SBC Voices

I think all major state conventions have a foundation that does estate planning, manages funds, makes church loans and offers investment options. The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma would be happy to have your money even if you are not in Oklahoma. They've even launched a new brand, WatersEdge Ministry Services to be more appealing to folks outside Oklahoma. "Waters" and "Edge?" I have no idea about the name but they do use a baptism picture in their slick, full page ad in SBCLife. I'm all for competition but it's a brave, new Baptist world I suppose. Let's see what kind of swag they're giving … [Read more...] about The Oklahoma Baptist Foundation wants your money…and other interesting SBC news you may not have heard

Over the years I’ve served one church as pastor and ten churches as interim pastor. Besides that, I’ve served as a supply preacher or missionary speaker at countless churches. At many churches after the service, the preacher stands at the main exit and speaks to the folks as they leave. Many feel compelled to say something about the sermon. The comments the departing attenders make vary widely and wildly. If you are a visiting preacher, they often say thanks for coming or thanks for preaching for us today. However, if you are the pastor or interim pastor, the comments change. Of course, … [Read more...] about After-Sermon Comments

No surprise about that; nothing new, nothing different. Latest CP figures released by the Executive Committee have this as a headline: Nat'l CP 2.67% over YTD budget projection Savvy CP watchers will appreciate that the 2018-2019 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget was a conservative budget and that the Executive Committee has sufficient revenues to meet the budgetary expectations of the mission boards, seminaries, and other national CP recipients. The national CP is roughly 40% of all CP revenues. State conventions keep the bulk of it, always have, though less now than in earlier years. … [Read more...] about The Cooperative Program is in a long time funk

When Evelyn showed up at church one Sunday morning, I didn't have to ask the regular members about the new lady whose appearance was striking and a bit bizarre. "Oh, that's just Evelyn," I was told. "She's a country music star." Evelyn turned heads. You almost couldn't look away. She was dressed outlandishly, rather gaudily. Her makeup was quite heavy. The hair was far darker than her age would permit and coiffed vertically. And there were sprinkles of glitter and clouds of perfume everywhere. The congregation was polite and cordial and most members seemed to be accustomed to her. She … [Read more...] about The country music star

Recent comments by some SBC leaders have acknowledged that "competent" and "godly" women would be acceptable for leadership in some areas. The particular quotes mentioned LifeWay and the SBC presidency. One might consider that it has always been maintained that most church attendees are women and that most church workers are women. I'm speculating that at our oldest and most important entity, the International Mission Board, most personnel are women (most workers are couples and most single personnel are female, thus, most overall are women). It seems odd that we need to be signalled that … [Read more...] about Wanted: competent, godly, SBC women

John 13:34-35 is one of my favorite verses. “I give you a new command: Rebuke one another. Just as I have rebuked you, you are also to rebuke one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, by how boldly you rebuke heretics.” Judging from social media, that must be how many read what Jesus said. Seldom a day goes by that I don’t get another warning that someone has “denied the gospel and forsaken the truth,” putting the church at risk. Our only hope is to listen to brave "discerners" who identify and call out those false teachers among us. The problem comes when I … [Read more...] about They Will Know You Are My Disciples If You Trash Heretics

News broke this week that the lawsuit filed against the North American Mission Board by Will McRaney, former executive of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, was dismissed on Monday. Senior Judge Glen Davidson of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Mississippi ruled that the lawsuit would require the court to determine religious elements in the case which "the court cannot do." Baptist Press posted an article yesterday about the dismissal which you can find here. ABERDEEN, Miss. (BP) -- First Amendment legal precedent has been cited in a federal court's dismissal of a … [Read more...] about McRaney lawsuit against NAMB dismissed