SBC Issues

Antonin Scalia has died. One of the brilliant conservative minds in America, he has been a voice for reason, for the Constitution, and for the protection of life. This is a tragedy of epic proportions, for his family and for this nation.  There has been a razor-thin balance on the court with four conservatives, four hard-core liberals, and a swing vote. Scalia was not just a conservative vote but a brilliant mind and forceful advocate for sanity in our nation's judicial system. Now, one of two things is going to happen. 1. Barack Obama,  the most pro-death, abortion loving, … [Read more...] about Justice Scalia’s Death: An American Tragedy

All Southern Baptists (to my knowledge) would afford me the liberty not to observe Lent. In a development that most of our predecessors would find surprising (bizarre?), however, an increasing number of Southern Baptists embrace the practice of Lent for themselves, or even encourage it in others as a good, spiritually meaningful practice. I'll be uncharacteristically brief about this: Lent is not in the Bible, nor anything resembling it. Movement toward Lent is movement away from the idea that the New Testament should give us the pattern for ecclesiastical celebrations or individual … [Read more...] about Why I Encourage People Not to Observe Lent

That would be American presidential campaigns and elections. There are others that have more drama, complete with blood in the streets, but short of that ours is quite a spectacle. And, at long last, we actually had some voting (caucusing in Iowa, to be accurate, complete with random winners selected by the tossing of coins). Here's where we are, according to one irreverent retired reverend: Donald Trump: How exactly are my evangelical friends, not a few from here, feeling about the frontrunner whose campaign included a public pronouncement that "they can go **** themselves"? What would … [Read more...] about The greatest show on earth

Baylor University, my alma mater, made it to ESPN. Oh, what thrills that statement would've sent throughout the student body when I was enrolled at Baylor (1988-1991)! Our football team was horrible then. Our favorite cheer was "Up the middle! Up the middle! Up the middle! Punt!" We scheduled Rice for Homecoming so we would have a shot at winning. In those days of Baylor football mediocrity (and that may be too positive of a word), I still knew a couple of things about the football program that instilled pride in this young Bear: I knew that Grant Teaff was a committed churchman. He … [Read more...] about A Sick Abomination in Southern Baptist Life

There has been much talk among conservatives of religious liberty over the past few years with a great deal of fear expressed that religious people would not be able to exercise their freedom of religion in the public sphere. This is a legitimate concern and religious liberty, like all of our freedoms, should not be taken for granted. Rather, we should vigilantly seek to maintain it. That being said, the recent actions of the South Carolina state legislature cause me to question if the next front in the battle over religious liberty might involve the ministry of churches to refugees and … [Read more...] about Is Religious Liberty Being Taken/Given Away in South Carolina?

Originally published at "Dave Miller Daily." I had an interesting conversation several years ago with a friend who served as a missionary in an Asian nation. The people in that nation love their homeland but do not have the kind of passionate patriotic loyalty to it that Americans, and especially conservative Americans, have for our homeland. "Americans have a level of patriotism, nationalism, and national pride that other nations just don't have." It is crucially important to many people, a point of doctrine, a test of political orthodoxy, to believe and proclaim that America is not only … [Read more...] about “The Greatest Nation on Earth?” A Balanced Look at American Exceptionalism

Originally published at Dave Miller Daily I just got home from the caucuses (well, from getting some gas for my snowblower and such - we are supposed to get a foot to foot and a half of snow tomorrow) and I have some initial thoughts. 1. When I drove in to the community center, my heart sank. Last time, we parked in the main area and walked in. This time, I dropped my wife off and drove to Kansas City, where I parked and walked to the door. There was a long line to enter and sign in. Many of the people in the line were filling out the registration cards, to switch their registration to … [Read more...] about Initial Thoughts on a Night at the Iowa Caucuses