SBC Issues

Before I begin, let me say I am in support of the Great Commission Resurgence.  I think it’s a great thing, and we need to focus our ideas, resources and tool on reaching out.  I have already posted on the things I think will hinder the SBC from really seeing a movement of God from the GCR, and I don’t want to hash that out again.  What I want to look at is simple.  Does the Great Commission Resurgence have a chance to really move the SBC forward in outreach, or is it just great propaganda?  Here are some things I would like to discuss and toss around. If the SBC is a bottom up … [Read more...] about Does the GCR Stand a Ghost of a Chance?

I will always be one who looks back. Out of my past, with all its levels of conjured contentedness concealed between cushions of deceit, I draw my emotion. In the losses, I find my determination. In the pain, I uncover energy to search for the truth of healing. In the regret, I discover grace. Out of the stupidity of ill-conceived actions and words, I hunger for wisdom. In the layers of the past, I see the unfolding of the future. On some days, it is as if I am still there; on others it is as if I never was. Such is an Odyssey of Grace, a clumsy reconciling of sin and shame with healing and … [Read more...] about 2010: A Grace Odyssey

Have you ever noticed how many ideas in the Christian faith seem more hypothetical than concrete?  Things like “fall into the arms of grace” or “just give it to God”.  What do those look like really?  Are they things that have meat to them, or are they just things we say and have no idea what they really mean?   How do you fall into grace, or give something in-material to a spiritual being?  There are lots of things that we say are hard to define and pin down, but I think it’s symptomatic of a larger issue.  We have tried for two thousand years to define Salvation, but I am not sure we … [Read more...] about How Does It Work?

Dave Miller has posed this question, and the answers we’ve seen and given range from tragic to comic to, well, just this side of ridiculous.  This is a challenging question.  In recent years, there’s been an apparent shift to a post-denominational world in American Christianity, with many of the fastest growing churches either being non-denominational or being the head church of a new denomination.  Then there’s the age-old argument that Southern Baptists aren’t a denomination at all, but that’s another argument.  If solved in the comments, great, but if not, we’ll table that for another … [Read more...] about What is a Southern Baptist Church?

This is the sixth in an ongoing series of posts exploring how we can balance the demands of unity in the Body of Christ with the need for doctrinal accountability and discernment. In the first post, I introduced  the topic. In the second post, I identified the four levels of biblical truth  and the appropriate unity response at each level. In the third post, I introduced "Brick Wall Doctrine" - truths that are essential to the gospel and cannot be compromised in the church. In the fourth post, I started listing what I believe are Brick Wall truths, beginning with the perfection of … [Read more...] about Brick Walls, Picket Fences (6): Brick Wall Doctrine – Jesus, the Gospel, the Second Coming

You tell me. There are really two questions here: 1)  What is a Southern Baptist? 2)  What is a Southern Baptist church? The answer to the first question can be pretty simple - a Southern Baptist is someone who is a member of a Southern Baptist church (whether they identify themselves as such or not.)  We don't have a membership outside of the local church membership. But what is the sine qua non of Southern Baptist identity? What makes a church truly a Southern Baptist church? I usually write my opinion then let you interact with that.  I'm going to make this more of an … [Read more...] about What Is a Southern Baptist?

I'm always willing to promote something good in the blog world - and I think that sbcIMPACT! is one of the best sites out there.  I know, I'm biased.  I've been writing at that site for 2 years and think the world of the men who contribute there. But sbcIMPACT! has had a problem the last 6 months or so.  Something happened to the site, or the hosting company or something.  It became increasingly hard to log on to the site to comment, or even to read and the once lively site slowed a little. But the new (and improved) sbcIMPACT! has just been rolled out.  The contributors are pretty much … [Read more...] about Welcome Back, sbcIMPACT!

I know it’s interesting to have a topic like this on a blog, but I wonder about our online relationships and how they impact the Universal Body of Christ.  I have developed some great relationships online with people I would have never met otherwise.  I have learned a great deal from blogging, reading, writing and sharing online ideas.  I think blogging has a lot of validity, but what I want to ask about is community.  Is online community authentic?  Can we have true fellowship online?  Has the invention of the internet created a whole is community? The most popular social network … [Read more...] about Has Blogging Ruined the Church?