SBC Issues

A weary pastor sifts through a mountain of advertisements. Keeping up with these ads is about as daunting as conquering all the fruit in your Fruit of the Month box. Apples rot and the pastor’s desk gets overwrought with the next best thing. On one particular Monday—it’s always a Monday—a particular advertisement appeals to this pastor. It’s in the area. It’s affordable. It seems like a breath of fresh air. He signs up. A few months later he files into the conference hall with a thousand other pastors. Why are they here? Something within them knows that they need to improve in their … [Read more...] about Review of “One Year to Better Preaching”

Jeremy Vanatta is the pastor and an elder of Southside Baptist Church in Lebanon, TN.  He holds a PhD in New Testament from Mid-America BTS.  He blogs at The Threshing Floor, where this article originally appeared.   Beyond Behavior:  Dealing with the Heart If the previous article, Foundations for Gospel Parenting, were not clear enough, this article intends to convince us further that parenting is impossible without the grace of God.  In parenting, we are not dealing with a dog or some other animal that can be trained through behavior modification or some other psychoanalytic … [Read more...] about Gospel Parenting, Part 2 (by Jeremy Vanatta)

Joel Rainey is the Director of Missions at Mid-Maryland Baptist Association, an adjunct professor at Capital Bible Seminary and blogs at Themelios (Twitter - @joelrainey). This post was originally published at his site. Greetings from 30,000 feet!  I'm writing while on my way back from the Global Faith Forum at Northwood Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where I just enjoyed an amazing weekend with many, many world-class leaders. I'm grateful to Bob Roberts, who has been a friend of several years, but also a great coach to me over the past two years as I have tried to lead our network … [Read more...] about Talk With the World, Not Just About It: Reflections on the Global Faith Forum (by Joel Rainey)

We had some volunteers recently, and I thought I'd share a little about their trip.  Consider this half reporting/half case study. The Background  Along Ecuador's northwestern coast, the province of Esmeraldas is a beautiful expanse of relatively undeveloped jungles, rivers, and beaches.  While the people are great, the province as a whole is not very well-off, financially speaking.  The people with whom we were working, Deaf Ecuadorians, have few educational opportunities, limited employment, and have never had a church of their own.  No one has even offered them the chance to be a vital … [Read more...] about Volunteers: A Single Case Study

One of the great pleasures of being a human is the ability to change your mind.  That’s a tremendous blessing, especially when a wrong needs to be righted. I have striven to be a man of the Word.  I want to live my life and do church as closely to the revelation that God has given us in the Bible.  However, the Holy Spirit recently began to convict me that I was ignoring one important aspect of Scripture—the role of the evangelist. The Holy Spirit through Paul clearly says that God has given some men to be evangelists for the good of the church.  It’s right there in Ephesians 4:11-12, And He … [Read more...] about Revisiting the Role of the Evangelist

Bill Gernenz is a pastor in East Texas and blogs at “Broken and Undone.” This is the first in a three part series on Associations that appeared at his blog.  Tuesday morning brings about a dozen pastors/ministers/church leaders together for breakfast.  It is a wonderful time of fellowship that ends in a brief time of prayer.  I value my relationships with each of these men, BUT… …though most of us are members of the same local Baptist association, there is not much else we do together.  I suspect most other local Baptist associations – and state conventions – have the same story.  Through … [Read more...] about Of Networks and Associations (by Bill Gernenz)

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). The Bible is foundational to our faith. But it is more than the written word of God that brings us to that faith. Apart from the Holy Spirit's witness heard in our spiritual heart, the Bible is just words written about God. By the Holy Spirit speaking to our heart, the words of the Bible become God's word personally spoken to us. It is one thing to read about God; it is quite another to hear Him spiritually speaking to us. Though the former is factual, the latter is piercing, life-giving and life-changing. A. W. … [Read more...] about Tozer and ‘The Speaking Voice’ (by Ken Hamrick)

I don't mean to sound cold or unfeeling, but I'd like to make a point today. It hasn't happened much lately, because at my advanced and doddering age, no one really wants me as a pastoral candidate anymore (that's a rant for another post!), but through the years I have been asked a question many times. "Hey, Dave, are you happy in your ministry?"  When someone asks you that question, they are implying something. If you are not happy where you are, you must be willing to move to a new ministry. It is another way of asking, "Are you willing to put your resume in at such-and-such church?" … [Read more...] about Are You Happy in Your Ministry? Does It Matter?

Jeremy Vanatta is the pastor and an elder of Southside Baptist Church in Lebanon, TN.  He holds a PhD in New Testament from Mid-America BTS.  He blogs at The Threshing Floor, where this article originally appeared.   Foundations of Gospel Parenting Parenting is among the most challenging tasks in the world, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the weight of responsibility. In hopes of encouraging parents or parents-to-be, I want to write a series of articles on Gospel Parenting beginning with the Foundations for Gospel Parenting. Mission Impossible 1.  Keeping eternity in mind: … [Read more...] about Gospel Parenting, Part 1 (by Jeremy Vanatta)

The scrawny lad heaved his pile of video games onto the counter. With a hint of sadness in his voice, he asks the clerk, “How much can I get for these”? The poor lad looks as if his best-friend just informed him that he’s moving across the state. As I’m wondering why this kid had to get rid of all of his games, I over hear nerd talk. The guys at the video game store are talking about backwards compatibility. Apparently, once this little dude opens up his new PS4 or XBox One for Christmas all of his previous games are obsolete. His old games won’t work on the new system. As I observed … [Read more...] about Backwards Compatible Church