In a Q&A at a chapel service at Southern Seminary, Dr. Mohler took questions from students. One, not surprisingly, was about social justice. The question comes at about the 24 minute mark and his answer runs nearly 40 minutes. However, it is biblically, theologically, and historically sound. It is collegial but direct. He details two main reasons why he did not sign and was uncomfortable with the Social Justice statement coming from the MacArthur camp. He gives a detailed explanation of the difference between liberal "critical theory" social justice and biblical social justice, … [Read more...] about Dr. Al Mohler Addresses Social Justice
David Platt to Step Down September 27; Meador Named Interim President
I have heard quite a bit of scuttlebutt over the past few months - this candidate or that was about to be named the new president of the IMB. But in recent weeks we have been hearing that the trustees are nowhere near finding their new leader. David Platt has decided his interim time has gone on long enough. Frankly, this seems like a good move to me - on three counts. 1. The IMB needs to take as much time as it takes to make the right hire. If it takes another month or another year they need to find the president who will lead them and lead Southern Baptists in the days ahead. 2. … [Read more...] about David Platt to Step Down September 27; Meador Named Interim President
Honest obits and designer funerals: How I know my day is past.
I'm fresh out of eyerolls for some of the things I see, hear, and read today. I'm deep into the attitude that as a pastor, my day is past in a lot of ways. Not that I couldn't serve a church again if the Lord so led but that so many things have moved into uncharted territory. Consider me to be an an irascible curmudgeon in semi-retirement and an unreformable one at that. I have declared that I will pass on all wedding requests. Waaaaaaay to much drama and nonsense afoot on those. I'm keeping family weddings as an exception. Should there be some to come my way, I can easily do those. They … [Read more...] about Honest obits and designer funerals: How I know my day is past.
Echo Chambers, Conferences, Social Justice and a Dumb (?) Idea
Southern Baptists in particular, evangelicals in a broader sense, and all Americans in the whole have become lovers of echo chambers in which every voice joins in perfect unison with our own to reinforce, without question, the ideas we share. A lady came by the office to express how much she appreciated my ministry and how she had grown under it, but to inform me that God was leading her to another church in town. It was cordial and friendly, but something she said always stuck in my craw a little. "It is nice," she said, "to hear my theology preached every Sunday." I was not quite the … [Read more...] about Echo Chambers, Conferences, Social Justice and a Dumb (?) Idea
Finding Balance in Ministry
Several weeks ago Dave Miller published a post that presented a retrospective of his life. (Undergoing major surgery does give one a different perspective.) I understood Dave’s post to communicate that he wished he had achieved better balance in his life. Certainly, we all want to balance our lives and ministries, but that often proves to be a great challenge. How can we balance our lives? I can still remember my years as a Master of Divinity student at Southwestern Seminary (1972-75). In our homiletics class, the professor said we should spend at least 20 hours study on each … [Read more...] about Finding Balance in Ministry
Creating Fear: The 9/11 Theological Strategy
September 11, 2001, was one of those days that you never forget. I was waiting for an associational pastors group to arrive at my house and I flipped on the TV just as the second plane hit the second tower. We watched the news for hours and life changed that day. America experienced a brief moment of unity as our president stood on the rubble of the Twin Towers and declared with an unusual eloquence that those who did the despicable deed would hear us as we spoke! Mr. Bush, who left office with popularity ratings lower than the Orioles winning percentage this year, broke records as the most … [Read more...] about Creating Fear: The 9/11 Theological Strategy
When you stay too long
One staple of pastoral ministry is this business of tenure. Early on in my first pastorate a layman in my church commented on the pastor of another church, "They liked to never got him out...", a crude way of saying that the pastor, according to the church members he talked to, stayed too long. A pastor I know is going through some considerable difficulty. He has been at his church for around eight years, which is above the average. Is it time for his tenure to start wrapping up? I was once asked, "Haven't you been at that church long enough?", a question I answered in the negative but … [Read more...] about When you stay too long
Probably not a good idea for the pastor to turn down a pay raise
It's budget time in many churches and the largest component of most church budgets is staff pay. The economy is humming along. Unemployment is very low. Many economic measures are up and consumers have confidence sufficient to be making major purchases of vehicles and the like. The LifeWay/Guidestone 2018 Compensation Study has been released and the overall average pay package for full-time senior pastors is $77,979 and the average for full-time clergy staff is $74,393. The full-time senior pastor of that average church with attendance between 100 and 150 in weekly worship is a bit lower at … [Read more...] about Probably not a good idea for the pastor to turn down a pay raise
Wait…so it IS a gospel issue?
You'll have to forgive me, but I am a bit confused. For a while now we've heard it said that racial reconciliation is not a gospel issue. That's been applied more broadly recently. It's said that doing justice is not a gospel issue. Essentially the argument is this: Salvation is by grace through faith. Jesus lived in your place. He died to pay for your sin. He was raised from the grave three days later. Repent of your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. If you add anything to that, you are adding to the gospel. And all the people said, "Amen!" I know of no … [Read more...] about Wait…so it IS a gospel issue?
Maybe it’s not about the calling
I’m sitting here in my study contemplating life in the ministry. First of all, I should qualify that statement: by “in the ministry,” I mean the vocational work of being employed by a church for what we call “ministry.” I know that we are all supposed to be ministers, or servants, of one another and of Christ our Lord. That’s a thought I’ll come back to later, perhaps, but let’s accept our normal vocabulary here in Baptist life. It may not be ideal, but it’s what we’ve got. Next year will mark my twenty-fifth year in ministry service to Southern Baptist churches. In those years, I’ve mainly … [Read more...] about Maybe it’s not about the calling