This is the most highly contested SBC presidential contest since the end of the Conservative Resurgence. I think the 1990 election in New Orleans where Morris Chapman defeated Dan Vestal by 15 percentage points was the last white hot election. We've had contested elections since but none like this year's. One group casts this election as one to turn the convention around, reclaim the convention, etc. Steve Gaines and others call it "pivotal" but doesn't explain how it is so. Maybe it's supposed to be self-evident. Is the SBC president that big of a deal? In the light of current events, … [Read more...] about The Role of SBC President: Does This Year Matter More?
To Publish or Not to Publish? Resolutions in a Social Media Age
Last Thursday, our own William Thornton helped potential resolvers by laying out the steps to properly submit a resolution, along with a few details on what happens after the resolution is submitted. Monday Resolutions Committee chair Jason Duesing provided an extended explanation of their committee's work and process in Baptist Press. If you're interested in the resolutions process and some of the more technical details, you'll find a ton of good info there. So you already know the official process. But there's a trend recently that goes beyond those official steps. More and more people … [Read more...] about To Publish or Not to Publish? Resolutions in a Social Media Age
Putting On New – Ephesians 4:25-32 (From the Voice that Matters Most)
We share our opinions and insights at SBC Voices, but we believe that the Voice that matters most is the one that comes from God's Word. We present these daily expositional devotions, beginning with a tour of Ephesians called, "Walk Worthy," in hopes of encouraging our readers to remember to Voice above every voice. Passage: Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the devil an opportunity. Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he … [Read more...] about Putting On New – Ephesians 4:25-32 (From the Voice that Matters Most)
2018 may be the SBC’s annus horribilis
My apologies to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, from whose 1992 speech I borrowed the Latin phrase. The royal family had a number of personal difficulties that year...and Windsor Castle caught fire. Sometimes royalty, even in the SBC, has difficulty. In the Grand Old Southern Baptist Convention we'd like to catch a different kind of fire but it looks like we will have to deal with extensive damage first. To Americanize annus horribilis, try Judith Viorst's 1972 children's book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. All of those descriptors work well. Some of the … [Read more...] about 2018 may be the SBC’s annus horribilis
I’m an SBC Woman & I Have a Vote (Jacki C. King)
For as long as I can remember, I have been looking for a tribe, a group, a place, from the halls of Jr. high waiting to see if I made the spirit squad to staring at the walls of my public university wondering if anyone else was crazy enough to sign up for that 8AM lecture. I’m well past those moments of wonder but these last few weeks I’ve wrestled, struggled, and prayed through the tension of “Who are my people? Where is my tribe.” I’ve tasted the goodness and fruit of all God is doing in the SBC, from surrendering my life at the local Girls in Action camp as a young girl to serving women … [Read more...] about I’m an SBC Woman & I Have a Vote (Jacki C. King)
6 Ways the SBC Needs to Grow in Light of Our Recent Failures
I am deeply grieved by what I am reading online about the crisis at my alma mater, Southwestern Seminary. It is devastating to me learning of the women who have been hurt through this crisis. I have been a Southern Baptist (SBC) my whole life, all 44 years. Born and raised in a Southern Baptist church (baptized at age 7). I attended a Southern Baptist university for 4 years (BS degree), attended a Southern Baptist seminary 4 years (earned Master of Divinity degree in 2001), full-time pastored Southern Baptist churches for 5 years, bivocational preacher for scores of Southern Baptist churches … [Read more...] about 6 Ways the SBC Needs to Grow in Light of Our Recent Failures
A Resolution for #SBC18: “On Repudiating Predatory Behavior”
I have submitted the following resolution, On Repudiating Predatory Behavior, to the SBC Committee on Resolutions for their consideration. I am hopeful that this will be reported out by the committee to the messengers gathered at this year's annual meeting in Dallas as it is, or in hybrid form combining any other similar resolutions on this subject. I believe the significance of this resolution lies in the full scope of its application. Predatory behavior includes domestic violence (sexual, physical, and psychological), child abuse (sexual, physical, and psychological), sexual predation, … [Read more...] about A Resolution for #SBC18: “On Repudiating Predatory Behavior”
From the Voice that Matters Most – Ephesians 4:17-24 – “Testify…Turned, Turned, Turned.”
Passage: 17 Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their thoughts. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. 19 They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more. 20 But that is not how you came to know Christ, 21 assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to take off your … [Read more...] about From the Voice that Matters Most – Ephesians 4:17-24 – “Testify…Turned, Turned, Turned.”
Southern Baptists, This Is a Time for War
I guess you know, this means war. How many times did Bugs Bunny utter those words to one of his antagonists in the cartoons of my youth? I believe the words are apt today. We are at war. The Southern Baptist Convention, its entities, its churches, and its people are at war. It is a long and brutal war and it will not end until the day we see Jesus face to face. A state of war exists in the SBC, but it is a war that we are fighting badly. We are fighting the wrong war against the wrong enemies using the wrong weapons. Paul warned the Corinthians of just such a problem when he gave … [Read more...] about Southern Baptists, This Is a Time for War
From the Voices That Matters Most: Ephesians 4:11-16
Do you remember Wordle? It was a fun little app we played with for awhile that made word clouds. About a decade ago Thom Rainer asked the question of many people what they thought of when they thought of Southern Baptists. This is what he got: Looking at this Wordle it is pretty clear that those that responded view Southern Baptist’s as legalistic, traditional, and old; concerned with missions and fried chicken. It does not take a religious scholar to figure out that something is wrong with a Christian denomination when people associate fried chicken with you more than they do Jesus. … [Read more...] about From the Voices That Matters Most: Ephesians 4:11-16