SCATTER SHOOTING, PART FOUR BY MARK TERRY Scatter shooting while wondering where W. A. Criswell bought his white suits. Summertime has arrived in Texas. It’s 94 degrees today. I was sad to learn of Charles Stanley’s passing. He was an excellent preacher. He was able to show the practical application of doctrine better than anyone else. During our first four years in the Philippines, FBC Atlanta sent me a package of his sermon cassettes (!) every month. They were like a stream in the desert for me. I read on the internet (so it must be true) that gray hair can be reversed. No … [Read more...] about Scatter Shooting, Part Four
Making College Decisions? Check Out California Baptist University!
It’s Official: The Adkins’ family will be a Lancer family. This article is not so much about our boy, although he is the reason for its genesis. It is more about how impressed our family has been with our experience engaging with CBU, via its administrators, professors, and staff. Canon, our youngest son, and gifted musician, will be graduating high school in a few days. After being accepted to 20+ schools, he has decided to “take his talents” to Southern California to become a part of the Collingsworth School of Performing Arts at CBU studying Music Composition for Stage and … [Read more...] about Making College Decisions? Check Out California Baptist University!
The EC Needs to Elect Jared Wellman!
I upset some friends the other day when I voiced questions about the process at the EC that has nominated Jared Wellman as the next EC president. Now, let me see if I can make more people mad at me. Many people have concerns about the process, and I affirm that. We continue to wonder when the SBC is going to elect a minority candidate to lead one of our entities. That time is long since passed. Having said all of that, there is only one candidate on the ballot at the EC this week, Jared Wellman. This is not an election between two candidates. So, my position is this: I wholeheartedly, … [Read more...] about The EC Needs to Elect Jared Wellman!
Are We Are ALWAYS Going to Be a White Convention?
Word has started circulating that Jared Wellman will be the search committee's recommendation on Monday as our new Executive Committee President. Wellman demonstrated great courage when former leaders at the EC tried to bully him into silence. He is a young man of godliness, character, conviction, denominational loyalty, and integrity. He is exactly the kind of younger SBC leader this convention needs for the future. I am a Jared Wellman fan. However, I have some reservations about the process. We have a large African American fellowship in the SBC and we have been telling them that if … [Read more...] about Are We Are ALWAYS Going to Be a White Convention?
Scatter Shooting, Part Three
Scatter shooting while wondering who will get Dave Miller’s lime green suit when he passes on to his reward. At my age, happy hour is an afternoon nap. When I was a boy, learning to play baseball, my coach said repeatedly, “Mark, keep your eye on the ball.” Of course, that’s the key to hitting a baseball, but it’s also key for Southern Baptists. For us, the ball is missions. Missions is what motivated Baptists in the USA to form their first convention, the Triennial Convention, in 1814. The first thing the SBC did when it organized in 1845 was to establish the Foreign Mission Board and … [Read more...] about Scatter Shooting, Part Three
On Celebrity Preachers and Plagiarism (Phillip Powers)
There is a reason that previous generations referred to the pulpit as "the sacred desk;" it is, no doubt, the same reason that the prophets of the Old Testament sometimes referred to "the burden of the Lord". The responsibility of proclaiming the Word of God to the people of God is a serious and oftentimes heavy calling, and those who have been entrusted with this task should carry out their service with the utmost theological fidelity and personal integrity. In recent years, this concern has become even more evident in light of the growing awareness of the problem of plagiarism. This problem … [Read more...] about On Celebrity Preachers and Plagiarism (Phillip Powers)
Answers, but many SB pastors would be embarrassed.
The Executive Committee can expel churches without messengers being involved. Absolutely true. They just did it in a closed meeting without votes being recorded or discussion on the record. Shameful. The Executive Committee may expel a church for any reason. Trick question but sorta true. Even though there are reasons listed, the broad requirement of "closely identifies" with the BFM and the last two enumerated reasons (being discriminatory and acting not inconsistently on sex abuse) are not defined. The EC can doggone well do what it wants in regard to any church. Same for … [Read more...] about Answers, but many SB pastors would be embarrassed.
Reject the constitutional amendment but take this SBC governing documents test first.
Here's an SBC polity and governing documents test. These are all True/False for my colleagues who like to play the odds and not think too much. it's very simple. I'm almost embarrassed to offer it. The Executive Committee can expel churches without messengers being involved. The Executive Committee may expel a church for any reason. The SBC Constitution specifically lists five reasons that a church may be excluded. The EC and messengers have the ability to expel individuals as well as churches from our body. A congregation must be a part of a local SBC association and/or an … [Read more...] about Reject the constitutional amendment but take this SBC governing documents test first.
The Senegal Test of Our Baptist Battles
Once I might have called this the Taiwan test. Admittedly oversimplified, I believe there's an idea here worth our consideration. In 2012, I was leading an interdenominational Bible study for missionaries in Taichung, Taiwan, during the heyday of Baptist blogging. As I chatted with some of the missionaries, I realized how irrelevant the hot-button issues raging in the Baptist blogosphere were to people actually doing ministry on the Kingdom's frontlines. Our petty, internecine squabbles, which seemed so crucial as we engaged here, meant nothing to them. I am sitting under African … [Read more...] about The Senegal Test of Our Baptist Battles
A Real Danger in the SBC
There is no shortage of voices in the SBC claiming that the end is near, that we balance on a precipice over the pit of destruction. I believe most of those voices are mistaken - some out of ignorance and others willfully. Most of the "enemies within the church" they warn us about are bogeymen designed to manipulate us into action, so that they can gain and maintain power. Wokeism is not a huge danger in the SBC. There is a misguided "woke" movement in American politics, centered in our universities, but it is not huge issue in the SBC. The SBC is filled with conservatives - some more … [Read more...] about A Real Danger in the SBC