SBC Issues

There are two main targets in SBC life these days, Russell Moore and the ERLC and Kevin Ezell and the North American Mission Board. In regard to the latter, NAMB is incessantly criticized for their spending policies. A few observations: NAMB designed and manages successful national SBC programs in the area of church planting and relief services. Critics would have Southern Baptists believe these are utter failures. The criticisms are often vicious and self-serving. Data used are often fuzzy or false. Numbers have been manipulated in regard to church planting for decades, particularly … [Read more...] about NAMB and spending God’s money given through Southern Baptist churches and individuals

Over the history of the Southern Baptist Convention, there have been many gifted preachers. Those men have been used by God to provide timely and prophetic sermons that have guided, shaped, and corrected the course of individuals, churches, and the SBC. In this series, we will look at some of those sermons. Even though most of these men will be dead, the message that they preached lives on because of the truth of the ever-living Word of God. Lasting just over a decade, the Conservative Resurgence took control of the SBC and her entities from those that were deemed as liberals. It … [Read more...] about Famous Baptist Sermons: Whether We Live or Die WA Criswell

To all that this may concern, Normally I would begin a letter such as this with a greeting that clearly explains my hope and prayer that the reader is doing well, encouraged, and in good spirits. In such an instance I would further go on to explain my purpose of the letter to the reader so that not only are my words read but also so that my heart is heard. Unfortunately, I understand that the content of this letter, if read at all, may be misconstrued, misinterpreted, and misunderstood. Nevertheless, I have something to say. Far too many Evangelicals and Fundamentalists have a problem. … [Read more...] about I Have Something to Say: An Open Letter from Deryk Hayes

Last year, Thom Rainer predicted that the pandemic would cause the deaths of many churches. I did not disbelieve him, but I hoped his prediction would not come true. Sadly, at least in our association, several churches have died or soon will.  I serve on the Mission Team of the Kauf-Van Baptist Association, which includes the Southern Baptist churches in Kaufman and Van Zandt counties in Texas. Our area lies to the southeast of Dallas, and our member churches include some in the eastern suburbs of Dallas and many in the small towns and countryside east of the DFW Metroplex. At our recent … [Read more...] about Concern for Dying Churches

When the SBC was formed in 1845, it started with two main entities, the "Board of Domestic Missions"  and the Foreign Mission Board, later to become NAMB and the IMB.  Over time the entity list has grown to include 6 seminaries, Guidestone, Lifeway, and the ERLC. Most of these institutions have easily understood purposes, such as the seminaries to train pastors.  Recent events in the SBC show that many misunderstand the reasons behind the formation of the ERLC and what role it plays in the SBC today.  The following is a brief history about the work of the ERLC, their purposes, and their … [Read more...] about A brief history of the ERLC

Yesterday, the Executive Committee’s ERLC task force released their report. You can find the Baptist Press story here. The task force was formed at the February 2020 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. The rationale given at the time was anecdotal concerns related to churches withholding Cooperative Program dollars because of disagreement with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. I will begin by saying that I am thankful they released the report prior to the EC’s meeting later this month. Too often over the last couple of years the EC has acted in … [Read more...] about The full EC should reject the ERLC task force report outright

One man's crusade to clean up the SBC is reporter Julie Roy's podcast with SBC presidential candidate Randy Adams. The interview is a roundup of the usual SBC suspects. Adams is a heavy NAMB critic. Fine, we can disagree about church planting philosophy and spending policies. While NAMB has several recent incidents that have not helped, I still don't favor the suggestion of returning to the good old days where NAMB would fling money at state conventions and the state conventions would do a stellar job of planting churches. Maybe he would address how NAMB could put over eight million … [Read more...] about Randy Adams favors an SBC sex abuser database?

Randy Adams is one of four announced candidates for SBC president. Baptist Press covers his announcement with links to the other three (Al Mohler, Ed Litton, and Mike Stone) in this article. Adams was to be nominated this past year but the virus gave the SBC JD Greear for another year. I doubt I would vote for Adams but his strong stance on SBC openness and transparency tempts me even though I disagree with some of his other views. More on those at another time. Here's what he says about openness and transparency, from his blog, A Path to Reforming the SBC SBC entities must submit to … [Read more...] about Randy Adams and reforming the SBC: Entities should disclose salaries and most everything else

I stared at the test, willing the pink lines not to appear. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be pregnant again. It was too hard. I couldn’t bear the thought of another miscarriage, and I was terrified of what another birth would do to my already broken body. As the results became clear, and relief washed over me, one thought burned in my brain- “so this is what this feels like.” I knew that if the test had been positive I would have dealt with it. I would have been cautiously happy and hopeful that this time would be different (and by God’s grace less than a year later we did have a second baby, … [Read more...] about The complicated feelings of being both pro-life & pro-Kamala as VP (Emily Snook)