SBC Issues

Pastor Mike Law of Arlington, Virginia, has stated his intention to submit an amendment to the SBC constitution and by-laws at this year’s annual meeting. This amendment would require the SBC to disfellowship (expel) any church that employs a woman as its pastor. Of course, his announcement has prompted lots of discussion. So, let us join the debate here at SBC Voices. Navigators determine their position on the globe by calculating their latitude and longitude. For purposes of this discussion, let’s make Bible verses our latitude and previous SBC motions our longitude. Note: I am not saying … [Read more...] about Thinking about Women Pastors

My techie son recently bought me a subscription to ChatGPT-4, the latest version of the AI tool that is causing so much furor. For the last month or so, I have actually been using it to help me with my sermons! (Insert your joke here...) Actually, it isn't as awful as it sounds. I manuscript my messages - something I started doing during the COVID shut down when we were recording our Sunday services. I wish I'd done it all my life. I don't read the messages when I preach them, but I study, then write a draft, then edit it a couple of times. Then I know it's ready to go. Manuscripting … [Read more...] about Confession Time: I’m Using ChatGPT on My Sermons!

SCATTER SHOOTING, PART FOUR BY MARK TERRY Scatter shooting while wondering where W. A. Criswell bought his white suits. Summertime has arrived in Texas. It’s 94 degrees today. I was sad to learn of Charles Stanley’s passing. He was an excellent preacher. He was able to show the practical application of doctrine better than anyone else. During our first four years in the Philippines, FBC Atlanta sent me a package of his sermon cassettes (!) every month. They were like a stream in the desert for me. I read on the internet (so it must be true) that gray hair can be reversed. No … [Read more...] about Scatter Shooting, Part Four

I upset some friends the other day when I voiced questions about the process at the EC that has nominated Jared Wellman as the next EC president. Now, let me see if I can make more people mad at me. Many people have concerns about the process, and I affirm that. We continue to wonder when the SBC is going to elect a minority candidate to lead one of our entities. That time is long since passed. Having said all of that, there is only one candidate on the ballot at the EC this week, Jared Wellman. This is not an election between two candidates. So, my position is this: I wholeheartedly, … [Read more...] about The EC Needs to Elect Jared Wellman!

Word has started circulating that Jared Wellman will be the search committee's recommendation on Monday as our new Executive Committee President. Wellman demonstrated great courage when former leaders at the EC tried to bully him into silence. He is a young man of godliness, character, conviction, denominational loyalty, and integrity. He is exactly the kind of younger SBC leader this convention needs for the future. I am a Jared Wellman fan. However, I have some reservations about the process. We have a large African American fellowship in the SBC and we have been telling them that if … [Read more...] about Are We Are ALWAYS Going to Be a White Convention?

Scatter shooting while wondering who will get Dave Miller’s lime green suit when he passes on to his reward. At my age, happy hour is an afternoon nap. When I was a boy, learning to play baseball, my coach said repeatedly, “Mark, keep your eye on the ball.” Of course, that’s the key to hitting a baseball, but it’s also key for Southern Baptists. For us, the ball is missions. Missions is what motivated Baptists in the USA to form their first convention, the Triennial Convention, in 1814. The first thing the SBC did when it organized in 1845 was to establish the Foreign Mission Board and … [Read more...] about Scatter Shooting, Part Three

There is a reason that previous generations referred to the pulpit as "the sacred desk;" it is, no doubt, the same reason that the prophets of the Old Testament sometimes referred to "the burden of the Lord". The responsibility of proclaiming the Word of God to the people of God is a serious and oftentimes heavy calling, and those who have been entrusted with this task should carry out their service with the utmost theological fidelity and personal integrity. In recent years, this concern has become even more evident in light of the growing awareness of the problem of plagiarism. This problem … [Read more...] about On Celebrity Preachers and Plagiarism (Phillip Powers)