*And the rest of you SEC-loving, Alabama Crimson Tide-cheering cretans, whom I love with the love of the Lord, of course! I’ve never made much of a deal about it, but I’m not a fan of either the Southeastern Criminals (er, Conference – sorry) or of the Alabama Crimson Crud. I don’t like to make […]
A poem: The Week in Review
I’ve tried my hand at poetry before, but never in public, so here’s my offering for those events pertaining to us Baptists this week: I woke Monday morning, rolled out of bed I looked through the haze, what had my phone said? The Twitter blew up, Chik-Fil-A is corrupt. I checked on the story, again […]
Ask Mohler anything…but don’t expect him to give a short or simple answer
We hear, about seven and a half months before the event, that Albert Mohler is willing to be nominated for SBC president. It’s a little early for this but here we are. May I guess that it’s not Calvinism that will define his candidacy nor the discussion before, during, and if he’s elected, after the […]
There Should Be Peace. A Response to Tom Ascol.
On November 21st, Tom Ascol of Founders Ministry, wrote a piece encouraging either Karen Swallow Prior to “reconsider her endorsement of Revoice and withdraw it or that Danny Akin will reconsider this hire and retract it.” Though I’m not sure how viable that first option is for her because Ascol also framed the discussion this […]
Is Caring Well doing well in our autonomous churches?
It is doing well in my view. Caring Well is the abuse resource and effort that resulted from the joint work of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the ad hoc Sex Abuse Advisory Group appointed by SBC president J. D. Greear. The Caring Well initiative was presented at the SBC Convention this past […]
Response to Paige Patterson’s 2012 Letter (Dr. Marshal Ausberry)
I was saddened and wounded to read the letter from seven years ago from our Brother Paige Patterson to Jimmy Draper. I was asked by a couple of news agencies to give comment. But as I prayed about it, I felt led to share first with my SBC family through the Baptist Press. I agree […]
Oh No, Chick-Fil-A caved. The World is Ending
The Twitter-verse was set ablaze yesterday as Chick-Fil-A anounced a redistribution of its charitable donations beginning next year. Conservative Christian leaders immediately took to social media to denounce the restaurant chain as cowards, compromisers, and cavers. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee wrote via twitter: In August 2012, I coordinated a national Chick-Fil-A appreciation dayafter they […]
Why Not You?
An organization in my state that does licensing and placements for foster care posted the following statistics recently on social media: In our state 14 out of every 100 children are in foster care The average stay of these children in foster homes is 700 days There are ~15,000 children in foster care and only […]
The beloved pastor goes turkey hunting and how Buddy made my deacon hall of fame
My first church was, literally, in the middle of the national forest. Privately owned land was all along the highways and the church was a strong country church. Naturally, the congregation included a game warden, Buddy, who was also a deacon. The area was populated, infested some drivers might say, by deer and wild turkey. […]
You know that only about 80% of SBC churches are anglo, don’t you?
Dominant ethnic composition, in percentages, below for churches: Anglo 81.9 African American 7.0 Hispanic 4.7 Korean 1.6 Native American 0.8 Haitian 0.8 Chinese 0.4 Filipino […]
What would less autonomy look like?
I confess to giving this some thought but without much in the way of an answer. The call is often heard that “the SBC” should relinquish some of its cherished autonomy in order to keep kids safe at church. Here’s how the most recent case was explained. “The SBC views itself as a network of […]
This is the future of SBC missions
Atlanta area megachurch Johnson Ferry Baptist announced the results of their annual Great Commission Offering. It was suitably mega with over $5 million given. The offering was divided: $2.7m Lottie Moon, $1.7m Johnson Ferry missions budget, and $680k Annie Armstrong. That’s a single SBC church giving about 1.5% of the total Lottie Moon offering.