God saves a wide variety of people from a wide variety of backgrounds. He then places in us his Holy Spirit to guide us in the process of becoming like Christ and preparing us for eternal glory. One day, all who have truly repented of their sins and trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord will […]
How Rick Warren changed my opinion of Rick Warren
I have read and heard about Rick Warren as much as most of you have. I have read the Purpose Drive Life, The Purpose Driven Church, done The 40 Days of Purpose, see Celebrate Recovery, I have Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods and we use the 101-401 material. I am familiar with Rick Warren, and […]
If King David Blogged In Our World
King David wakes up from his royal slumber. The dreary-eyed David checks his email. 14 new messages. After deleting all of the male enhancement products, requests from Nigerian princes, and chain letters about loving Jesus and America Israel he reads this gem: —– Subject: You Stink! Dearest King David, I heartily disagree with your theology. RANT, […]
SPLINTERED! Can Anything Stop the Fall of the SBC?
When a great tree splinters, it loses the strength to stand and eventually it crashes to the ground. Is that the future of the Southern Baptist Convention? There can be little doubt that the SBC is splintering. In a Baptist Press article yesterday, Gary D. Myers referenced a series of articles by Steve Lemke, the […]
Joy… a struggle, a hope, and what I learned from a piece of chocolate
Confession of the day—I tend to be a natural cynic and a pessimist. Okay, that’s really not a confession to those who know me. Once when I worked as an administrator at a private school I ate a Dove chocolate and found an “inspirational” message I actually enjoyed—“A pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.” […]
The Other Guy’s Church Plant
Stay in missions long enough and you’ll hear the stories, accounts of faraway events. Somewhere, a missionary has discovered the Grail, the Promised Land, and the Ark of the Covenant all rolled into one. Yes: it’s a church planting movement. I’ve been working in missions for about 10 years. I’ve seen the work in 5 […]
Where Would We Be Without Doubt?
(NOTE: This post is taken from a chapter in my book, Surviving Sexual Brokenness: What Grace Can Do. With all the major events of recent days, this just seemed like an appropriate time to share it.) Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup uncertain in asking for any small drop […]
Bin Laden, Eternity, and Why I’m not in Charge
By now, most of you have heard the news that the US Military has killed Osama bin Laden. His identity was verified, and then he was “buried at sea” in accordance with Islamic tradition. First, I’ve got a confession to make. I have not been diligent in his case to honor Matthew 5:44 and pray […]
Why Adults & Children Should NOT “Ask Jesus Into Their Hearts”
This article was originally posted at my site. Only some of my articles are posted on SBC Voices. If you would like access to all of my articles, you can follow my feed here. You can also connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. I can remember as a young boy whenever I was told to “ask Jesus into […]
Cooperative Program Confusion (by William Thornton)
(William Thornton, the SBC Plodder, shares another of his articles with us.) Our wonderful CP, an eminently sensible concept, is shrinking and churches have dropped from over ten percent to the CP to around six. One complaint about the CP is that state conventions keep too much of each CP dollar. SBC Executive Committee statistics […]
Let us not dance on his grave (by Micah Fries)
(Micah Fries, pastor of Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Joseph, MO, blogs at MicahFries.com.) Osama Bin Laden is dead. After a decade of reining as the most well known face of terror and depravity, Bin Laden will no longer have the privilege of presiding over a culture of terror. As a result of his death, […]
The Church Shines Brightest in the Darkest Night
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and laid waste to the area. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, I went on mission trips to the area with my church and its youth group. We went to Pascagoula, MS; Bay St. Louis, MS; and then to New Orleans itself. In 2007, I […]