Some duds of 2018
I'm owning up to some of my articles that didn't quite capture the interest of folks around here. Duds. ___________ In the dead of mid-winter last year I wrote on things admirable, deplorable, or forgettable, a compilation of well-used and ill-used vocabulary. Seems that post was altogether forgettable. Nary a comment, not even a snarky one. Want to hear crickets? Write a piece on leadership changes in state conventions. In spite of the fact that about 90% of Cooperative Program revenue flows through sixteen legacy state conventions in the south, there seems to be little interest here … [Read more...] about Some duds of 2018
Fabulous SBC Voices College Bowl Game Contest
There are sixteen bowl games left, including the championship game. I'm not counting some minor bowls not worth watching. The ones that are left, not including Auburn who isn't going to make my list of anything, are the ones below. Heck, one of the goofball bowls cancelled their game. Go figure. ______________________________________ Saturday, Dec. 29 1. Orange Bowl, Alabama vs. Oklahoma 2. Cotton Bowl, Clemson vs. Notre Dame 3. Peach Bowl, Florida vs. Michigan 4. Belk Bowl, Virginia vs. South Carolina Monday, Dec. 31 5. Military Bowl, Cincinnati vs. Virginia … [Read more...] about Fabulous SBC Voices College Bowl Game Contest
Ten Key Questions for the SBC in 2019
Predicting the future is a dangerous thing. I have a copy of Sports Illustrated that predicts that the Atlanta Falcons will defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the upcoming Super Bowl. Atlanta was to have defeated the Vikings in the NFC title game. These football experts get fewer predictions right than a broken clock. I track it. I lack clairvoyance and am no great expert at the SBC's inner workings. I have often not foreseen the issues that would arise. Who knew that 2018 would see the downfall of icons and heroes, presidential campaign tactics scraping the barrel in ways we have never … [Read more...] about Ten Key Questions for the SBC in 2019
The SBC single best moment of 2018
That would be the moment in our annual session when messenger and trustee of Southwestern Seminary, Bart Barber, said the following: I am an old-time Baptist congregationalist. My church has business meetings every month because I want us to have business meetings every month. I believe in our polity. And it is a part of our polity that our entity heads do not get to remove trustees when they become an inconvenience to them, that entity heads have to answer to their boards both when they want to do so and when they don’t want to do so, that seminary employees have to abide by board … [Read more...] about The SBC single best moment of 2018
Best of the SBC for 2018
Nothing is over more quickly than Christmas. No more carols. No more Christmas sermons. No more trees, poinsettias, and ugly sweaters. The gifts have all been opened and many will be returned today. Kids have already broken some of theirs and are in tears. Leftovers will dominate the culinary offerings for the week. So, although I like Dave Miller's four-sermon Christmas series (and I'd steal and use it if I didn't already a a similar series), let's go back to business as usual here: Best quotes: I’ve been talked down to by male seminary students and held my tongue when I wanted to say, … [Read more...] about Best of the SBC for 2018
Prince of Peace
In case anyone has wondered, this was my sermon series this December. This was last night's Christmas Eve message, hence shorter than the others. Odd, if I read it straight through, it is about 10 minutes, but I managed to go nearly double that when I preached. I was shooting for 15 went about 17. How does that happen? If you are as old as I am, you will remember a song by Simon & Garfunkel from their 1966 album, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.” It was a beautiful rendition of Silent Night with the evening news from August 3, 1966 played over it - clips about the Richard Speck … [Read more...] about Prince of Peace
Everlasting Father
There is nothing in God’s creation that more fully reflects the glory of God more than mankind’s intelligence and creativity, something far beyond any other creature’s. We have been able to make advances in technology that boggle our minds, engineer skyscrapers and airplanes and spaceships, fight disease, map DNA, and solve many of this world’s mysteries. We look with wonder at the next 20 years, or 50 years, and imagine what might be possible. But no matter what breakthroughs there are in medicine, in technology, or in any other field of human endeavor, one thing we know, the human mind will … [Read more...] about Everlasting Father
Mighty God
The Christmas we see in our cards, in our songs, and in our nativity sets, is a sanitized, sentimentalized, safe version of what really happened in Bethlehem. It was beautiful and glorious and powerful – Mary and Joseph yielding to God’s plan, angels announcing the Messiah’s birth, a humble setting as God takes on human form, a manger as his crib, and Magi following a star from the East to worship him. But there is a side to this that the Christmas cards do not show, one that we must understand. The story of Jesus is tragic, from his birth to his death. He was despised and rejected of men, … [Read more...] about Mighty God
Wonderful Counselor
I am turning my attention away from blogging for the next few days. Here is some homiletical content for our readers to ignore! Deism became an immensely popular idea during the 1700s in Colonial America, an idea held among some of our Founding Fathers. They believed that God made the world but that he stepped back and let it work on its own without intervening or interfering. The God of Deism is disconnected and uninvolved with the affairs of this world. That is not the God we worship. He is active, involved, sovereign, and at work in this world to accomplish his will. Isaiah 9:6 and the … [Read more...] about Wonderful Counselor