SBC Issues

Green Lake Conference Center is gorgeous. Speaking at the Minnesota/Wisconsin pastors/wives retreat has been fun (for me at least). The people are wonderful. Internet and phone service not so great. Hope everyone is behaving. Contributors, take charge if needed but play nice. Someone keep an eye on CB Scott. … [Read more...] about Stranded at Green Lake.

I am excited about what might happen at this month's Executive Committee meeting.  I've been advocating for a name change for some time, so your decision to name this task force and study the issue, thought it has been controversial, was welcome to me. I have no doubt that you will have dealt with these issues thoughtfully and honorably as a task force.  Some of the best minds (and strongest personalities) we have in the SBC are in that group.   You chose well! I'm not going to try to tell you what name you should recommend. That is the part of this whole thing I've never been able to … [Read more...] about An Open Letter to Bryant Wright and the Name-Change Task Force

Some questions to ponder, my beloved, blustery, battling, (bloviating?) Baptist-blogging buddies. Is there a secret conspiracy of Jewish bankers which has conspired through the centuries to control international monetary affairs? Did communists infiltrate every level of USA government and society during the Cold War era in an attempt to gain control of the US? Did the FBI, the mob, and/or the Cubans conspire to hire Lee Harvey Oswald to shoot JFK, or perhaps use him as a patsy in the operation? Did man really walk on the moon or was it all filmed on a sound stage somewhere? Did … [Read more...] about Is There a Reformed Conspiracy to Take Over the SBC?

I am not a conspiracy theorist. Don't talk to me about JFK, the Illuminati or Area 51. However, mindful of the fact that the Pharisees conspired with Judas to give up Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, we must admit in all fairness that sometimes there is indeed a conspiracy, even in religious matters. Just as businesses and politicians must deal with secret agendas, religious organizations are not immune from silent takeovers simply because our purposes are spiritual rather than financial or civic. As I write this, I am completely sober and of sound mind. I slept well last night, have risen … [Read more...] about Are We Being Reformed?

In the last 50 years, we have seen the removal of Christian influence in the public schools. The result of pro-secular idealism has created a moral vacuum in public education. The result of this moral decline has led many believing families to pull their kids out of the public education. This has created an even large moral and ethical voids. The children are suffering and need spiritual life. They need to hear about Jesus, but there is a systematic abandonment of the care of children. The pressing issue for me is how the church has begun to follow suit. We have begun to create children's … [Read more...] about The Abandonment of the Souls of Children

In 1900 B. H. Carroll preached a sermon on Baptists 100 Years Ago. It was a historical message telling of Baptist leaders and work in the era around 1800. Carroll (AD 1843-1914), was founder and first president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Following are a couple of his comments about some Calvinists of those days who went to the extreme. “It was a time of strong doctrine, and many Baptists were hyper-Calvinists in their view. But Leland himself tells us how, one day while preaching, ‘his soul got into the gospel trade-winds,’ which so filled his spiritual sails that he forgot … [Read more...] about B.H. Carroll on Hyper-Calvinism (by David Brumbelow)

The SBC world was shaken pretty dramatically last September when our president, Bryant Wright, appointed a task force to study the feasibility of changing the name of the SBC.  As someone who lives outside the South, I've favored such a thing for a long time, so I welcomed this blue ribbon panel to study the issue. They were tasked with answering four questions: 1. Is there value in considering a name change? 2. If so, what would be a good name to suggest? 3. What would be the potential legal ramifications of a name change? 4. What would be the potential financial implications? I … [Read more...] about The SBC Name-Change Proposal’s Coming: What’s Gonna Happen?

I’m from Perry, Missouri.  Less than 1,000 people are housed in her city limits.  Few of them anything but White Anglo-Saxons.  Most of them perhaps not sure what an Anglo-Saxon is; that’s not to insult my hometown—merely to say that in an agrarian society, like Perry, knowing what an Anglo-Saxon is really doesn’t matter. I share all of that to say that my exposure to people of different languages and nationalities for the first 18 years of my life was pretty minimal.  Then I went to college.  Even here “they” were not normal.  Most of my college was made up of white folk.  But my college … [Read more...] about What If You Couldn’t Read Your Bible?

The Baptist churches I grew up in could be counted on to follow the biblical standard for church worship services.  (It had to be biblical, or why would every Baptist church do it the same way?) After someone made the necessary announcements, either the choir would sing its "Call to Worship" or we'd sing a hymn or two (out of the Baptist Hymnal - the repository of all songs holy enough to sing in church).  There would be a pastoral prayer with the appropriate references to thee and thou to demonstrate awe.  Hymns were led by a nicely dress man in a white shirt, tie and dark suit as Moses … [Read more...] about Discussion Topic: When “Special Music” Isn’t So Special

NOTE: I have just released a book which compiles (and edits and expands) these posts. It is called "Disqualified? What the Bible Says about Divorce, Remarriage and Ministry."   It is available on Amazon.com. The Kindle version will be released in the next couple of days - not sure what the hold-up is there. This book reviews the biblical evidence on divorce and remarriage, beginning with the cornerstone in the Old Testament - the twin principles of God's intent of marriage as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman and the understanding of the brokenness caused by sin. It then lays the … [Read more...] about Divorce and Remarriage in the OT: Deuteronomy 24:1-4 – Establishing Grounds for Divorce