SBC Issues

Joel Rainey is the Director of Missions at Mid-Maryland Baptist Association, an adjunct professor at Capital Bible Seminary and blogs at Themelios. This post, the beginning of a series, was originally published at his site.  Over the next few weeks, I want to narrow my focus here a bit.  Though I try to contribute to ministry and mission discussions that transcend my own denominational tribe, I'd like to speak specifically to what I believe to be the potential future of local entities within the Southern Baptist Convention; most notably the Baptist Association.   Full disclosure:  my mortgage … [Read more...] about The Future of the Baptist Association: A Prelude (by Joel Rainey)

No, I'm not talking here about your content - this is not about whether you are topical or verse-by-verse expositional. This is much more simple. What is going on around you when you stand in the pulpit on Sunday morning (and night, for us old-schoolers)? Do you have a manuscript? Crib notes? An outline? Do you have a monitor? An iPad? Printed notes? Do you project your notes onto a screen with Powerpoint or Proclaim or some other presentation software? Does your church project its notes by WiFi so the congregation can follow along on tablets and smartphones? Do you include … [Read more...] about An SBC Voices Forum: How Do You Preach?

"Lillian," Roger pronounced, "has no interest in God.  She cares nothing for matters of holiness or sin." Rog and I were sitting in a humid hotel room in Puyo, Ecuador.  He's a Deaf Christian who's been attending Friday night Bible studies for a while.  His Christian life has been a rocky one - divorce, adultery, unrepentant arrogance - but he seems to be back on the narrow path.  He boldly admits to his sins and the carnage in his wake.  Proclaiming a risen Christ and a forgiving God are seemingly high on his priority list. "I tell her she should come to Friday nights.  She knows we … [Read more...] about Micro-Contextualization

It's time to tackle one of my favorite issues, let's talk Sunday School. In many places it's dying on the vine, it's being traded in and swapped out. It's considered out of date and it's not working. I'm here to tell you that Sunday School can be powerful, effective, life changing, church reviving and Christ honoring and will become your favorite time of the week. One of the problems is we are stuck on this idea of Sunday School being something it's not. Today I want to talk about the “D” word. Let's dive into the deep of deep. So you want a deep Sunday School huh. The whole open group … [Read more...] about Deep Sunday School . . . .6 Feet Deep.

Imagine that the apostle Paul has an iPhone with Instagram capabilities. Do you think he would send this out to all of his Jewish friends:     “Eat this Jews!” Because of the work of Christ people are now free to eat bacon. Yet, some early Christians had a difficult time making this transition. They grew up thinking that everything that came from a pig was dirty and defiled. In the same way some Gentiles had a difficult time eating food that had been previously offered to idols. Others believed they were free to do anything. This was Paul’s response to both: For though I am free from … [Read more...] about Flaunting Our Bacon

I've cheered for him for nearly a decade, even when a lot of Yankee fans didn't. I heard the petty taunts - "A-Fraud" and such silliness - and I just kept cheering. I heard the sniping about how much he was being paid, but I didn't care - he was worth it and anyway, was he supposed to turn the money down? He's done some weird things, for sure, through the years - knocking a ball out of the pitcher's glove, yelling at the fielder to induce a dropped fly ball, just acting a little nutty. He said things that made you scratch your head and he always seemed to be trying just a little too hard to … [Read more...] about Reflections of a (Former) Fan of Alex Rodriguez

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32 I have been writing and contributing to SBC Voices for a while and I keep up with a few other SBC and individual blogs as well as … [Read more...] about The Words of my Lips and Comments.

I often have conversations with young Christian men and women who have become entangled in the “snare of the Trapper” (Psalm 91:3). Their entanglement is far too often directly related to the use of beverage alcohol. During these conversations, these young men and women tell me that they thought they could “handle it.” They also tell me something else. They often tell me that their parents, who are “very strong Christians,” have taught them it was “OK to drink, if I did so responsibly.” Some have told me that their Youth Pastor uses beverage alcohol and told them it was “OK to drink, if we do … [Read more...] about Wine Is a Mocker (by CB Scott)

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift I am moving away from the Disney and India illustrations and want to keep exploring this topic that I began in the first two posts HERE and HERE. By way of introduction if you are just jumping in, I am a 38 year old pastor trained in the Organic/House/Cell/Relational/Missional Church Movement that grew up on the West Coast in the 1990's (and lots of other places too). We talked about relational ministry and "life-giving" approaches and how we needed to be free and open different and relevant to our society. We constantly critiqued the "institutional … [Read more...] about Why We Need Christian Institutions, Part 3: Is Church Planting, Missional Innovation, and The “New” Overblown? (by Alan Cross)

What an amazing time we live in. We have all the technology one could possibly need. One thing that is interesting is all the videos, whether on YouTube or for purchase, that help an individual imitate someone. Often a young kid picks a superstar athlete in his sport and he decides to pattern his swing, hit, or shot after that person. The culture accentuates and accelerates that through our technology. As pastors we are not exempt. We may not be as vocal or honest, but many have a personality in mind when they think of successful ministry; maybe preaching patterns, or voice inflections, or … [Read more...] about Imitation: The Greatest Form of Flattery