SBC Issues

“What you do to reach them is what you’ll have to do to keep them.” I’ve taken this little maxim to heart. I believe it’s true. If people are won to the church through flashy junk then you’ll keep having to ramp it up in order to keep them. Folks will be entertained but few will actually be discipled. And yet I just encouraged our church to set aside funds to purchase a block party trailer complete with inflatables and games. How do these two fit together? Not the Reason I haven’t changed in my theology. I still believe that an attractional model of church not only doesn’t work, … [Read more...] about What Place Do Fun Events Have in the Local Church?

Is it a sin to fail to register to vote, to vote, to be involved in the political processes of our country? Is it a sin to vote for the wrong candidate?         … [Read more...] about Is not voting a sin?

[Update: I erred in not reading the footnote that said that the Florida state convention included numbers from their partnership with Haiti. This means that FBC's figures are not comparable to the other states. My mistake.]   Baptisms are the currency of the Southern Baptist Convention. Baptize many and you will be praised, honored, and feted. You will almost certainly be in line for a larger church and higher pay. You will doubtlessly get asked more often for advice and will receive more invitations to speak at conferences and events. Generally, you will be looked to as what a … [Read more...] about Top state conventions in baptisms

I know that many of you are social media friends with Bart Barber. He is in Dakar, Senegal and having great trouble making connections to Ziguinchor, the ministry base from which his work with the Bayot people launches. He does amazing work there - God is at work among that UPG. He nearly missed his flight, then the Dakar to Zig flight was booked. The boat that sometime runs isn't running. He needs to get to Zig and he is having trouble. He's incredibly patient and may already have found a way, I don't know. Once you are in country, Internet becomes spotty at best. Pray for Bart as he … [Read more...] about Pray for Bart Barber

In no particular order: "...while shared ministries are supported at all levels of Southern Baptist life, the phrase itself and the concept in general are no longer communicating the allocation of funds clearly, [Alabama Baptist State Convention Executive Director Rick] Lance explained. So going forward, the budget language in Alabama will only deal with state and national percentages."   So, instead of the ABSC making a statement like, "we divide Cooperative Program receipts equally with SBC entities," a technically correct statement, since the division was 45% state convention, 45% SBC … [Read more...] about Seven interesting SBC items of 2015 that you might have missed

SBC Life, Winter 2015 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, Oct 1, 2014 - Sep 30, 2015 (in millions of dollars) (this shows the CP gifts received by the Executive Committee, not total CP received by the states; as most of us know, state conventions keep about 62% of CP gifts given by churches) 1. Alabama              17.4 2. Georgia               16.5 3. SBC Texas          15.7 4. Tennessee          14.3 5. Florida                11.9 6. Mississippi         11.7 7. South Carolina   11.4 8. BGC Texas          10.8 9. North Carolina  10.7 10. Oklahoma         … [Read more...] about Top Ten Cooperative Giving State Conventions

These lists are for the year 2014 as calculated by yours truly with LifeWay's "SBC Statistics By State Convention. _______________________________ Top Ten Richest State Conventions, as measured by total receipts (in millions of dollars) LifeWay footnotes their chart and says, in effect, 'don't pay a lot of attention here because of incomplete data', which means that the states on top will brag and those who aren't as high as they think they should be will sniff 'bad data'. Baptist General Convention of Texas            1,674 Southern Baptists of Texas Convention       … [Read more...] about SBC Numerology: Some top ten financial lists for SBC state conventions

I'm headed out in the AM for points east. I won't be back till 2016. And when I get back I'll be headed overseas pretty quickly. I am planning to spend a lot of time neglecting SBC Voices over the next two to three weeks. I may write a post now and again. So, here are the rules. If you have a post, post it yourself. Wait at least 5 or 6 hours (or more) after someone else has posted. Scheduling a post isn't that hard. On the publish screen, set the date and time you want it to publish, then hit the schedule button. Each contributor is free to moderate comments as he sees fit. I may … [Read more...] about Hey Contributors, Fire When Ready