boards?  Well, I don't know. What's to come of the Russell Moore controversy? He apologized. I hope that was the last time we let an … [Read more...] about Anybody mess up predicting SBC things this year?

All of this (except for the last question) pertains to the portion of the Cooperative Program that is sent by the states to the Executive Committee and distributed through the SBC CP Allocation Budget. The data used here are not the total CP including the 60% or so of revenues kept by the state conventions but rather the 40% of total CP received by the Executive Committee. Only the undesignated portion is used, not designated (Lottie, Annie and some smaller designated offerings). So...here you go: 1. The SBC has 42 state conventions. What percentage of the CP is contributed by the 16 … [Read more...] about 2017 Cooperative Program/State Convention quiz

It's a Southern Baptist cliche: "We are a convention of small churches." We are indeed. The median SBC church will have 70 souls in average weekly worship attendance  this coming Sunday which means that around 25,000 SBC churches have a pastor who looks out when he preaches at a few dozen hearers. The pastor almost certainly is the only clergy staff member in the church although he may have a part time paid or volunteer music leader, student or children leader. This would be the place where there is a church of people who all know each other. This would be the place where there is a … [Read more...] about The stalwart, invisible hero of the SBC: The single staff pastor

You can decide which is which for yourself. I give Mike Leake high marks for his post calling the Sunday worship service a "weekly cataclysm,"  a very nicely turned phrase. I confess that there was an occasional worship service I presided over that was a weekly calamity because of various things. Thank God that another Sunday arrives in seven days. Ummm, is there a way to understand "Watch out for the guy who is an expert on what used to work" in a way other than a boastful slam against people who supposedly don't have a clue about church life in the 21st century? Here's a mixture of … [Read more...] about Some pretty good Baptist talk; some not so much

I had not planned to attend this year even though the site is fairly close to me but I had forgotten that my wife was scheduled to sing in the big, statewide chorus. I rearranged my plans. As a seasoned observer of such meetings, I offer a few vignettes of the meeting: Our convention is in pretty good shape. The mood was happy. No rancor afoot that I know of. Folks look like they enjoy being there. It helps that attendees can get their daily calories in personal size candy bars by hitting the exhibits. Ah, Baby Ruths. Good choice. Old school. I didn't bother to get a messenger card … [Read more...] about Hitting the state convention annual meeting