SBC Issues

In seminary, we learned about a large group of men, the majority who start out in church work. They don't make it, they fall away and drop out. They don't make it. I remember thinking I was never going to be one of those. I was going to stay long term at a church. I was going to be like those men with great ministries because they put in the time. I finished seminary and went to the church I was going to spend decades serving.  This is where I was going to put down roots. My long tenure lasted 4 years and the decision was made I would resign. I wasn't voted out by the congregation, there … [Read more...] about Perspective From One Who Didn’t Make It

It's time to fill out your bracket!  We'd love to have you join our SBC Voices NCAA Tournament bracket challenge. Follow the link. The password is "sbcvoices" and you only get one bracket. Make sure you follow THIS link. Somehow, last year there were two of these out there and we actually had two different groups out there. Not sure how it happened, but this is the ONE AND ONLY SBC VOICES bracket. The prize here is absolutely NOTHING, except the joy of gloating over those whose picks are inferior. Join me in hoping (praying?) that North Carolina, Kentucky, and Duke all are eliminated … [Read more...] about SBC Voices’ NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge: Baptist Bloggers Bluster about Basketball

This was originally published at Joel's blog, themelios. Hopefully the headline didn't chase too many people off. Last week, Andy Stanley, Lead Pastor of Northpoint Church which meets in multiple locations throughout the metro Atlanta area, said something very discouraging to many smaller church pastors. While preaching to his own congregation and praising the way the church had invested in his own life, Stanley apparently went off-script for a bit to berate anyone with children who would keep them in a small church. The rant climaxed with this declaration by the Atlanta mega-church … [Read more...] about What Small Church Pastors and Andy Stanley Can Learn from Each Other (Joel Rainey)

I have been traveling the same path to work for almost 20 years.  I go north from my suburban home to the city where my office is.  Just shy of downtown, there is a split where two lanes go to the left and two go to the right.  I take the left branch, which immediately puts me on the left side of four very busy lanes . . . with the next right exit being the one I need to take . . . during rush hour, when all four lanes are packed. In all the years I have taken this route, I have learned to pay attention to the smallest signals given by the other drivers.  Those signals range from the most … [Read more...] about Signals (by Poor Richard)

Dave Miller is getting incredibly forgetful these days! I set this interview yesterday and then consulted Alan Cross about how we should format it, then just forgot. Alan Cross did the legwork, in coordination with the group of guys who have been discussing SBC Issues together (not sure any of us really like the name "Voices for a New Baptist Future" - but till we come up with something new that's it). We worked together on the questions and so Alan felt we should present this as a group interview, even though he did all of the work. After reaching that decision, I promptly forgot to format … [Read more...] about An Interview with JD Greear

I wrote this post Feb. 27 and since then, reports have come out that church-going Evangelicals do not support Trump. Ask most pastors and they can tell you that they knew that already. On February 29, Russell Moore wrote about why he had come dislike the word "Evangelical." It is with that in mind, that the potential coming rift makes sense. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/29/russell-moore-why-this-election-makes-me-hate-the-word-evangelical/ Most pastors don't see it coming. Most church-goers do not see it yet. Denominational and movement leaders might be more … [Read more...] about A Coming Evangelical Civil War?

I've been working on this concept since long before JD Greear announced, so this has nothing to do with an analysis of his candidacy. I want to take a brief moment to set forth the rubric I'm going to use to judge the candidate or candidates for president of the SBC. It's a tricky thing. It's not a secret that last time around I put my support behind Dennis Kim and advocated him strongly. We fell short and Ronnie Floyd was elected. I am not sorry we promoted Dr. Kim - he is a good man and well worthy of our support - but I've come to be grateful that Ronnie Floyd was elected. He's been as good … [Read more...] about What I Want in an SBC President