SBC Voices

Here are ten stories from Church History that I tend to use in my ministry as the pastor of a local church. They are not listed in any particular order: Monica of Hippo and Her Son Augustine: Augustine was a little hellion. He grew up to be a big hellion. His mother, the pious Monica, despaired of seeing his redemption from a life of squalor and dissipation. She was tempted to throw in the towel until her pastor told her, "Woman, the child of so many tears shall never perish." I don't know that this is always true, but it proved to be true in the life of Augustine, who was converted and … [Read more...] about Useful Church History

The inquisitive lads look at me like a little dog when he knows you are getting ready to drop treats in his bowl. I’m so happy that they are this hungry. We’re learning how to study the Bible better and they are soaking it up. “Jesus is the hero of every text”, I inform them. Then I go about showing how this is the case and how to find Jesus in texts of the Old Testament. Then one of our guys goes home and decides he wants to apply what he has been learning to 1 Chronicles 16:4-7: Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to … [Read more...] about Is Jesus Really the Hero of Every Text?

I blame my parents, really, for all my troubles. Mom had hearing so perfect she could hear paint dry.  Dad couldn't hear a low-yield nuclear weapon.  My sister took after Mom, and I - naturally - followed in my father's ever-silencing footsteps.  A huge schnoz, blue eyes, and hearing loss are my primary paternal genetic hand-me-downs.  Our mutual hearing loss was slowly progressive, making communication slightly harder as the years rolled by.  No big deal for me, really; I can't recall a time when Mom didn't tell people that I had "a little trouble hearing." As little boys are wont to … [Read more...] about Too Much of a Good Thing

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). This post was originally published at his site on Thursday,  January 23. 41 years ago yesterday, nine black-robed justices handed down a decision that would forever change the moral landscape of the United States.  Since that time, more than 55 million human beings created in God's image and likeness have been murdered within the confines of their mother's wombs. Is that too strong a statement?  Is it too negative a … [Read more...] about Lies, Murder, and Roe: 41 years of Satanic Influence (By Joel Rainey)

For the past month or so I’ve been slowly reading Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry. It’s a fascinating look at how LEGO nearly went under about a decade ago, but righted the ship when they returned to what made LEGO unique. It’s an engaging story and one that I believe has many lessons for the Church. In the 1990’s LEGO responded to a rapidly changing toy market by pursuing innovation in a number of areas. In essence they got away from the brick (the thing that makes LEGO unique) and it almost killed them: The company was trying … [Read more...] about Does Christian Blogging Rend the Bride of Christ?

I have been in vocational ministry most of my "career", but I am not currently.  I have served on staff in 4 churches, worked for an Association, served as a NAMB appointed missionary twice, have a degree from Golden Gate, and lately I am wondering if I'll ever be back in vocational ministry.  The abrupt exit from my last experience has done some significant damage, and my wife is not real excited about me putting my head back on the chopping block so to speak.  I have some scars and wounds, but I sometimes. . . . often look at SBC job boards.  I feel called, I can't help it, I long to serve … [Read more...] about Will Preach for Food

After we turned not one but two comment streams a little on the silly side, let's just go ahead and do this. Preachers are known for bad jokes, cheap puns, and other humour tactics. So, let's share a few here. Note: this is about taking a minute and laughing at the truly funny. Save all comments regarding SBC policies, American politics, and anything else serious for some other time and place. Also, ask yourself this question: does Jesus laugh at other people? Humor that mocks ethnicity, disability, or gender has no place in your laugh line, so leave it out. Additionally, if you know a … [Read more...] about Open Mic Night: Share the Punny

For the next few months, I am preaching through James. The book of James sets an agenda for the church for how we might live as the people of God. James focuses his letter on the outward signs of faith that reflect the inward change that has taken place in the life of a believer. For James, faith is a “lived out” faith, demonstrated by what we say, what we do, and how we live. As I reflect on the teaching of James, I am asking questions about how this 3-fold focus applies to fulfilling the mission God has given us and our churches. Let us consider, then, how we might renew our faithfulness to … [Read more...] about Outward Signs of an Inward Change

What is the foundation, the cornerstone of church discipleship programs? I realize that a lot of folks, especially some of my good friends, are not going to agree with this old fogey's take on this. The church has a lot of discipleship programs today - Sunday School, small groups, short-term studies, how-to classes. All of them have their effect and impact. But in my 32 years of ministry, I have come to believe that there is a specific discipleship program that is the ground of truly effective discipleship. The impact of the other programs is magnified if this discipleship program is … [Read more...] about Biblical Exposition: The Foundation of Effective Discipleship