IMB

Grass mowed? Check. Inflatable pool set up in the back yard? Check. Lesson prepped? Check. Everyone advised as to the change in locale? Check Rice ready? Check. Males ordained by a local incorporated church, trained to perform baptisms in keeping with convention norms and expectations?Umm….no. New believer’s classes completed by baptismal candidates? Yeah, we’re missing that one, too. As you’ve likely figured out, this weekend we’ll be baptizing four people in an inflatable pool in our backyard.  Two of them are my own kids, Emily and Zachary.  The other two are … [Read more...] about IMB Baptism and the Local (international) Church

Tom Eliff is going to be the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, and I'm not sure exactly what to think about that.  I have no problem with Tom Eliff.  I just don't know that much about him. Tom Eliff's father was the pastor of the church that sponsored the church my dad planted in Cedar Rapids in the 60s, so the Eliff name has been familiar to me all of my life.  But in reality, I know very little about him.  I know he was the president of the SBC and pastor of FBC Del City, Oklahoma.  I've never heard anything negative about his life, character … [Read more...] about Tom Eliff: IMB Presidential Nominee

It has been quite some time since Jerry Rankin announced his retirement and the search committee for the IMB was formed.  I have no idea who the next president will be.  I have no idea who the president should be. But there have been rumors floating around that one or more prominent SBC megachurch pastors is going to be recommended by the IMB search committee.   I heard this first from a prominent pastor in a southern state.  Then, I saw the name on another blog. I do not plan to name that name.   I'm not trying to delve into rumor-mongering.  In fact, no discussion of the particular … [Read more...] about IMB Search: Should a Pastor Be President?

There is something of a blog debate right now about contextualization and sharing the Gospel in a Muslim context. It began with this post on SBC Impact which is a sample of a contextualized  personal testimony offered by anonymous missionary. SBC Today posted a response that raised several issues with this approach to contextualization. Among other things, that response concluded: It is certainly worthwhile to “contextualize the gospel.” The task is difficult, surely. The author of the SBCImpact.net article may well have sought to do something similar to what Paul did in these examples, but … [Read more...] about Blog Debate: Contextualization, IMB, And Gospel Integrity