SBC Voices

I mentioned in a post a few days back that I am looking to "reboot" SBC Voices. You may still see some of the old guard and familiar names writing from time to time (they are always welcome), but most of them kinda got burned out on the SBC Wars of the last few years and have little interest in re-engaging in those kinds of battles. I would like to restart SBC Voices more along the lines of my original vision. I'd like the site to be a place where Southern Baptists can come to interact about their convictions, ideas, and opinions on a wide variety of matters that affect them. I am going to … [Read more...] about Are You Interested in Writing for SBC Voices?

In this two-part series, I hope to point out how the Southern Baptist Convention has changed during my lifetime. I’m 75 years old, and I’m a lifelong Southern Baptist. My father was a Southern Baptist pastor, so I’ve been attending SBC churches since before I was born. Now, I’m not suggesting that all the changes I’ll mention are negative. No, many of the changes were needed, and some were inevitable. Still, they are observable changes from 1955 until 2025. This first installment will discuss diversity in the SBC, and Part 2 will list other changes that I’ve observed. My wife and I are … [Read more...] about This Is Not Your Grandfather’s SBC, part 1

I almost died in October. I didn't realize exactly how bad it was, but that's what my cardiologist told me about 10 days later. I returned from Africa on October 17 and thought I'd come down with the pneumonia that my grandkids and several others had. I woke up in the night with a terrible cough and tightness in my chest. Jenni was on her way home from a visit to our daughter in Cincinnati, so I was on my own. I thought about driving to the ER about 20 minutes away, but I waited. I got an appointment at the local clinic in the afternoon. I went in and confidently told the nice lady I'd … [Read more...] about What Does the Future Hold for SBC Voices?

I serve as the Wednesday evening Bible teacher at our church. We’ve studied Psalms this fall. This past Wednesday, I asked the folks to tell something they are thankful for. One woman said she is thankful to serve as an advocate/counselor for sexual abuse victims. A father told the group he’s thankful to see his children growing in their faith. Both of those impressed me. My little grandson, age four, attends the preschool at First Baptist Church of Keller, Texas. They did a Thanksgiving craft this week, and he said he was thankful for McDonalds. That made me smile, but I can testify that he … [Read more...] about The Great SBC Voices Thank-Off

Hymns played an important part in worship during my formative years. I’ve written here on Voices that my earliest memory of worship is standing beside my mother at the First Baptist Church of Fairfield, Texas, while the congregation sang, “Bringing in the Sheaves.” I thought they sang “bringing in the leaves,” and that seemed strange to me. Why would people bring in leaves? Still, hymns were the staple of congregational worship for several hundred years. Old timers like me grew up singing them, and we miss singing the familiar hymns of yesterday. I teach the old folks’ Sunday school class … [Read more...] about The Great SBC Voices Hymn Survey

This is Post 6 in Don Dent's "Finding Direction" Series Jesus told the disciples they were to proclaim Him to the whole world, including all the nations (Matt 24:14).  Paul took up that task and affirmed that Jesus died for all so that we would not live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose for us (2 Cor 5:15).  So, God’s intention, and our task, is to proclaim Jesus so the whole world can hear and believe. Since Pentecost, this primarily involves two missional structures – 1) the “sent ones” who go to other places/peoples to proclaim Christ where he is not known, and 2) the … [Read more...] about Movements to Christ (Don Dent)

I will admit that I watched not a single minute of last night's presidential debate. Still, to the moment I am writing this, I have not watched a single clip from the debate. So, as many of you have often suspected, I write from a place of complete ignorance. (Your joke here...) What I have done, though, is scour Twitter, Facebook, and other social media responses to see what people thought about the debate - that's more interesting than politicians. As is normal now, this is a razor-thin election, and as has always been the case for the last half-century, "the most important election of … [Read more...] about The Amazing Political Rorshach Debate Spectacle

Two weeks ago, we published a survey on preaching. One of our commenters, JND, suggested that we post a survey on Sunday School. So, here is your chance to express your opinions about Sunday School. In many denominations Sunday School is just a program for children; however, in the SBC we provide classes for all ages. Chuck Kelly in his book on evangelism in the SBC (How They Did It) posits that evangelism through the Sunday School was a key factor in the growth of the SBC. I certainly agree with that. Sadly, it seems fewer churches emphasize Sunday School these days, and fewer still use … [Read more...] about The SBC Voices Sunday School Survey

SBC Voices exists, in part, to provide a forum for folks to share their opinions. I thought it would be interesting to learn our readers’ opinions about preaching. I’m 75 years old, and I’ve been a Southern Baptist all my life. My father pastored SBC churches. So, I heard his sermons for many years. For about forty years I preached nearly every Sunday, but since I retired from missionary service, I’ve preached much less. In fact, last year I preached just once, and I’ll preach only once this year. That means I’ve transitioned from preaching to listening. For sure, I have opinions about … [Read more...] about The Great SBC Voices Preaching Survey