Much of day 2 was taken up with breakout sessions, 4 in total out of 12 options. I won’t take time here to cover those because I could not attend them all and they are not easy to summarize. Note, however, that the sessions were recorded and I believe will be available online in the […]
Caring Well Conference – Day 1 Recap
Well day one of the Caring Well Conference is done and I’m gearing up for a very FULL day today. Here is a recap with a few comments from day 1: Phillip Bethancourt opens the conference noting that the speakers have been given the freedom to speak whatever they would like without censorship. He […]
Lottie Moon offering is down $2.3 million
The IMB closed the books September 30th on the 2018-2019 Lottie Moon offering and the amount received was $156.6 million, down $2.3 million from last year. The drop was about 1.4%. This was expected and budgeting was done accordingly leaving the IMB comfortably within their budget spending. Still, it’s a disappointment not to see IMB’s […]
#CaringWell: An Opportunity for the SBC and My Local Church
In a few hours, the ERLC’s much anticipated National Conference “Caring Well: Equipping Churches to Confront the Abuse Crisis” will begin. I am thankful for the ERLC choosing this timely subject for their conference this year – enough so that I am attending my first one and have brought a small group from my church […]
Cooperative Program receipts are down for the fiscal year just ended
CP exceeds budget for 5th year in a row, screameth the headline fromt he executive committee following the year-end report of the Cooperative Program year for 2018/2019. Budgets were conservative; thus, the point that CP revenues exceed budegary reuqirements. I like prudence in budgeting. Actual dollars from the churches through the state conventions to the […]
Before the Conference – Acknowledging Problems Surrounding #CaringWell
Tomorrow, more 1,600 Southern Baptists will gather in Dallas Texas for the ERLC’s “Caring Well” Conference. I’m looking forward to the conference and am bringing a small group from my church while others will be watching from home. Personally, I’ve considered myself an advocate for survivors of the trauma of abuse for years and I’ve […]
Are you feeling called to Gillette, Wyoming?
Did you know that the SBC website has church job listings throughout the country? Some of those vacancies could use a little extra advertising, so I’ve taken it upon myself to highlight one every once in a while (with a modicum of humor mixed in). Go west, young man, to Westside Baptist Church in Gillette, […]
What Social Media Giveth, Social Media Bloweth Up!
Have you heard about Carson King? What a roller coaster ride he’s been on in the last few weeks. The casino worker attended the biggest event of the year in Iowa, the Cy-Hawk game, in which the good guys from Iowa City prevailed over the evil pretenders from Ames (Iowa beat Iowa State on a […]
Evidences of Grace
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. -1 Corinthians 1:4 I love this verse. The Corinthian church was one messed up church. Paul didn’t pull any punches when writing to them in 1 Corinthians about all of their many issues. […]
A Fall excursion into critical events of our day, and some not so critical
Some of these have been in storage here for a while. Bruce Ashford: “How can Christians keep our sang-froid in America’s vitriolic and effluvial public square?” I’ve no answer for him. Let’s sang a syrupy hymn and see how that works. And again, the august provost rightly objects to the taste-bud insulting libationary experiences that come […]
Selectivity in our culture wars…and SEC football
I’m on a brisk, five mile walk across the University of Georgia campus. Big game tomorrow: The Dawgs and high level, high class intersectional opponent Notre Dame. Biggest such game in decades. The photo is of the countdown clock on the set of ESPN’s Game Day. I’m walking by. There are 50-60 workers setting it […]
How to Pray for Missionaries
I appreciate that Tony Jones has shared lots of missionary prayer requests with us. As an emeritus IMB missionary (Latin for “has been”), let me share some suggestions about how to pray for missionaries. Missionary prayer requests are not new; in fact, they go back to the Apostle Paul. Here is his: Continue steadfastly in […]