SBC Issues

I will admit it; I'm obsessed. I've been home from Israel for nearly three weeks now and I can't stop thinking about it. I've wasted time in my office looking through pictures and maps, reading about Israel and planning my next couple of trips back! I continue to recommend that every pastor who has not yet done so go over for a week or ten days to walk where Jesus (and David and...well, you get it) walked. I have a tendency to analyse things and categorize them. As you plan your trip, there are some recommendations that I would make, based on those categories. We went a lot of places and … [Read more...] about When You Visit Israel…

I am going to be in Des Moines on Friday and Saturday for the the Baptist Convention of Iowa 2013 annual meeting. It doesn't look like ours will be particularly eventful this year. Last year was an anomalous and tumultuous year for the BCI, but this year looks to be a return to the norm. I will mention if anything significant happens here over the weekend, but the trip got me to thinking and wondering - what is happening in State Conventions? Are they trending up or down in attendance? Are there a lot of issues? Do some of the issues at the national level find their way down to the state … [Read more...] about An SBC Voices Forum: What Happened at Your State Convention?

I wrote about the danger of theological bubbles last week. Here are some reflections and ruminations on the topic. Bubbles can be Baptist or any other denominational variety. They can be Calvinist, Traditionalist, Arminian or any other place on the soteriological perspective. They can be cessationist or charismatic. They can be eschatological. Pretty much any passionately held theological perspective runs the risk of becoming a bubble, when we isolate ourselves from other positions and those who hold them. It is noble to study the Bible and arrive at dearly held theological positions. It is … [Read more...] about You Might Be in a Theological Bubble If…

The SBC Plodder, William Thornton, provides the answers to his previous quiz.  1, The CP funding program was adopted at the SBC annual meeting in Memphis in 1925. Todd Starnes has a pretty good summary article on the event here. One notes that the matter was heartily adopted. Guess they didn't have the mics stacked with people who were after  a few moments of notoriety. 2. CP promotion is done mostly by state conventions. I'm a gracious grader, so give yourself a correct answer if you said either "a" or "c". The CP is promoted pretty much everywhere in the SBC at every level, by … [Read more...] about Answers to the Simple Cooperative Program Quiz (by William Thornton)

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. Tonight, I will gather my kids--who will be dressed as Dr. Who, Captain America, and a Disney Princess respectively--and visit a downtown area near our central Maryland home on the only night of the year in which it is culturally appropriate to allow your kids to beg strangers for unhealthy food.  For most in our culture, October 31 is merely that: a fun holiday that … [Read more...] about The Legacy of Truth: Lessons from the Protestant Reformation (by Joel Rainey)

Saw this on Facebook. Thought it was pretty cool. Enjoy. Happy Halloween. Halloween: Trick or Treat? from 10ofthose.com on Vimeo. Here is the script, in case you are interested: Vast armies undead do tread through the night and In hordes march towards hapless victims to frighten. They stumble in step with glass-eyes on the prizes; Bunched hither, hunched over in monstrous disguises; In sizes not lofty but numb’ring a throng; To unleash on their prey the dreaded DING DONG. Small faces with traces of mother’s eye-liner, Peer up to the resident candy provider. And there to … [Read more...] about Halloween: Trick or Treat (Video)

William Thornton is the intrepid SBC Plodder. See how you do on this very simple, embarrassingly easy quiz on the Cooperative Program. I'll make it multiple choice with a few true-false questions so that my SBC colleagues have a good chance of getting answers right by guessing. 1. The Cooperative Program is how many years old? a. 168, it was started when the SBC was founded in 1845. b. 88, it was started during the evolution controversies in 1925. c. 58, it was started during the grand, boom years of SBC growth, 1955. d. 34, it was started when the Conservative Resurgence began in … [Read more...] about A simple Cooperative Program quiz (from William Thornton)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift, where this article was originally published.  When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:33-34) I have written about the need for Immigration Reform in the past. Here are the relevant articles: Should We Declare Amnesty? - Asks how America plans to deal with its illegal immigration problem and puts forward some solutions. … [Read more...] about Why Evangelicals Should Support Immigration Reform (by Alan Cross)

I want to try an experiment today, let's write a blog together, sort of.  I have some questions, and I would like you to post your thoughts.  Here are the few basic rules.  First off, please react only to the questions, write your thoughts.  Let's not turn this into a fight (again).  Share what you think, use as much scripture as possible to support your argument.  Share WHY you think the way you do, give some specific reasons and rational.  Lets try to enjoy this a little, and try to learn from one another. Here we go.  Do you believe man in an unregenerate state is a free moral agent, … [Read more...] about The Reverse Blog