Last night in Arlington, TX, Cornerstone Baptist Church hosted a joint worship service with churches of various races/ethnicities in the region and featuring local and national leaders in “A Kingdom Conversation on Race and the Alt-Right.” The service was quickly put together in response to the events in Charlottesville the week before. Serveral influential churches in the area met to worship together. For the second half of the event, Dr. McKissic assembled an array of leaders in a panel to address questions on issues of race, racial reconciliation and unity, and how to respond to the newly … [Read more...] about Take-Aways from “A Kingdom Conversation on Race…”
Social Issues
Understanding Each Other & the Best Way to Respond to Charlottesville
I’ve been trying to figure out why people are getting so angry at each other about the events in Charlottesville this past weekend. Discussion has turned heated in almost irrational ways as we’ve tried to discuss and make sense of how we should respond to what happened. And here’s the thing— virtually everyone here at SBC Voices, both contributors and commenters, agrees about most of the major elements: We all agree that white supremacy is abhorrent and evil, whether KKK, neo-nazi, alt-right or other. We all agree that leftist groups were there to escalate and incite violent conflicts, … [Read more...] about Understanding Each Other & the Best Way to Respond to Charlottesville
The Moss Perspective vs. The McKissic Perspective: Opposite Sides of the Window Interpretations of the SWBTS Preaching Photo
Rev. Otis Moss III, the eloquent and winsome young preacher who succeeded Rev. Jeremiah Wright as Pastor of The Trinity Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois, posted on Facebook a brutal response—tantamount to a rebuke—of the five Preaching professors at SWBTS, and by extension, a rebuke of the Seminary and the SBC. Moss’ intellectual and insightful mind is on full display in his “Standing on the Outside of the Window—Looking In” interpretation of the Twitter photo. Four years ago, I was privileged to be a table mate of Rev. Moss for three hours, during an invitation-only Phoenix gathering of … [Read more...] about The Moss Perspective vs. The McKissic Perspective: Opposite Sides of the Window Interpretations of the SWBTS Preaching Photo
You Don’t Have to Buy the Whole Load (by John Wylie)
Twenty-five years ago this month I surrendered to the Gospel ministry. In 1992, what became known as the culture war was in full bloom. In fact, 1992 was the very year that Pat Buchanan gave his well known “culture war” speech at the Republican Convention. I was fully immersed in the idea that conservative politics and orthodox theology were synonymous. Twenty-five years down the road, the John Wylie of today is a bit more complex politically and even in some ways theologically. I have learned that monolithic thinking and uniformity are the enemies of honesty, progress (not liberalism), … [Read more...] about You Don’t Have to Buy the Whole Load (by John Wylie)
Tomorrow I will vote, and I will vote my conscience
Tomorrow is election day, and what a year it has been leading up to this point. If anyone back then had said that the two major candidates would be Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the rest of us would have nodded in agreement to the first prediction and shaken our heads and laughed at the second. Yet here we are. To call this election “contentious”, even among evangelicals, would be an understatement. I think most of us are ready for November 9 so we can see the end of robocalls, political ads on TV, and Facebook posts about how civilization as we know it will come to an end if either … [Read more...] about Tomorrow I will vote, and I will vote my conscience
We Must Never Forget
I remember the outrage. How could anyone do such a thing as this? The images captured on video for all the world to see. The date was July 14, 2015. The Center for Medical Progress released the first of its many disquieting videos regarding the deplorable practices of Planned Parenthood regarding the trafficking of baby body parts harvested from the barbaric abortion "services" they provide. … [Read more...] about We Must Never Forget
The Christian and the Arts
The Christian should be the person who is alive, whose imagination absolutely boils, which moves…because God made us to be creative. ~ Francis Schaeffer, He Is There and He Is Not Silent I love writing stories. Ever since I was a little kid I would make up characters and play out a portion of their lives through pencil on paper. Even if I wasn’t writing stories, I would take my Legos and build different universes with different people and creatures and act out their stories within the jungle of the carpet. Still today I’ll write stories in my free time—a hobby, a way to de-stress, and a way … [Read more...] about The Christian and the Arts
A grown man in the girl’s restroom
We need to be better spokespersons on the issue of transgenderism. It seems the message from conservatives can be boiled down to one question. I’ve seen it all over Facebook, heard it in conversations, and saw that even Ted Cruz was touting it during his last-ditch effort to stave off a Trump nomination: “Do you want a grown man to follow your little girl into the women’s restroom?” In a world of sound bytes and 140 character limits, it’s not surprising that conservatives have settled on this as the summary representative of their argument, thinking that their position is so obvious that … [Read more...] about A grown man in the girl’s restroom
On Spanish ministry and ethnic churches
I’ve been involved in Spanish-language ministry for the past seven years. In December 2014 I was called as a bi-vocational youth pastor at Enfoque, a Spanish-speaking congregation connected to Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. When I publicly announced that I was moving to Buffalo, New York, it took most people by surprise. Moving to la frontera (the border) should have placed me somewhere in the Southwest, not the Northeast. Although it was an HR job that opened up the opportunity to move to Buffalo, it was the 40,000+ Hispanics and lack of an SBC-aligned Hispanic church … [Read more...] about On Spanish ministry and ethnic churches
What Can We Learn from “Dr. Phil” and Thabiti?
On February 11 Phil Johnson used a Facebook post to accuse Thabiti Anyabwile of mission drift. The following is a screenshot of Phil’s original post: For those who are not aware, Phil is the Executive Director of Grace to You (John MacArthur’s resource and media center), and Thabiti is pastor of Anacostia River Church in southeast Washington, D.C. What followed was a brief interaction between Thabiti and Phil, which can be viewed at the following links: Thabiti’s initial article replying to Phil Phil’s article replying to Thabiti’s initial article Thabiti’s closing … [Read more...] about What Can We Learn from “Dr. Phil” and Thabiti?