SBC Issues

Editor's Note: Rick Patrick is a frequent commenter here.  He sometimes commits the unpardonable sin of disagreeing with me, but he always writes well and makes a clear point.  I'm dying to see which of his five points is going to get the most discussion here today.   These random opinions jump around.  Fortunately, like the best things in life, they are free.  If you don’t like one of them, don’t buy it.  Or better yet, tell me why I’m an idiot, or as we say in our Christian vocabulary, “Share the truth in love.” 1.  Church hoppers should be forced to wear a “Scarlet H” on their … [Read more...] about Five Things I Think I Think (by Rick Patrick)

Alcohol&Ministry.mp3 Dr. Mohler, Dr. Moore and others discuss the Southern Seminary view 0f alcohol.  This is an hour long.  You are welcome to listen to it and respond to what was said. If you don't listen, don't discuss.  It's pretty simple. Its one of the most biblically sound and balanced treatments of the subject I've heard.  As always, bravo Dr. Mohler. I am not going to give my view of the presentation because I want the discussion to be about what was said, not what I said about what was said.   … [Read more...] about Mohler on Alcohol

I am writing in response to Brad Whitt’s article “Young, Southern Baptist and irrelevant?” which was recently published in The Baptist Banner (vol. 24, no.6, pp. 5-8).  He laments over what seems to be a self-perceived irrelevance brought on by a minority that he describes as “outsiders from within” (p. 8; code, I think, for Calvinists).  This minority of men in the SBC has appropriated the Convention microphone and is taking its cues from not a few prominent non-traditional, non-SBC pastors.  The bottom line is that these me are hurting the Convention, and if he, and others like him, could … [Read more...] about Young, Southern Baptist, and Self-Important? (by Alan Pearce)

(Note: Nearly eight months have passed since our home burned. Now, just a couple of weeks away from moving into our new home, I've been thinking back to the night of the fire and the thoughts that swirled around in my head the night I stood in the yard on a cold night and watched it burn. The post below is adapted from my Signs of a Struggle post that ran in December 2010, a few days after the fire.) For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. -- 11 Cor. 5:1   I have at times in the … [Read more...] about Sometimes I Feel Like a House

I don’t typically respond to other people’s articles, and I try to stay out of controversy.  Hopefully I do not regret responding here, but Les Puryear seems to be a reasonable man and if there were any discussion I think it would be cordial. Puryear recently posted an article on what is wrong with the SBC.  Number two on the list (in no particular order) was “preachers and Seminary professors who teach that the biblical principle of storehouse tithing is not valid today.”  He followed up that article with one this morning accusing those that “eliminate the tithe” as “jumping through … [Read more...] about Eliminating the Tithe: Magnifying Christ and Missions – A Response to Les Puryear

I remember an argument I once had with a close friend over Matthew 13:33.   “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast.”  Yeast is an interesting substance.  Put a little bit of yeast into even a large lump of dough and pretty soon the whole thing begins to change, to expand, to grow bigger.  A little yeast affects a lot of dough.  This illustration is used throughout Scripture.  Most of the time, it is clear that the point is negative.  A little bit of sin works through everything and then grows and expands and creates spiritual decay.  “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees,” Jesus warned.  The … [Read more...] about Level Three: Dinner Table Doctrine (Brick Walls, Picket Fences – 11)

Hi all, Today I want to write about a topic that is near and dear to my heart – adoption. Adoption is wonderful in so many aspects. I have had the wonderful privilege to adopt three children (and perhaps more in the future). I want to say a few things about adoption. First, it is a wonderful way to rescue children. I cannot imagine what it is like to not have a home. But every time I look at my children, I see children for whom there was a time when they had no mom or dad. My boys were too small to remember it, and likely my daughter won’t remember it as she grows older either, but it is … [Read more...] about Adoption: It’s For All of Us (by Jim Giffords)

I was blessed to attend a Promisekeepers rally for pastors in Atlanta several years ago.  There were many thousands of pastors and church leaders from all over the country who came to be encouraged and instructed at that rally. I cannot remember a single sermon that was preached that week (though they were powerful and moving) but I can remember one moment – a song that was sung by Steve Green.  He sang a song about tearing down the walls that separate us from one another, about letting the walls of denominational pride, personal ambition, competition and such things fall by the power of God.  … [Read more...] about Picket Fence Ecclesiology: Balancing Local Church and City-Church (Brick Walls and Picket Fences 10)