SBC Issues

I have often struggled with the teaching of limited atonement. I understood it in concept, but thought it was a purposeless doctrine. That was true until I read an article that was against the Doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement.  As I began to think about how Substitutionary Atonement works, I began to ponder. Substitutionary Atonement states that Jesus died in my place. When He was on the cross, He bore my sins. By dying, He took the punishment for my sin. He died in my place. He was my substitute, because the punishment He suffered should have been mine. If Substitutionary Atonement … [Read more...] about Does Substitutionary Atonement need Limited Atonement?

In Mark 5 we read of a woman “…who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.” There were many options for this lady to find healing.  The Talmud lists eleven.  In Lightfoot’s Commentary we are made privy to a few of the more ridiculous ones: “Take of gum Alexandria, of alum, and of crocus hortensis, the weight of a zuzee each; let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that hath an issue of blood. But if this fail, “Take of Persian onions nine … [Read more...] about Sifting Through Donkey Dung

Originally posted at From Law to Grace on Friday, August 5, 2011 After spending Thursday night in the cool-weather environs of Ruidoso, NM, nestled in the Sacramento Mountains, the heat of Alamogordo has perhaps got me in a contrary mood.  With limited time on the internet, I'm just now catching up on some of the latest news in the nation and in our Baptist world at large. I couldn't help but notice a piece at Associated Baptist Press written by Norman Jameson, "NC Association ousts church with woman pastor."  As I read the article, I began to think that some Baptists simply lack that … [Read more...] about Female Pastors & Graceless Responses in Mayberry!

I referenced William's side of this.  Here it is.  You can read both.  Maybe Howell will post here as well.  It's a necessary discussion. Flat Rock Baptist Church in Mount Airy North Carolina was quickly and summarily expelled from the Surry Baptist Association the other day according to [http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6626/53/]  this APB story from last week. Seems the church had done the unusual, the unthinkable, the unpardonable - they called a female pastor. Tony Cartlege calls it 'courageous, the association calls their kicking out action an attempt to facilitate "restoration to … [Read more...] about No, I wouldn’t vote to expel (by William Thornton)

There is something unseemly about trying to rank blogging, but I've always been a stats guy and so this week I looked at the technorati.com blog "authority" rankings.  I don't really understand them, why rankings go up and down. From time to time we get questions here about why certain blogs are on the "Featured SBC Blogroll" while others are not.  The Technorati rankings are one way of explaining why certain blogs are featured. When I was a coach, I was a little bit of a stats nut - probably too much so.  But its ingrained in my DNA somehow.  So, here is a listing of the Top Southern … [Read more...] about Technorati’s Religion Blog Rankings: How Baptist Blogs Stand

Everyone seems to be getting into this - and so I thought I would follow the crowd.  Here are the blogs that really struck me this week.  Now, I don't read every blog or every blog post.  So, being the blue-collar blog we are, if you have a nomination, put it in the comments.  Since we assume that you read every word of every post we put on here (you do, don't you?) we are not including our own posts. The order is simply the order in which I found the posts. 1) Ed Stetzer "New Research on Global Evangelicalism" Examines a new Pew Research study of Evangelicalism worldwide, with some of … [Read more...] about This Week in Baptist Blogging

We who blog are not always viewed positively among the powers-that-be in the SBC and in the Christian world.  We are quick to criticize and difficult to control.  I think that some of the criticism is valid - we have not governed ourselves well.  I think that some of the criticism comes because powerful people are not used to being criticized, are usually able to squelch it and cannot do so with bloggers. The Significance of Blogging Many dismiss blogging and bloggers as insignificant.  That is wishful thinking on the part of those who do not like what we do.  We may not be as important … [Read more...] about Criticizing Christian Leaders on Blogs: An Ethical Dilemma