SBC Issues

St. Peter was showing a new arrival through heaven. (Bad theology and really old joke alert!) He took him through the pearly gates on the streets of gold, showing him the lay of the land. But at one door, Peter stopped and put his finger to his lips. They tiptoed by until they were well past the door. The new arrival queried, "Peter, why were we so quiet there?" Peter shook his head and said, "That's the Southern Baptists - they think they are the only ones here." Now, for a true story. The year was 1979, a big year for theology and for Southern Baptists. I had just come back from Houston … [Read more...] about Southern Baptists and Spiritual Myopia

Andy Hynes is a PhD candidate at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Follow him @ABHYNES on Twitter. He also seems to be fairly competent as a predictor of sporting outcomes, having won our recent bracket challenge! Whether we realize it or not we have a ministry mentality.  What I mean is, we all have ideas about the purposes of ministry.   How we view the purpose of ministry will determine our approach.  A lot of the mentality today is the need to exhaust all of our efforts to “attract” people with events and ideas. We plan and seek new ways to invite or convince the lost they … [Read more...] about Ministry Mentality (by Andy Hynes)

This was first posted at Alan's blog, "Downshore Drift." I was thinking recently about how much we simulate the experiences that we would like to have and the life that we would like to live into something that can be approached, bought, sold, and consumed. We often do not want the real thing, but we are happy with a facsimile of what we think would be nice. For example, my favorite Italian restaurant in town is made to look like Tuscany on the inside and has trees growing on the roof on the outside, but in reality, it is in a parking lot in front of a Best Buy on a bypass. I like to listen … [Read more...] about Plastic Living, Plastic Faith (by Alan Cross)

It all came down to the wire in the SBC Voices NCAA Basketball Bracket Challenge. I faded out LONG ago, having picked Kansas and Indiana to square off in the title game. Until tonight's championship, my brother Steve, a Georgia pastor was in the lead. I would have loved for him to win. He is my older brother, but frankly, he was shorted in intelligence, charisma, looks and athletic talent in comparison to me, so having this victory would have meant something to him. Unfortunately, his picks had all played out and there was actually no way he was going to win, even though he had the … [Read more...] about Congratulations “MABTS06” – Andy Hynes – SBC Voices NCAA Tourney Champ

You want to grow your church? Practice hospitality. (And that means more than serving awesome fried chicken) I’ve read about 50 articles today that begin a similar way. They promise us church growth and then give us a few steps to implement hospitality. Tips like making sure that the word of life doesn’t come with the breath of death—in other words tell your greeters to try some breath mints. Now don’t get me wrong. These articles have been really helpful. And I really do believe that healthy churches are also hospitable churches. But when I read these articles something in my stomach … [Read more...] about How Hospitality Reflects Your Grasp of the Gospel

Sunday School is an old program that is out of date and has many holes. It requires space for classrooms and teacher training and plans and development. It can be hard to staff, hard to manage, and hard to find space. You should absolutely find a way to tackle these issues and have a Sunday School program. Many churches are moving to small group programs, and by all means have small groups, but don't give up on Sunday School. Here is why. 1. Sunday School is for the family. Sunday School should be age graded and ideally use a family oriented curriculum. This means that every class is … [Read more...] about Yes, You Should Have Sunday School

It is considered almost a truism that conservative Christians, who believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman and that homosexual behavior is sinful, are hateful, cruel, homophobic, intolerant and just plain evil. And, unfortunately, that has perhaps been the case with some churches, some pastors in some situations. At times, our rhetoric has been intemperate. The liberal orthodoxy is clear: conservative Christians are homophobic, hateful bigots. It is, in my opinion, a lie that is not founded in reality. Those who accuse us of bigotry and hatred are engaging in lazy and … [Read more...] about Dealing Redemptively with the Hate and Intolerance of the Left

Another stupid error. This was becoming one of the worst practices in history. I was sure to lose my starting position after all of these stupid errors. It was like the worst of Bill Buckner and Chuck Knoblauch had invaded my playing skills. I couldn’t throw to first base. I couldn’t catch a simple ground ball. And so I did what every unsanctified high school boy does when he’s having a practice like that; I cursed and screamed out expletives while kicking the dirt. I was playing the game that I loved and I hated it. Baseball had become my god and it was kicking my tail. It started … [Read more...] about Baseball, Meaninglessness, and True Joy

Dr. David W. Manner is the Associate Executive Director for the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists. He blogs at  http://kncsb.org/blogs/dmanner . You can follow him on Twitter:  @dwmanner.  Why are churches that so zealously defend the Bible rarely reading its text in public services of worship?  Does its limited use convey a lack of trust in the very Word professed to be foundational to faith, doctrines and practices?  And by limiting its text to a single reading prior to the pastoral exhortation are leaders implying that a higher level of credibility is found in the exhortation … [Read more...] about If the Bible Is Foundational to Worship…Why Aren’t We Using It? (by Dr. David W. Manner)