SBC Voices

I have heard lots and lots of churches say that church is more than just Sunday morning.  I have said it, others have said it, it's been blogged, tweeted, facebooked, preached, and taught.  We agree, church is more than just Sunday morning worship service, right?  So why do we do everything on Sunday Morning during the worship service? Let's take Rick Warren's five purposes, it's a pretty established and a good place to start.  If we say that we exist to fellowship, worship, evangelize, disciple and do ministry, we should be doing those things in every day life, together as the church.  We … [Read more...] about All The Eggs, One Basket

It was at an evangelism conference when it happened. Some of the nation’s top evangelists were preaching. Most of them directors of nationally renowned ministries or pastors of mega churches. And they didn’t inherit these ministries. They built them from the ground up. They took their churches, as their introductions said, from 100 to 1,000-plus people. Most of them overnight. It was a typical conference. Another evangelist was preaching, one whose sermon induced “amens” from all over the building. Then, it happened. It was a statement that turned a nasty corner. Sure, it received dozens of … [Read more...] about The Gospel is for Christina ‘Uguliera’

After the first round of our SBC Voices NCAA Baptist Bloggers Tournament, there has only been one thing proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. We have no business in the business of picking NCAA brackets. I had a brutal day yesterday, missing on nearly half of the games. If Baptist bloggers were the sports experts we would like to think we are, I'd be down there in Paul Thompson territory (sorry, man, but you know its true!). In my other bracket challenge, I am squarely in LAST PLACE, where I deserve to be. But in the Bloggers challenge, I'm only 20 points out of FIRST PLACE! I've made … [Read more...] about Brothers, We Are Not Prognosticators

Thomas Magers is the pastor of Tiplersville Baptist Church in Tiplersville, MS and is a student at NOBTS.            Physics is the study of the physical world. In studying the physical sciences, a student learns about the law of conservation. The law of conservation applies to many different areas. Some of the areas are energy, momentum, mass, and electrical charge. The law about conservation of mass posits that matter cannot be created or destroyed.[1] For instance, burned wood is not destroyed completely; it has gone through a process of change resulting in ash and gasses.             … [Read more...] about God’s Attributes In/Through Us (by Thomas Magers II)

It’s Monday morning. I’m at my desk. And the clock reads 9:00 AM. Designated writing time. I read through a few articles, a few books, I look through some of the random ideas that I’ve had throughout the week. And I start to work on one of them. And then she whacks me in the back of the head. The Muse. The goddess of inspiration. Articles don’t normally flow this freely. And this is going to be a good one. I’ll likely win an award for most traffic generated by one blog post. Digits will drop off my Alexa rank. Newspapers will call. I might even get a letter from the President. And so I … [Read more...] about A Blogger’s Temptation

…why do we kick people? In the auditorium of my church’s main building, there is a side door in which you can enter, walk down a slightly curved aisle that cuts in front of the stage, and come to another side door to a storage room. In the midst of your journey, you pass by a table used to house the Lord’s Supper and other items. Unless you are just not paying attention, you step around this table. And why? Because running in to it would hurt. In fact, when you first step into the auditorium, if your eyes are open, you see the table and your brain instinctively begins to calculate … [Read more...] about We don’t kick tables, so…

I have been reading a book about a group in Evangelical Christianity, and the author points out the failures of many of the pastors and leaders, and explains how they are disqualified for ministry because of their indiscretions.  While reading this book, I saw the post from Driscoll and some of his past actions.  These things together have me thinking about how we disqualify pastors.  We look to 1 Timothy 3:1-7 as our guide, but I wonder if we really take it that seriously, or more camp on the things we think are heinous in our own eyes. In the book I'm reading, the sins that are committed … [Read more...] about The Disqualifier

“We all live in a yellow submarine”…the alarm clock jolts Tom out of bed. He enjoys his morning bowl of Raisin Bran, then takes a shower, shaves his stubble, brushes his teeth, and puts on his suit. He polishes his shoes, straightens his tie, displays his pearly whites for his mirror’s approval, shoves his money clip in his pocket and leaves for an important meeting. The next block down, the screeching brakes of a commuter bus wakes Jim from his slumber. He whacks his newspaper blanket and digs his hand into an empty pocket. His empty stomach growls at him–rebuking him for spending his last … [Read more...] about Why Christian Growth Is More Than Just a Realization that Jesus Christ Is Our Righteousness

Okay, no, there's no billion dollars here. Just the right to claim the title of SBC Voices' resident basketball expert. Andy Hynes claimed the title last year and he says he is unbeatable this year (well, okay, I made that up). You are welcome to join our March Madness NCAA bracket challenge at ESPN. Your bracket is locked as of the start of the first game Thursday. Here is the link to the page where you can sign up.  Click the "join group" button. Our group name is SBCVoicesBB and the password is a highly secure "sbcvoices" to keep out the liberals! It's pretty simple. Even an old fogey … [Read more...] about So You Think You’ve Got Game? Join the 2014 SBC Voices Billion Dollar NCAA Bracket Challenge!

I don't have time to write anything today (well, not this AM anyway) and my usually prolific team of writers are evidently busy with lesser things like ministry and family and such. So, I cruised the archives. This was originally posted on June 30. 2011. I'm doing a few small edits, but this is a reprint. I'd call it the "Best of Dave" but I think that might be trademarked and is a value judgment that is not mine to make! I am now in my ninth year of blogging - in blogger years that is ancient.  I have been involved in discussions of baptism and private prayer language, opined on the Wade … [Read more...] about The Baptist Blogger’s Code: Ten Rules* for Blogging (*Well, more like guidelines than actual rules)