SBC Voices

It's guaranteed. If you don't hold the interest of your congregants while preaching, not a few of them will focus on odd things about you - your tie choice (that's been solved by ditching the tie altogether), other clothing and the like. No one has complained about a tie I wore except my wonderful wife, but then if someone gives you a tie you have to wear it at least once, no matter how ugly. I've been a bored listener at times over the past decades and have affectionate, irreverent, yet truthful observations about the quirky preaching habits of my fellow soldiers of the Lord. There's … [Read more...] about The quirkiness of my beloved SBC preacher colleagues

I have friends who think it's impossible, Luddite-leaning folks who think the only holy response to social media is to turn it all off. Many others seem to be without introspection, justifying pretty much every word they say as righteous. I take these next two statements as truisms. 1. Social media can be used for the glory of God and for the advancement of the kingdom.  2. Social media has often been a source of shame and has brought much reproach to the church and to the name of the Savior who shed his blood for that church.  I believe social media has been and can be a great force … [Read more...] about Social Media Engagement that Glorifies God

The history of the SBC includes thousands of missionaries, pastors, workers, and others who often get lost to history.  My goal is to highlight a few of those people in order that we can be encouraged and inspired by their lives and sacrifice.  The evangelist Billy Graham called Dr. Cauthen ''one of the greatest missionary statesmen in all American church life.'' That statement alone ought to be enough to get your attention. But the legacy of Dr. Cauthen can be seen in many other ways besides that testimony. For over 25 years Cauthen led the Foreign Mission Board (now the IMB) in historic … [Read more...] about Baptists you should know: Baker James Cauthen

These are our three main offerings and they account for almost all of the money received by the Executive Committee for distribution. Well, maybe not a record for the CP, that would be unreachable without Bezos and Gates pitching in hundreds of millions, but the CP may actually show an increase this fiscal year. So, explain where ordinary Southern Baptist churches are in this takeover scheme? They are behind our cooperative efforts and the financial channels that fuel them. The few, the disgruntled, the gripers and complainers would have us think there is a mass movement against … [Read more...] about SBC is headed for record offerings to Lottie, Annie, and the CP

The convention in Anaheim this June looks like an important convention: Contested presidential election, though the expected nominations are not in Perhaps contested nominations and reports Sex Abuse Task Force report and recommendations Perhaps other matters will bubble up in the 133 days until the opening gavel. The takeover group is actively touting the meeting and pumping attendance. I ain't gonna make it. Looks too expensive to me. Have you guys budgeted for this? Flight + hotel + food + incidentals for the beloved pastor and his wife looks around $3k to me, more if … [Read more...] about The expensive road to Anaheim

I have been involved in blogging and social media for over 15 years, and have been running SBC Voices for nearly 12 years now. For a while, I was spending way too much time on this site and in the last year, I have largely ignored it, with the exception of two brief times - the SBC Annual Meeting and the unfortunate upheaval surrounding the Executive Committee's refusal to follow the will of the Annual Meeting, leading to the resignation of Ronnie Floyd and several EC members. I haven't looked at the stats, but I'm guessing I posted fewer articles in 2021 than any year since 2009 when I … [Read more...] about The Eternal Conundrum of Social Media Involvement

Okay, before you go ballistic, I admit that the title is a bit of a piece of clickbait. Yes, there are racists among us, and people with doctrinal issues, and those who abuse women and children, and people with moral and ethical failures, as well as some structural, administration, and leadership problems within our entities. Yes, problems abound in our little denomination. Every year when our statistical report is published, the weeping and wailing can be heard throughout the cosmos and to the four corners of the earth. We have problems. I am making a simple point today, one I hope … [Read more...] about The “SBC” Doesn’t Have Problems

At a Turning Point gathering on December 19, 2021, Donald Trump, Jr. drew wild applause from conservates, many of whom would describe themselves as “Christian conservatives” when he said the following. “We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference — I understand the mentality — but it’s gotten us nothing. Okay? It’s gotten us nothing while we’ve ceded ground in every major institution in our country.” If you have any doubt that the modern conservative movement is divorcing itself from any biblical moorings, realize that this conservative crowd cheered when … [Read more...] about Weapons of Our Warfare

[Author's note: this blog is being held hostage until someone comes up with something else to say. Case closed on the SEC but NFL is still open. Until then, I will dribble out one Housing Allowance article daily. There's no shortage of material...and it's interesting.] The Minister's Housing Allowance is our best tax break because it gives the ordained pastor the means to totally exclude substantial sums of his clergy income from income taxes. It lets the pastor exclude all or part of that. No income taxes! The holy grail of American financial life. I have maybe a dozen articles here … [Read more...] about Our Sacred Clergy Tax Break, the Minister’s Housing Allowance; lucrative special treatment for the Few, the Ordained