I was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary in 1979 when two momentous events occurred. First, I was able to attend my first SBC Annual Meeting, one that was in every way historic. Adrian Rogers was elected president and the denomination began several years of struggle and transformation. Another event transpired that year - the Chicago Council on Biblical Inerrancy convened to define the term that has become such a political and theological hot potato. Back at school in the fall, my theology prof was talking about the findings of the Chicago Council. I asked him a question. "Dr. … [Read more...] about Southern Baptist Identity: An Examination and Proposal
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The SBC & a Collapsing Big Tent Philosophy
This post was originally published on From Law to Grace on May11, 2011. Advocates of a big tent believe that people with a broad variety of political approaches and viewpoints can unite within a single party to advance shared core issues, even if they disagree in other areas. This way the party can attract a large base of support at the polls. (full article here) The "Big Tent" political philosophy remains alive and well in our nation today. We are beginning to see some Republicans -- particularly supporters of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels -- advocate for the Big Tent. What these people … [Read more...] about The SBC & a Collapsing Big Tent Philosophy
The More Excellent Way! Paul’s Solution for a Splintered SBC
Paul had some great churches that he had planted, but he had one dysfunctional fellowship that he was continually correcting and trying to set back on the right path - the church at Corinth. Corinth was a splintered church in just about every way. For goodness sakes, they even found a way to observe the Lord's Supper in a divisive way! Paul corrected their arrogant, divisive attitudes, their immorality, their wrong attitudes about marriage, their disagreements over matters of personal conscience, their abuse of the Lord's Supper. Then, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul addressed their divisions … [Read more...] about The More Excellent Way! Paul’s Solution for a Splintered SBC
Let Us Hope that Exclusionary Attitudes Do Not Prevail in the SBC
Jerry Nash is the Director of Missions of the Harmony Baptist Association in Trenton, FL. He is, I'm sure, a man of God who loves Jesus and serves him faithfully. But in the article he published at SBC Today on Monday, entitled "Hold the Hearse, I Have an Idea!" he demonstrates to me a spirit of arrogance, exclusion and anger that is causing the splintering of the SBC of which I wrote last week (here and here). I want to be clear. I think the spirit and tone of the Nash article is precisely what is splintering the SBC. I am confronting it here because it was published at SBC Today. It … [Read more...] about Let Us Hope that Exclusionary Attitudes Do Not Prevail in the SBC
Putting a Splint on a SPLINTERED SBC!
God saves a wide variety of people from a wide variety of backgrounds. He then places in us his Holy Spirit to guide us in the process of becoming like Christ and preparing us for eternal glory. One day, all who have truly repented of their sins and trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord will be completely like Jesus. In the meantime, we are different. We start at different places and grow at different paces. We are headed toward the amazing eternal unity of the saints. In the meantime, we disagree. We disagree about the so-called “doctrines of grace.” Some of us like big churches, some … [Read more...] about Putting a Splint on a SPLINTERED SBC!
SPLINTERED! Can Anything Stop the Fall of the SBC?
When a great tree splinters, it loses the strength to stand and eventually it crashes to the ground. Is that the future of the Southern Baptist Convention? There can be little doubt that the SBC is splintering. In a Baptist Press article yesterday, Gary D. Myers referenced a series of articles by Steve Lemke, the provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, which were published recently at SBC Today. The articles explored the doctrinal and stylistic divides that are pulling Southern Baptists apart. I wrote an article last October at sbcIMPACT that touched on many of the same … [Read more...] about SPLINTERED! Can Anything Stop the Fall of the SBC?
“Acceptable Calvinism” and the SBC (by Bill MacKinnon)
Are Calvinists being told by some bloggers that they will only be accepted in the SBC if they agree to live as second-class citizens? Bill MacKinnon, one of our regular commenters here at SBC Voices makes that point in the post he sent me a while back. He admits to being a little sarcastic in some of what he says, but he raises some really good questions. The SBC simply must come to peace with the Calvinism issue. Calvinists are not going away, and neither are those who do not agree with Calvinism. There are certainly Calvinists who have been overly aggressive in advancing their … [Read more...] about “Acceptable Calvinism” and the SBC (by Bill MacKinnon)
The Gospel Hammer, the Idolatry Bludgeon, and Blogging Discussions
I attended the Band of Bloggers meeting in Chicago on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun and instructive. I had a chance to meet a few people and we had some interesting discussion on the dangers and blessings of blogging. Before I make my point, let me share some of the things that were discussed. The thrust of the meeting was "gospel-driven blogging" - what could be more noble? But one of the discussion leaders (I didn't take notes and can't remember who said it) said that "gospel" is in danger of becoming another undefined buzzword, much as "missional" has been. Actually, this is the … [Read more...] about The Gospel Hammer, the Idolatry Bludgeon, and Blogging Discussions
The Inside Scoop on SBCVoices
It's a busy season for many of us that post around here, and so we're running on a "write-it, post-it" schedule rather than a "write-it, let-it sit and be scheduled, then post-it" kind of schedule. Well, except for one person that's not me, who has lots of posts in the queue. However, since we're a little short on content this week (How do I know we're short? When you see more than 1 Doug post in any 7-day time frame, we're short on good content), I thought I'd peel back the curtain with a few lesser-known facts about SBCVoices and the contributors here: Little known fact #1: There is … [Read more...] about The Inside Scoop on SBCVoices
SBC’s New Calvinism & Patriotic Worship: Part 1
This post, containing minor revisions, was first published at From Law to Grace on April 6, 2011. Should Southern Baptist churches discourage expressions of patriotism in their corporate worship services on national holidays such as Memorial Day and Independence Day? According to Professor Carl “Chip” Stam and some younger Southern Baptist pastors represented by Baptist21, the answer is apparently yes. Well, maybe not yes in so many words, but unwise and unhelpful to be sure. While perusing the B21 website to watch an interview with Nathan Akin (which I still have not been able to … [Read more...] about SBC’s New Calvinism & Patriotic Worship: Part 1