SBC Voices

The average tenure of a pastor isn't anything to brag about. It’s a little scary, actually. So I have put together some warning signs that you may want to watch for if you have have recently been hired at a church. If any of these are true of you, don’t throw your boxes away just yet. You may need them again real soon.. 1. They give you the keys to the buildings…and the lawnmower. I've mowed a lot of grass for the church. Nothing wrong with that. But if a church expects the pastor to do such jobs it could make for a tough ride. 2. You find out the new & exciting church the previous … [Read more...] about Signs You May Not Last Long

Do you have a Barnabas in your life?  You probably know that Barnabas means "son of encouragement".  Do you have someone who encourages you?  I sure hope so, because there are probably multiple people in your life who seek to do the opposite.  Well meaning people who will try to save you from failure, often who squash dreams without even knowing it. In the last few years, I have had a strong pull and desire to start a house church network in the city I live in.  There are multiple things that need to come together for this to happen, but I am pulled and drawn and compelled by this vision.  … [Read more...] about The Desperate Need for a Barnabas

The two cute kids sit on mommy and daddy’s record player and look out the window. The little girl smiles in wonder and raises her little finger up to the heavens. “Oh, look ‘Zay-ah it’s the sun! Isn’t it bootiful?” She then pecks him on the cheek and smiles. She’s so excited to see this beautiful sunset. Her brother…not so much. In fact, he lovingly but confidently proceeds to burst her little bubble. “Uhmmm…that’s not the sun,” he says in his big brother voice, “that’s a reflection of the light into the window”. She argues. He argues. Then he “turns off the sun” and proves his point. … [Read more...] about How Should You Respond When a Fellow Believer is Excited About Untruth?

Let me put my cards on the table first and let you know that I am the pastor of a small church that is also a young church, barely a year old. We have a large handful of people, meet in a back room of a preschool that recently had a jackhammer in the ground due to construction happening to expand the building. We have very few resources by American standards and operate during the week from my office at home. I build the worship guides and a church member makes it fit on a single piece of paper that looks nice and readable. Another members print it off from their own personal printer each … [Read more...] about Small Church Pastors’ Attitudes (by Job Dalomba)

There is an episode on the comedy sitcom The King of Queens, in which Carrie Heffernan is shunned from every nail salon in the neighborhood because of her poor attitude towards her manicurist. As it turns out, the nail salons are in cahoots with one another, and whenever she angrily leaves one they fax her picture to the others to make sure that no other salon has to unwittingly inherit her antagonistic behavior. This is a funny picture, to be sure, but I cannot help but sometimes wish that churches had a likeminded network when it comes to antagonistic church members. And by "antagonistic … [Read more...] about Three Ways I’ve Learned to Respond to Antagonists

In Part One, I explained that despite its worthy intentions, the One Percent Challenge does not satisfy the test of a specific and measurable goal, advocating that Southern Baptists pick a number high enough to meet our ministry obligations and promote it so our churches might measure themselves against it and determine if they are paying their fair share. I also dismissed the notion that setting such a true target (rather than a minor directional change) would in any way violate the autonomy of any local church. In Part Two, I separated Cooperative Program goals from leadership requirements … [Read more...] about Pick A Number and Fix the Cooperative Program, Part Three

The flood has subsided and Noah—not to be confused with Russell Crowe—becomes a man of the soil. As part of this he planted a vineyard and one day decided to enjoy the fruits of his labors. He got a bit tipsy and somehow wound up naked in his tent. The details of what happens next are sketchy. And that is actually the point. Moses, our author, does the exact opposite of Noah’s youngest son, Ham. Ham is not ashamed to look upon the nakedness of his father. In fact he goes and gets his two brothers–conceivably to bring them in on this shameful event. Ham exposes Noah. Moses doesn’t give us … [Read more...] about A Generation of Hams

In Part One, I explained that despite its worthy intentions, the One Percent Challenge does not satisfy the test of a specific and measurable goal, advocating that Southern Baptists pick a number high enough to meet our ministry obligations and promote it so our churches might measure themselves against it and determine if they are paying their fair share. I also dismissed the notion that setting such a true target (rather than a minor directional change) would in any way violate the autonomy of any local church. In Part Two, I separate Cooperative Program giving goals from leadership … [Read more...] about Pick a Number and Fix the Cooperative Program, Part Two of Three

Nathan Finn structures his essay on the Traditional Statement (TS) around two questions he puts to his “Traditionalist friends”: “What makes Traditionalists traditional?” and “Who are the New Calvinists and what have they done?” My final two posts in this series will attempt to answer those questions. Before I offer my response to the first question, let me make a few brief remarks about the answer Finn gives to it, which is, essentially: “There is nothing significantly ‘traditional’ about Traditionalists.” Finn’s argument against the name boils down to these two assertions: (1) Calvinism … [Read more...] about Response to Nathan Finn, Part 3: What Makes a Traditionalist Traditional? (by Eric Hankins)