SBC Voices

I’m convinced that some of the worst sermons that I’ve preached were terrible because I became a slave of alliteration. I used alliteration because I wanted people to remember the points of the sermon. But, here is where I went south—in order to make three points that all start with the letter P, I slightly altered the general thrust of the text. They might have remembered the three P’s but sadly the intention of the original author was lost.  The same thing has happened with the acronym TULIP. When someone goes to discuss the doctrines of grace the discussion inevitably centers around the … [Read more...] about Review of PROOF by Timothy Paul Jones and Daniel Montgomery

William Thornton is the SBC Plodder. Here are the two main choices SBC churches have in regard to the Cooperative Program: Give to it through the regular state convention channel or not give to it. Almost all churches give to the Cooperative Program. In fact, and despite the incessant lamentation over the declining percentages given to the CP, the average church gives 5.5% of its undesignated offerings to the CP. While this may be about half of the percentage of a generation ago, it still is a mammoth common funding plan that generates almost half a billion dollars to our ministries. If we … [Read more...] about Is there a realistic “Third Way” Cooperative Program alternative? (by William Thornton)

Joel Rainey is the Director of Missions at Mid-Maryland Baptist Association, an adjunct professor at Capital Bible Seminary and blogs at Themelios (Twitter - @joelrainey).  Nearly six years after a near economic collapse, our nation continues to limp toward what has proven to be, at best, an anemic economic recovery.  Its truly scary out there, and over the past three years, I've watched as the people in the churches I serve have lost their livelihoods, homes, and hope. I've also had a front row seat to the effect of these realities on the churches themselves. Over the past several months, … [Read more...] about Tightening Your Belt With a Purpose: How to Budget During Tough Financial Times (by Joel Rainey)

In my pre-Convention post, I laid out my personal plan for this year’s Convention. I wrote my post before because I wanted to move past a non-specific, general call for unity and offer some practical, event-specific application for the average messenger like me. Well, no one in Baltimore asked me how I was doing on my plan, but one person did remark that they were glad to see I was actually doing what I suggested rather than merely writing about it. For the most part, I count my experiment as a success. Here is my self-evaluation of my Baltimore experiment. 1. Be a good listener.  This … [Read more...] about My “personal plan” for SBC14: A self-assessment

The idea of following Jesus certainly involves more than just the way that you spend an hour of your time on Sunday mornings. For most Christians, it will involve working as a Christian in some sort of a secular enterprise. Doing so raises some difficult ethical questions. I know the feeling first-hand. I spent my high-school years working for a business that my father had started. Ashley Lighting manufactures lamps for hotels to place in their guest rooms. That lamp beside your bed in that Residence Inn? It's possible that I wired it up with my own two hands. Small family businesses are … [Read more...] about On Christian Businesses: A Friendly Rebuttal to Jonathan Merritt

Awhile back I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a couple of Mormon missionaries. They explained to me the way that Joseph Smith received the Book of Mormon. Here was a bit of my response. “So…let me get this straight. Joseph Smith saw these golden plates. And he was permitted to read them. But nobody else was with him…” They corrected me and informed me that one other fella was with him and saw some of it, but later denied the whole thing. (If I’m getting some of my Mormon history incorrect please forgive me, I’m only going by what these two chaps told me). “Okay then, so … [Read more...] about Is Your Faith Like That of a Mormon?