Our largest and most important entity, The International Mission Board, has a five year plan, announced by President Paul Chitwood at the recent IMB trustee meeting. The plan calls for a number of things but, most importantly, it calls for an additional 500 overseas field personnel. I assume that means a 500 net increase by the end of 2024 which would bring the total field personnel up to 4,119. These would be numbers which haven't been seen since prior to the IMB's retirement incentive program implemented by former IMB head David Platt. Chitwood's plan is modest. Platt's approach … [Read more...] about IMB: 3,619 to 4,119 by December 31, 2024
SBC Issues
On the road on Sunday morning during the worship hour
I am painfully literal here. Churches I'm around designate 11 am to noon as "the worship hour." Difficulty may arise if the beloved pastor attempts to expand the worship hour to the worship hour plus five or ten minutes. While in my stage of life, senior and getting no less so, the 9:30 am service we attend is a great Sunday schedule. Several times annually my church has just a single Sunday morning service at 11 and it seems like most of the day is gone by then. I love the earlier service. So, your humble, semi-retired pastor who isn't in the pastorate these days takes a trip to the beach … [Read more...] about On the road on Sunday morning during the worship hour
Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality: A useful analytical tool or a dangerous ideology (or both)?
The debate in the Southern Baptist world about Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality (CRT/I) continues. As new questions and possible actions about Resolution 9 emerge, many are asking the question: Is CRT/I a useful analytical tool or a dangerous ideology? I submit that it is both. Previously, Albert Mohler has spoken forthrightly about the issue and Owen Strachan has recently written a series of posts on the issue and they are helpful in demonstrating the origins of CRT/I and the dangers of adopting its worldview. Others react even more strongly and see the issue generally, and … [Read more...] about Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality: A useful analytical tool or a dangerous ideology (or both)?
In high weeds: The Executive Committee’s proposed mission, ministry changes
New leadership is expected, one presumes, to make staffing changes and to make adjustments to legal documents, including mission and ministry statements. Thus, Ronnie Floyd has proposed the rewriting of the SBC Executive Committee's mission statement and ministry assignments. This will be taken up at the EC's meeting next month {I can't find the actual date of the meeting just now). Baptist Press reported on it yesterday: Floyd to propose SBC EC mission, ministry changes. A link is provided there to the old language. Updating the language of the SBC Executive Committee’s ministry assignments … [Read more...] about In high weeds: The Executive Committee’s proposed mission, ministry changes
Why I’m Struggling with the Value of Blogging (And Social Media)
I haven't been writing much. Thanks to William and others for holding down the site during my unscheduled, sort-of sabbatical. It's been intense at the church and a time of family crisis (both of my parents have rounded the final turn and are headed for the finish line), plus some stuff I can't talk about, but to be honest, I have been burned out, discouraged, and disillusioned with blogging and social media. I have been mulling in my own mind whether it still has value and what my place is here. Last week I had two conversations, one with one of our contributors here and another with a … [Read more...] about Why I’m Struggling with the Value of Blogging (And Social Media)
Why Is It Harder to Evangelize?
In recent years our SBC evangelism statistics have declined significantly. Dr. Jeff Iorg, the President of Gateway Seminary (formerly Golden Gate Baptist Seminary) spoke about this in his convocation message in the fall semester of 2019: “Southern Baptists have a declining effectiveness in sharing the Gospel with non-Christians and leading them to profess faith in Jesus," he said. "Since baptism is the first act of public obedience for a new believer, baptismal rates are one important measure of evangelistic effectiveness. By that key indicator, our effectiveness in leading people to faith … [Read more...] about Why Is It Harder to Evangelize?
JD speaks for JD, but he is the SBC President
From the Houston Chronicle: SBC President cautions churches about hosting disgraced leader Paige Patterson “Trustees terminated Paige Patterson for cause, publicly disclosing that his conduct was ‘antithetical to the core values of our faith,’ ” Greear told the Chronicle. “I advise any Southern Baptist church to consider this severe action before having Dr. Patterson preach or speak and to contact trustee officers if additional information is necessary.” and "Southern Baptist churches must take our mutual accountability to each other more seriously than we have in the past,” he said. “If … [Read more...] about JD speaks for JD, but he is the SBC President
What’s this inconsistent use of autonomy, anyway?
The complaint was that "the SBC" (scare quotes are essential in the present context; if an explanation is needed, just ask) uses autonomy as an excuse for inaction on abuse in churches and by "SBC" (same for the quotes around "SBC" but I'll not take the time to do so for the rest of this article) clergy. I understand that. There are a number of high profile, long running abuse cases that involve churches affiliated with the SBC and staff for those churches. An abuser would move from one SBC church to another, complaints would be made to SBC leaders whose answer would be that that they didn't … [Read more...] about What’s this inconsistent use of autonomy, anyway?
He’s baaaaack! Peter Lumpkins and those pesky discernment blogs
Back in the day, The Age of Blogs, there were a handful of sites that were SBC go-to blogs: SBC Today in its first or second iteration, SBC Outpost, SBC Voices, a few personal sites. If you read a dozen you probably had all the SBC news worth reading, and from different points of view. Then came the SBC celebrity sites and Twitter with snippets, factoids, puffery, and excruciatingly tedious strings of Tweets. Blogs took a back seat. Not quite under the bus yet but definitely diminished. I suppose Facebook figures in all this but I have my own scruples and FB doesn't get a lot of … [Read more...] about He’s baaaaack! Peter Lumpkins and those pesky discernment blogs
The Pastor’s High Calling
For most of my fifty years in ministry, I’ve served as a foreign missionary or seminary professor. However, in my senior years, I’ve been called to serve as the Teaching Pastor of our church. This new responsibility has prompted me to think about the calling of pastors. For sure, it is a high calling, and it is a challenging one, too. The Pastor’s Challenge To describe the indescribable—" Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor 9:15, NKJV) I thought about this the other day. We are expected to stand before our churches and describe the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ to … [Read more...] about The Pastor’s High Calling