Some years ago, our church hosted an International Mission Board speaker to speak to us about his work and the importance of giving to that year’s offering. As I introduced him, I challenged our church to erase whatever we thought we were going to give and be receptive to hearing from God. At the very end of his talk, our missionary speaker made a startling statement that should cause all of us to rethink our giving. The missionary told about being in a meeting with about 220 other missionary families. In this gathering, the missionaries themselves were asked to make a sacrificial gift to … [Read more...] about Re-Thinking Our Lottie Moon Giving (Dr. Steve Horn)
Cooperative Program
An Encouraging Report from Louisiana
On May 7th 2019 Steve Horn was elected as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Since that time I cannot recount how often I have been asked by friends from within and without Louisiana what I think about the new hire and when I would share my thoughts here on Voices. However, I did not think it was fair to do such a thing until I had an opportunity to sit down with him to ask questions and express concerns I have regarding the LBC, its culture and the need for some significant changes. Unfortunately, his schedule has not yet allowed for us to meet but I am happy to … [Read more...] about An Encouraging Report from Louisiana
What’s up with this #FillTheTank Challenge from President Greear?
On August 12th our SBC President, JD Greear issued a challenge to our convention of churches. Although the genesis of this emphasis is nothing new to old-school SBC’ers, this renewed initiative might be new to the younger guys and gals involved in our cooperative effort. No doubt, from the time Adam skinned his first rabbit to fashion extra bloomers for he and Eve, the Southern Baptist Convention has had a “Baptism Sunday” chiseled onto its annual Calendar of Activities. Baptism (the mode, the methodology and the meaning) is important to us low-church Protestants in a way that not much else … [Read more...] about What’s up with this #FillTheTank Challenge from President Greear?
A Resolution from Two Years Ago that Speaks to Our Present Reality
It's not the time of year we would normally talk about resolutions. But I don't think I ever posted this two years ago when our state convention passed it. Unanimously, by the way. This was months after the 2017 SBC when we ultimately passed a resolution condemning the Alt-right. Between the SBC's actions in Phoenix (June 2017) and the November annual meeting of the SBC of Virginia, the "Unite the Right" rally was held in Charlottesville. This resolution deals with the intersection of those events. Dwight McKissic's call for the SBC to speak against the Alt-right and White Supremacist … [Read more...] about A Resolution from Two Years Ago that Speaks to Our Present Reality
Don Currence: A Picture of Grace (CJ Adkins)
It was a perfect storm and Don Currence got caught right in the middle of it last week at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. The large deliberative body meeting in that historic city took important measures to deal with the heartbreaking issue of sexual abuse which tragically exist in some of our churches (as well as in many other denominations and other institutions). This is a difficult issue to engage, particularly for us, since the roughly 47,000 SBC churches are autonomous bodies and there is no hierarchical structure that can direct any local … [Read more...] about Don Currence: A Picture of Grace (CJ Adkins)
The SBC Annual Meeting – Putting it in perspective
As I type this, my wife is driving and we’re headed to Alabama from our home in Northern Indiana. It’s an annual ritual that I explained to some of my church friends is a combination of a business meeting, worship gathering, family reunion, and trade show. I’ve been attending the SBC Annual Meeting since 1999 and make it a point to actively participate as a messenger each year. A couple thoughts have been running through my mind over the last couple weeks that I wanted to share as we come together in Alabama this week. 1. What we are doing is … [Read more...] about The SBC Annual Meeting – Putting it in perspective
Birmingham Bound #SBC19
I. I seriously internally and externally debated about attending SBC ’19 Birmingham because SBC entities repeatedly refuse to hire minorities as president of one of the entities, even when they are highly qualified. There have been five entity head vacancies in the SBC over the past 18 months. Four of the five have been filled. No minorities have been hired to date. To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. II. The ten entity heads of the SBC assemble at least biannually, in a meeting known as the Great Commission Council. In a Convention comprised of 20% minorities—Asians, African … [Read more...] about Birmingham Bound #SBC19
BREAKING: Dr. James K. Dew Elected NOBTS President (announcement with commentary)
I was surprised and appreciative to receive an invitation from the PR department of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for today’s official Press Conference announcing the election of the new President (specific thanks to Gary Myers, NOBTS Director of Communications). I attended as a correspondent from SBC Voices and as such, I decided to not only report the event itself but also share my personal feelings about this new era in the life of the SBC’s first seminary founded by the direct action of the Southern Baptist Convention. So here’s the news, this morning the trustees voted … [Read more...] about BREAKING: Dr. James K. Dew Elected NOBTS President (announcement with commentary)
BREAKING: Dr. Jamie Dew to be Nominated as NOBTS President
NOBTS Search Team Chairman, Dr. Frank Cox, has announced that Dr. James Dew of North Carolina will be presented to the full Board of Trustees as the candidate to serve as the next President of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. A special called meeting will take place Wednesday, June 5th on the campus of NOBTS at 9 am for a vote on the candidate. Dr. Dew currently serves as the Associate Professor of History of Ideas and Philosophy at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is also the Dean of the undergraduate College at Southeastern … [Read more...] about BREAKING: Dr. Jamie Dew to be Nominated as NOBTS President
SBC Leadership Diversity Initiative – One Year In
One year ago today Alan Cross and I announced the launch of the SBC Leadership Diversity Initiative. I wanted to celebrate the progress we’ve made this year and update our readers on some of what we’ve seen. The LDI was designed as a networking tool for us to be able to discover and identify Southern Baptists for potential leadership roles who we might otherwise be unaware of, particularly ethnic minorities, women, and lay persons. We want to open the floodgates and remove as many barriers as possible to achieve our goal: A convention where ethnic minority leaders and members, as well as … [Read more...] about SBC Leadership Diversity Initiative – One Year In