SBC Voices

Alan Cross blogs at Downshore Drift. Preaching on the Ministry of the Spirit this Sunday for Pentecost and I picked up the massive and exhaustive God's Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul by Gordon D. Fee. He talks about a "Theology of the Spirit" and makes a great observation about how Paul did theology and how we are to similarly do theology each and every day in all circumstances. Sometimes, when we think about "theology" we think of learned academicians sitting in a dusty study pouring over obscure works and pontificating on things that do not really have relevance … [Read more...] about We Are All Doing Theology All The Time (by Alan Cross)

At its formation in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention was consecrated to the cause of "the propagation of the gospel." The convention existed to enable local churches to expand their common reach in the tasks of calling sinners to repentance and organizing new congregations of disciples. "We can do more together than we can do separately" is not just a Southern Baptist slogan; it is the Southern Baptist raison d'être. Dare I suggest that the health and value of the Southern Baptist Convention must be calculated along these same lines? Dare I opine further that the Southern Baptist … [Read more...] about For the Propagation of the Gospel

I've been in fulltime Christian ministry for over 30 years. I've had some good times. I've also had some moments when I stood there looking like a complete idiot. I've done some dumb things. I will bet that you have as well, if you are willing to admit it. So, tell us your story. What was your most embarrassing moment as a minister? Rules: 1) It has to be true. 2) It has to be embarrassing to you. Don't tell stories that will embarrass another. This is confession time, guys. 3) Try to maintain some small measure of good taste. I will start the ball rolling with two stories - … [Read more...] about Embarrassing Moments in Ministry

A link came across my Facebook page today to a scathing article written by one of the Reformed watchbloggers lambasting Mark Driscoll for a video he did at his "Resurgence" conference this year. So, I watched the 21 minute video. It was typical Driscoll - everything some love and others hate about him. He made a lot of sense and his tone was often cloying at the same time. I will put a link to the video below, so you can watch it if you wish. WARNING: I'm talking about Driscoll just to set up the post today. This is NOT about him and comments that are made about him - pro or con - will be put … [Read more...] about Tribalism and the SBC

This is the last straw! Did you hear that the Obama Administration is trying to pass legislation to prevent Christians from owning a Bible without also owning a Quran? It’s true. I saw it on Facebook. On the same page I saw proof that President Obama is really a Muslim terrorist. Guys we really need to take back our government from these liberal nuts. We need God back in the White House. So write your senator today and tell them “Quran? We don’t need no stinkin’ Quran!” --- The above snippet has never actually appeared on Facebook, but it might as well have. Every week there is … [Read more...] about The Little Church that Cried Wolf

I have been a life long Southern Baptist, and have heard my whole life about how simple and easy Salvation is. A decision, a quick prayer and the deed is done. You get dunked later on and you get to eat the cracker and drink grape juice from a little thimble looking cup. It's easy and simple, yet as I look at the words of Jesus, I see some things that scare me, some things that make me think we are doing things the wrong way. In Luke 9, Jesus shares the cost of being a follower, He said that "no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (vs 62). Jesus … [Read more...] about Salvation Isn’t Easy

A couple years ago I was dealing with a bout of deep discouragement. Actually that’s the sanitized wording for it. The more accurate description would be “wounded pride”. I had been working my tail off in blogging and writing and I was still barely getting traffic. I whined to my wife. “I don’t think anybody is even reading my stuff. Is it even worth my time and effort?” Those are good questions to ask. But my wife knows me and she knows my passion for writing. She knew that this was not a reasoned assessment of whether or not my time was being wasted on writing. She was able to see … [Read more...] about Blogging Wisdom From My Wife

If any man on earth deserves the death penalty, it is convicted murderer "Dr." (I put that in parentheses for a reason) Kermit Gosnell. He murdered babies born alive after failed abortions in the most gruesome and heinous way. Critics of the death penalty say that violence begets violence, that state sanctioned killing is no better than the atrocities perpetrated by Dr. Gosnell That is not true according to scripture. Both the OT and the NT approve of the death penalty when administered justly by the government. It can be argued that the death penalty in America is anything but just - … [Read more...] about Dr. Gosnell’s Guilt, the Death Penalty, and Justice

The SBC Annual meeting in Houston seems destined to be one of the less confrontational in recent history. There is no GCR Report to debate, no Traditionalist document recently released to stir up passions, no major kerfuffles, no intense race for office as yet. It looks to be a peaceful time. But looks can be deceiving. I've gone into business meetings thinking there was nothing of significance that could spark a debate and left the meeting an hour later feeling like I'd been hit by a hurricane. When Baptists gather for business meetings there is an unpredictable volatility attached. … [Read more...] about Musings on Houston