SBC Voices

The following video is from a non-SBC church service on May 22, 2022, recorded on Facebook Live. Evidently, the church cut its live feed when this took place. While it is not an SBC church, the 14 minutes or so seem to be a parable illustrating all that has gone on in the SBC World during the sexual abuse scandal. (if the link doesn't pop up immediately - it works for me - try this hyperlink) (I retried this video in a different format - hopefully this will work better). Consider the following: 1. The abusive pastor minimized his sin while confessing.  After the service, … [Read more...] about A Real-life #SBCtoo Parable

I was at the convention in 1995 when we came face to face with the grievous sin we'd committed for 140 years, a sin that was at the root of the founding of our convention - racism. We stood as one to recognize this sin, to admit that slavery, segregation, racism, and white supremacy which had been such a part of the SBC since the days of its Founders were evil, a wickedness that shamed the name of Christ, hindered the Gospel, and had no place in the life of a community of believers. We did the only thing that we could do when such sin is realized. We repented. It is an argument for another day … [Read more...] about There’s Only One Thing We Can Do

I am the son of a Baptist pastor who faithfully preached God's word until health problems robbed him of the ability to do so. He still studied his Bible and prayed through the night for his kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and a long list of other spiritual issues. To the best of my knowledge, he died having been faithful to one wife and been a godly leader at every church that called him to preach. When I read the Houston Chronicle's reports a few years back, I was sickened. I make no claim to being above sin - I know that I am a man of flesh and blood. Still, having been raised in the … [Read more...] about Can You Feel the Tremors in the SBC World?

This is shaping up to be a momentous weekend in Southern Baptist life. On Sunday, at 4 PM Eastern, the Sexual Abuse Task Force will be releasing its report and all indications are that the effects will be nuclear. There are reports that the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe vs. Wade may be released on Monday and that eruption will make Mount St. Helens look like a firecracker. I am on vacation in Virginia with family and have been sent into isolation because of a COVID infection, so I have time to share my opinions on some of these matters. I know you have been on pins and needles, waiting … [Read more...] about On Roe v. Wade and the SBC

...and it's a well-deserved, well-aimed roundhouse kick against remote voting. For the umpteenth time, the Executive Committee had a motion referral that asked for an examination and approval of a form of remote voting for the SBC Annual Meeting. Yawn, here we go again. You have to register and be approved as a messenger, receive your ballots to be optically scanned (a technology at least as old as I am), get your physical self into the convention hall at the time a vote is taken, cast your paper ballot and await the results. No phone votes. No votes from the hallways. No proxy votes. … [Read more...] about Remote voting for the SBC Annual Meeting gets yet another kick in the teeth…

If you want to see autonomy in action, look at all the footnotes from the 2021 Annual Church Profile. The ACP is collected by the state conventions, 41 of them. Fully ten states don't collect some of the data and the vocabulary and terms  used for some categories differs. No big deal but each of the state conventions is autonomous and doesn't have to do what LifeWay asks. The states could collect data on left-handed clergy if they wished, not a bad idea. And no church has to give all data or any data. Carol Pipes has an informative story on the 2021 ACP here. Generally, all statistics … [Read more...] about 2021 SBC data is out; round up the usual suspects but note a few quirky things