SBC Voices

Well day one of the Caring Well Conference is done and I'm gearing up for a very FULL day today. Here is a recap with a few comments from day 1:   Phillip Bethancourt opens the conference noting that the speakers have been given the freedom to speak whatever they would like without censorship. He notes, “We’re not here to control a message, we’re here to equip the church. So far, that seems to be the case. However, the more pointed topics and speakers are up today (Friday).   Russell Moore is up first with his message, based on John 9:35ff, that our response to church … [Read more...] about Caring Well Conference – Day 1 Recap

The IMB closed the books September 30th on the 2018-2019 Lottie Moon offering and the amount received was $156.6 million, down $2.3 million from last year. The drop was about 1.4%. This was expected and budgeting was done accordingly leaving the IMB comfortably within their budget spending. Still, it's a disappointment not to see IMB's main source of revenue increase, although $156.6 million is a huge sum. I understand positive spin, thus the lack of any mention of a decline in the offering. The press on the offering emphasized that giving was more than what was budgeted and that the … [Read more...] about Lottie Moon offering is down $2.3 million

In a few hours, the ERLC’s much anticipated National Conference "Caring Well: Equipping Churches to Confront the Abuse Crisis" will begin. I am thankful for the ERLC choosing this timely subject for their conference this year – enough so that I am attending my first one and have brought a small group from my church with me. I attend a fair number of conferences and have participated in many of the SBC’s denomination wide emphases over the years, but this one seems different and I am hopeful that it will make a lasting impact as we focus on ministering well to those around us. In a previous … [Read more...] about #CaringWell: An Opportunity for the SBC and My Local Church

CP exceeds budget for 5th year in a row, screameth the headline fromt he executive committee following the year-end report of the Cooperative Program year for 2018/2019. Budgets were conservative; thus, the point that CP revenues exceed budegary reuqirements. I like prudence in budgeting. Actual dollars from the churches through the state conventions to the executive committee for distribution to the entities are less than they were last fiscal year. While the budget total was exceeded, year-over-year gifts remained relatively flat with a slight decrease of $313,124.70, or 0.16 percent … [Read more...] about Cooperative Program receipts are down for the fiscal year just ended

Have you heard about Carson King? What a roller coaster ride he's been on in the last few weeks. The casino worker attended the biggest event of the year in Iowa, the Cy-Hawk game, in which the good guys from Iowa City prevailed over the evil pretenders from Ames (Iowa beat Iowa State on a weird muffed punt play, 18-17). Carson got tickets to the game and carried with him a hand-painted sign begging for donations that would warm the cockles of the hearts of many of you Reformed guys. He said he needed beer money. Somehow, his sign got on ESPN's "College Gameday" show and what happened … [Read more...] about What Social Media Giveth, Social Media Bloweth Up!

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. -1 Corinthians 1:4 I love this verse. The Corinthian church was one messed up church. Paul didn't pull any punches when writing to them in 1 Corinthians about all of their many issues. He tackled each issue head on. Yet as he began writing, he told them of how he gave thanks to God for them. Despite all of the issues in Corinth, Paul saw the grace of God in their midst. What about you, pastor? I know you see the issues in your church. Some of those issues may be obvious for all to see. … [Read more...] about Evidences of Grace

Some of these have been in storage here for a while. Bruce Ashford: "How can Christians keep our sang-froid in America's vitriolic and effluvial public square?" I've no answer for him. Let's sang a syrupy hymn and see how that works. And again, the august provost rightly objects to the taste-bud insulting libationary experiences that come from pumpkin spiced latte...but then he trashes candy corn. He's batting .500. Atlanta Braves pitchers: Teheran, Soroka, Fried, Keuchel, Foltynewicz. I'd probably be batting .200 in first time pronunciations. Dee Parsons, indefatigable and now … [Read more...] about A Fall excursion into critical events of our day, and some not so critical

I'm on a brisk, five mile walk across the University of Georgia campus. Big game tomorrow: The Dawgs and high level, high class intersectional opponent Notre Dame. Biggest such game in decades. The photo is of the countdown clock on the set of ESPN's Game Day. I'm walking by. There are 50-60 workers setting it all up. It's Friday morning and I'm not sure what is 7 hours, 45 minutes, and 56 seconds away but it's not the ball game. This is Big Time college football. The stadium seats 92,746 and 500 additional bleacher seats have been put up to accommodate The Irish, since they were allotted … [Read more...] about Selectivity in our culture wars…and SEC football