There are a lot of people who are very upset about the direction of the SBC - different people have different complaints and we've all got some, I'm sure. I just had a long twitter exchange with a man who asked the question why LifeWay was still selling a book after there was resolution passed a few years back that it should not be sold. I tried to explain the whole thing to him. We had a pleasant exchange (unusual enough for twitter these days!), but I realized that 140 characters at a time is not the best way to explain that system. Years ago, I was on my high horse after the Garner … [Read more...] about So, You Want to Change the SBC?
Dr. Ergun Caner Has Resigned at Brewton-Parker College
Dr. Caner has announced his resignation. I will copy the text of both his resignation letter below and the resolution of the trustees of the college, from Peter Lumpkin's press release. ***************** In an early morning meeting with the full trustee board of Brewton-Parker College, Dr. Ergun Caner briefly addressed the packed room informing them he was stepping down as their sixteenth president. Below is the prepared statement as Dr. Caner presented it: STATEMENT: I have asked for the unusual privilege of calling together the Board of Trustees this morning, before the committees … [Read more...] about Dr. Ergun Caner Has Resigned at Brewton-Parker College
The SBC, Leadership, and Criticism
On the nearly interminable red-eye flight from Dakar, Senegal to Dulles yesterday, I watched the movie Invictus to pass the time. It is the story of Nelson Mandela, the Springbok Rugby team of South Africa, and the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1990, Mandela was released from prison and then elected president in 1994. While there has been much debate about Mandela's activities prior to his arrest and imprisonment, his tenure as president of the country was remarkable. While attending a rugby match against England, he realized that the black South … [Read more...] about The SBC, Leadership, and Criticism
Read the Bible and Do What It Says
I've been hanging out with Koulandiso Tendeng this week (you know him as Dave Miller) in Africa. We've spent the week together sharing the gospel and trying to plant churches. I've got to die someday: I really hope I die someday doing something like this rather than playing Bejeweled Blitz. It scares me sometimes to stand at the headwaters of what I hope will be a family of enduring churches. To try to insulate them from my mistakes, I often tell them, "We just want you to read God's Word and do what it tells you to do." Sounds so easy, right? But can we all be honest enough to admit … [Read more...] about Read the Bible and Do What It Says
The Good Life: Gatherings
In the last week our family has had a handful of family or friends gatherings that we have been invited to and each one has been enjoyable for all involved. Quite often these days the gatherings are birthday parties for relatives and close friends. When you have smaller children, and in the case of my family and many of my friends an increasing number of smaller children, you are invited to lots of birthday parties. It’s funny how kids are perceived to rob you of a social life, but with all the reproduction in my circle of family and friends I feel I’m with friends more than I have been since … [Read more...] about The Good Life: Gatherings
When God laughs (a devotion)
17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.” ~ Genesis 17:17-19 The Bible calls Abraham “the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11), based on the fact that when God promised him descendants as numerous as … [Read more...] about When God laughs (a devotion)
A Baptist’s Bookshelf: A review of a recent commentary on Jonah
A Baptist minister’s bookshelf is sacred. It has weathered and worn classics, passed down or purchased secondhand because of their timeless value to preachers he has known. It has old books that he purchased in his seminary days. It has new books based on authors’ or publishers’ reputations, a particular subject covered, or just plain curiosity on the preacher’s part. The oldest book (not a reprint) in my growing collection is Thoughts on Religious Experience by Archibald Alexander, printed in 1844. I have a set of Broadman and Holman commentaries from my grandfather. I’m adding new books … [Read more...] about A Baptist’s Bookshelf: A review of a recent commentary on Jonah
What keeps me in the church?
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ~ Ephesians 4:1-3 There’s been an article making its rounds on my Facebook wall about why certain people feel disenfranchised and are leaving the church. I don’t want to deal with the article itself, but I want to consider something in its background and I want to do it from the angle: what keeps me ‘in’ the church?[1] This may … [Read more...] about What keeps me in the church?
Racial Reconciliation: Why Most Whites Just Don’t Get it (Ken Hamrick)
There's something insincere about any repentant admission that says, "Yes, I'm guilty---and so are you." I do not admit to being a racist, and neither do I think most Americans---white or otherwise---are. Many are racists, but most---or even, all? Contrary to the popular Evangelical party line these days, that cannot be established. It is not enough to point out that racism is sin, and as such, it comes from the fall of man, which affects us all. All are sinners, but not all are racists. Some good Christian black leader, whose article I've since lost track of, has explained that black … [Read more...] about Racial Reconciliation: Why Most Whites Just Don’t Get it (Ken Hamrick)
Stop being so weird (Tony Jones)
Tony Jones is pastor at the First Baptist Church of Rich Hill, MO. He blogs at http://thespiritualwoodshed.com/. I attended a conference a few months ago and one of the speakers said, “We need to quit being so weird.” The remark, to be fair, sounded like a throw away line, but there was a glint of truth behind it. The speaker never did define what he considered weird (he did give one situational example) and I was left pondering the meaning of the word weird and what it had to do with Christianity. We have been told to look different than the culture. It’s even biblical in Romans 12, … [Read more...] about Stop being so weird (Tony Jones)