SBC Issues

I am sitting in the Executive Committee meeting. We just listened to JD Greear's presidential address, and he said something in reference to sexual abuse that I've heard him say before: "This is not a distraction from the mission. This is the mission." Some may recoil upon hearing that statement. But I think Greear is exactly right. Let me briefly explain. Of course salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. No one will be won to Jesus this week by how we respond to sexual abuse in our midst. But our mission does not end when a person comes to faith in Christ. We are called to make … [Read more...] about ‘This is the mission’

Gave a very affirming report, hopeful that the EC would deal well with the issue of sexual abuse. Encouraged unity and assuming the best of one another. Summary highlights: How we respond to this crisis will shape the perception of Southern Baptists for years or generations to come. Baptist pastors are horrified to learn what had happened and want to be led. The cost and difficulty of dealing with this will be great. The cost and difficulty of not dealing with sexual abuse will be even greater. We must move forward. Some have said this is a distraction and that we should get … [Read more...] about JD Greear’s Presidential Report

After a long walk all over this convention center we found the site of the EC meeting at the moment Ronnie Floyd began his address. He said his report would be brief. It was. He is moving to Nashville and has sold his home in Arkansas. I ran into Dr. Floyd yesterday and he enthusiastically told me to contact him and said he wants to work together. He made a brief report to leave time for the big issues that lay ahead. … [Read more...] about Ronnie Floyd’s First EC Report

Watch his PC message! He is preaching blessed are the meek and used his experience of the last week as a model. He explained his reasons for praying for Trump and then made an equally strong case for why he might not have done it. He modelled meekness and humility and spoke of how pastors can respond to criticism. Home run! I will post it here when it is released on vimeo.   … [Read more...] about If You Criticized (Or Supported) David Platt…

"No one wants to go these days." "The crowds are shrinking." "Let's meet remotely, satellite locations, ballot by phone." "People can't afford to get there" The naysayers, whiners, and complainers with their doleful laments had the obit written for our grand SBC annual meeting. Better set that aside. Predictions of 10,000 are being tossed about. I'm here early. There's youth, energy, excitement, smiles, laughter, backslapping, and gaiety. Wine, I might note, is not being served. There's a different, positive, feel if I'm reading the tea leaves correctly and that with several … [Read more...] about Set aside the obituary for the SBC annual meeting

My first Pastors' Conference was in 1979, the year the Conservative Resurgence started. Electricity filled the air as man after man stood up, preached the word, upheld the perfection of that word, and planted the seed from which the CR grew. Tonight, I heard a sermon that could walk tall among the best PC messages I have heard. Ed Litton preached on "Blessed are those who mourn." The whole sermon is great, but it is the part that begins at minute 25 that was particularly powerful  - directly addressing issues in the SBC. Ed Litton did not seem to have the support of everyone in … [Read more...] about Ed Litton’s Powerful Pastors’ Conference Message

It was foreordained. Last night, Jenni and I walked the convention area with Scott Gordon and his often poorly behaved wife Rhonda checking for a place we could invite you to gather with us.  We like to have an SBC Voices get together each year. In the end, the decision was made for us. We explored the local BBQ establishment known as Saws...you need to go but my living room is bigger. If 15 of us showed up we'd have to shut the doors. There's a make your own pizza place called "Your Pie" and we could have called it "Shut Your Pie Hole." Appropriate for a bloggers gathering, … [Read more...] about SBC Voices Dinner Monday – 4:30 PM at “The Southern”

Visiting a church in a church in Birmingham (well, Fultondale) thinking through some issues I am going through in my church. After 14 years there I haven't seen the progress I'd like to see. I get discouraged, angry down, frustrated. Sometimes it feels every day is a Monday. I sat...well, stood...in church and the praise team did a song I'd never heard. It was a moment. It was as if the words of the song were written to address precisely the situation I was going through. I am not going to be specific because I don't want this to be a discussion of the particular person or … [Read more...] about Blessed by a Song by a Group I Disdain