SBC Voices

I ignore thousands of people every day. And you probably do too. As I’m typing this article my social media feeds are still rolling. People are still tweeting, liking, linking, and carrying on conversations. I’ll ignore 99% of it. You will too, because we live in a culture of dismissal. This is why we are told that if you want to get noticed online then you’ve got to stand out. The worst thing that can happen to a writer, like myself, is to be ignored. You can write the best piece in the history of writing but if nobody reads it, then you really haven’t done much. The old acronym is … [Read more...] about The Need For A Decision

Most awkward pastoral moment: When I'm pressed to identify my favorite verse in the Bible Sometimes it happens because a fifth-grader asks when I visit his Sunday School class. Sometimes it happens when I'm supposed to inscribe a gift Bible for one of our first-graders. Sometimes it happens in dialogue with a men's Bible study. "Pastor, which is your favorite verse of the Bible?" So, here's the awkward truth I face in those moments: I don't have one. Truly, I do not have a favorite Bible verse. I never have. It's not that I came to the reasoned position that I shouldn't have one; it's … [Read more...] about Favorite Verses

There is so much NOT to like about the new "Left Behind" movie starring Nicholas Cage. Of course, first among them is the theological framework from which the movie springs. In our current SBC world, most reject premillennial, pretribulational eschatology. Many disdain it, quite a few ridicule it and some have labelled it a heresy. Obviously, those folks are not going to like the movie. That's not my quarrel with the movie. Even from a pre-trib viewpoint, there are some nits to be picked about the movie. I'd like to share a few of the things I found most troubling or confusing about this … [Read more...] about One Good Lesson from “Left Behind”

Paul Thompson blogs at "The Bridge."  Today (October9, 2014) at 5 p.m., mountain time, we will know what the courts will say in regard to Idaho’s defense of marriage. In the mean time I’ve received messages like this in response to my calling the church (Eastside Baptist) to prayer. “OK, well in my place of worship my pastor fully supports gay rights. I’m a bisexual Christian I married a man when I was 19 and that man cheated on me and divorced me and with man or woman I’m happy and God is happy to call me his child and is proud that I spread love throughout the state.. So keep your rude … [Read more...] about When Those Who Preach Don’t Know God (Paul Thompson)

Every morning, as I scan through over a hundred articles on Feedly, almost without fail there will be an article or two that has something to do with doubt. (I’ve even written a few myself). These are gritty and honest recollections of a not so smooth relationship with the living God. Some of them are more hopeful than the others—but at the end of the day the message is about the same, “We’ve all got doubts, man, it’s cool if you have them too”. If a thing like blogging existed some 40 years ago I doubt our feed readers would be filled with articles about doubt. Doubt wasn’t cool. It was … [Read more...] about Doubt: A Sexy Virtue

William Thornton is the SBC Plodder. The SBC Executive Committee has closed the books on the fiscal year 2013-2014 and Baptist Press reports that "The Southern Baptist Convention ended its fiscal year 0.76% below last year's contributions and missed its Cooperative Program allocation budgeted projection of $191.5 million by 2.58%..." Here are the relevant figures as compared to the last fiscal year. These are for monies received by the SBC Executive Committee for distribution to the SBC entities IMB, NAMB, the seminaries, ERLC, and EC itself. The figures, in millions of dollars, do not … [Read more...] about Designated giving UP; Cooperative Program giving DOWN for 2013-2014 (William Thornton)

It doesn't make sense how much I love Rich Mullins. I am, probably—for the preponderance of our population in the way that they use the word—a fundamentalist. No, the folks over in the Independent, Fundamental Baptist world certainly wouldn't call me a fundamentalist, and I admit that the word is used probably with too much variance in meaning for it to be helpful. I don't introduce myself to people by saying, "Hi. I'm Bart Barber. I'm a fundamentalist." Dave Miller introduces me to people that way, but I don't introduce myself that way. But what's important for this post is simply this: … [Read more...] about A Ragamuffin Fundamentalist

 Luke Holmes blogs at "A Copernican Revolution"  and is pastor of First Baptist Church of Tishomingo, OK.  “Mr. President, Mr. President!” Three voices spoke almost as one. “Mr. President, do I have the floor?” The president’s gavel hammered vigorously. “The Chair recognizes Brother Stealey.” “Mr. President, we must settle this evolution issue at once,” Clarence Stealey said. “Let the messengers to this annual session of the Southern Baptist Convention vote now. It’s the most pressing matter before us in 1925. Brother Burts’s money report can come later.” “Mr. President!” shouted … [Read more...] about Overlooking the Cooperative Program (Luke Holmes)

Steven Schenewerk is pastor of Winston's Community Baptist Church in Winston, Oregon. He blogs at WCBCpastor's Blog.  I have seen countless articles encouraging young adults to consider serving urban poor populations. That is wonderful. But what I haven’t seen are many articles or encouragements for young adults to consider serving rural poor. Serving in a rural, poor community certainly is not glamorous and it is certainly not economically advantageous. However, there are several reasons I believe we need to encourage young college and seminary students to consider serving in rural … [Read more...] about A Call to Rural Communities (Steven Schenewerk)