I’ve been involved in Spanish-language ministry for the past seven years. In December 2014 I was called as a bi-vocational youth pastor at Enfoque, a Spanish-speaking congregation connected to Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. When I publicly announced that I was moving to Buffalo, New York, it took most people by surprise. Moving to la frontera (the border) should have placed me somewhere in the Southwest, not the Northeast. Although it was an HR job that opened up the opportunity to move to Buffalo, it was the 40,000+ Hispanics and lack of an SBC-aligned Hispanic church … [Read more...] about On Spanish ministry and ethnic churches
SBC Issues
Brothers, let us guard our hearts
Above all else, guard your heart because everything you do flows from it. ~ Proverbs 4:23 I will admit this is a bit slow, I must have missed the news days ago of another big-name pastor forced from his position due to various sins (news I missed in my home state, no less). This isn’t about big name or small name, big stage or tiny country church—we all face the temptations of sin, forgetting in the moment that the wages of sin is death or that more eyes are on us when we hold positions of leadership in church. Honestly, I’ve seen the depths of potential in my own heart, thinking before in … [Read more...] about Brothers, let us guard our hearts
J. D. Greear would be a great SBC president
I will likely not attend the SBC Annual meeting this year, since, strangely, no one gives retired pastors a convention allowance. I've been to St. Louis a few times already. It was hot. For one SBC meeting there I stayed at the Mormon hotel next to the Cardinals' baseball field. The room had a Book of Mormon next to the Gideon's Bible. Hotel staff said I could take it, so I did. I got to see some of the Cardinal's game for free, 'some' meaning the center fielder and right fielder only, the rest of the field being blocked by the stadium. It was boring. If I were present in St. Louis this … [Read more...] about J. D. Greear would be a great SBC president
Why Not Focus on Biblical Preaching at the Pastors’ Conference?
I’m not sure which convention it was, but it was during my time as a pastor in Virginia. I was deeply discouraged and considering throwing in the towel, for reasons that I won’t go into and simply do not matter now. A friend and I went to the Pastors’ Conference together and sat through sermon after sermon. I was amazed, feeling as if God had singled me out. The theme was perseverance. These men preached sermon after sermon about enduring in hard times, sticking it out when you were ready to quit. God used those two days to encourage me and give me the lift I needed. I can’t remember the … [Read more...] about Why Not Focus on Biblical Preaching at the Pastors’ Conference?
Resolution on The Elimination of The Confederate Flag from Public Life (by Wm Dwight McKissic, Sr.)
Resolution on The Elimination of The Confederate Flag from Public Life Submitted to the Resolutions Committee of the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention By Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr., Cornerstone Baptist Church, Arlington, TX WHEREAS, SBC President Ronnie Floyd has rallied Southern Baptists to “rise up and cry out against the racism that still exists in our nation and our churches,” recognizing we are in a “desperate hour” that calls us to “replace these evils with the beauty of grace and love;”[1] and WHEREAS, the Southern Baptist Convention has repudiated “historic acts of evil such as … [Read more...] about Resolution on The Elimination of The Confederate Flag from Public Life (by Wm Dwight McKissic, Sr.)
Whatever Happened to the GCR? The Heart of the Problem
In the six years since the SBC adopted the Great Commission Resurgence report, "Penetrating the Lostness," we've not seen a dramatic turnaround in our statistical decline and because of that, the effort has been written off as a failure, a waste of time. It is my intention to review the work of the GCR and ask the question, did it really do anything? Was it a failure and a waste of time as so many have assumed, or has there been some good that came of it? My intent in the weeks leading up to the SBC Annual Meeting is to look at each of the seven recommendations the report included and see if … [Read more...] about Whatever Happened to the GCR? The Heart of the Problem
Sample Employee Misconduct Policies
With some fear and trepidation, I present our church's policies as a template for others to use. Please understand, these are over 2 years old now, and recent Supreme Court decisions already have us in a process of rewriting them (especially Obergefell). Also, each state's laws are a little different, so what works in Iowa might not be precisely right in your state. We culled these from various documents - some denominational, some available on the internet, some from our insurance company. On some policies (not included here) precise wording is crucial, often for reasons that escape … [Read more...] about Sample Employee Misconduct Policies
Grace, Sexual Predation, and Dealing with the Past
I will never forget an email I received one Sunday morning. I sat down at my desk after our first service and read a note from one of our members. It was one of those! The sin she'd uncovered and was reporting was bad - really bad (did not take place at church). It took my breath away, but I knew how to proceed. We had written a set of policies that told me exactly what I was supposed to do and I worked the plan. Those policies had been written with expert input from insurance companies and other sources that have done extensive work to advise us on how to react. If I'd gotten that email in … [Read more...] about Grace, Sexual Predation, and Dealing with the Past
Cooperative Program Sunday: Straight talk on the CP
Cooperative Program Sunday on the beloved denominational calendar was April 10th, last Sunday. Some churches observed it. Some didn't. It should have been observed. It still can be observed, since there is no denominational calendar enforcement squad afoot catching violators. Here are some straight talk observations about our primary denominational giving plan. CP revenues are up this year. The SBC Executive Committee is six months, half-way, through the fiscal year and are able to report that CP receipts at the SBC level are 3.09% above the same period for last year. This is an indication … [Read more...] about Cooperative Program Sunday: Straight talk on the CP
On Sexual Predation in the Southern Baptist Family
Whereas any act of sexual predation is a sin and an abomination, and many acts of sexual predation constitute crimes; and, Whereas all fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands have laws requiring certain professionals to report suspected sexual abuse of children, and twenty-seven states specifically require clergy to report suspected sexual abuse of children; and, Whereas God has commanded us to “submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in … [Read more...] about On Sexual Predation in the Southern Baptist Family