In their latest article on abuse in the SBC the Houston Chronicle and their reporters John Tedesco and Robert Downen do a good job drilling down into details that are seldom touched on by secular reporters. Southern Baptist Convention claims no control over local churches. But new rules, lawsuit may test that argument [You might […]
CP slightly up, IMB funding probably down, and what’s all this about immediate baptism?
With one month to go on the Executive Committee’s fiscal year, it’s good to see that the national CP receipts are running about one million ahead of the same period last year. That’s only about one half of one percent but up is up. This is the national portion of the CP. It remains to […]
Does God Love Florida More than the Bahamas?
It has been a weird week. I headed down to Florida planning to do some painting, yard work, and general handyman stuff on my parents’ home and as we headed down the specter of a tropical storm named Dorian was raised. At first, it looked like it might be a minor hurricane but it began […]
Brother, lay Spurgeon aside and quote Whittier…
I get, brethren and sistren, that my day has passed. No one preaches sermons with three points and a poem anymore but literature and poetry are a pretty good source of material for sermons. Way back in the day, I had a set of Spurgeon’s sermons and would occasionally sally forth into them and, um, […]
Prayers for IMB September 4, 2019
Good morning. I trust everyone is having a good week. Here are some prayer requests from our IMB Team in Japan, and some from our teams in Europe as well. There are more requests at Prayers for IMB Thank you for lifting up our missionaries in prayer. Pray for the 2 Korean Hands-on student volunteers as […]
Not to belabor Labor Day but…
Best Labor Day sermon: “How to be a Christian at Work” by Adrian Rogers. Four point outline: Don’t Brag, Don’t Sag, Don’t Lag, Don’t Nag. Best rhyming, alliterative outline ever. Nah, I don’t recall the text. You can start with the title and outline and then find a text, huh? You’ve got 364 days to […]
Prayers for IMB September 2, 2019
I have a couple of lists of requests today. The post is a little longer than usual, but our missionaries always need our prayers, and I don’t like to leave out any requests. I have eve more over listed over at Prayers for IMB so click over there and take some spend some extra time this […]
Are you feeling called to (the other) Des Moines?
Did you know that the SBC website has church job listings throughout the country? Some of those vacancies could use a little extra advertising, so I’ve taken it upon myself to highlight one every once in a while (with a little humor mixed in). The First Baptist Church of Des Moines is looking for their […]
What’s up with this #FillTheTank Challenge from President Greear?
On August 12th our SBC President, JD Greear issued a challenge to our convention of churches. Although the genesis of this emphasis is nothing new to old-school SBC’ers, this renewed initiative might be new to the younger guys and gals involved in our cooperative effort. No doubt, from the time Adam skinned his first rabbit […]
This is NO Way to Welcome a Guest
As I mentioned in my last post, I am in Florida working my mom and dad’s home. Today, I fixed up a bathroom and did a little puttering around the place. Nothing major. Then, about noon, my sister called. She lives about 45 minutes south of here in northern Palm Beach County and she’d been […]
Autonomy is still in the driver’s seat re: SBC clergy/church abuse
The preferred solution to any problem in the SBC, our 174 year-old convention of churches, is to create a high-profile national conference, program, or plan. In a way, that is the best solution available, since of the 47,456 SBC churches counted in the latest statistical report, every single one of them is an autonomous, independent […]
On the Downhill Run
I remember having a light-hearted discussion with a lady during my first ministry as a youth pastor in Tequesta, Florida. She was chiding me about something and I was pleading my youth and inexperience as an excuse. I remember her words. “Pretty soon, that excuse will no longer fly.” I am in a plane right […]