SBC Voices

We may have had this discussion around here, but I think it's time to crack it open again. One thing about the Southern Convention of Great Commission Baptists is that, from a denominational perspective, we have no education requirements for our ministers. We have no central standard for ordination, and even our statement of faith is optional for those serving in churches. (I know to be NAMB/IMB/Lifeway you have to agree. Not sure about Guidestone.) This is the reality, and it's connected to our belief in local church autonomy. After all, the seminaries and boards exist to serve the … [Read more...] about Self-Education Help

 Joe Blackmon attends an SBC church in Tennessee.  He blogs at Hear God Speak.  You can follow him on Twitter @joe_blackmon_72 “It’s for your own good.” Did your mother ever tell you that? Mine did on a few occasions—usually when I had some medicine I didn’t want to take or perhaps when I had started an activity (tee ball) that I didn’t want to finish. Now that I look back, I’m thankful that she, well for lack of a better word, forced me to do what it was she was telling me to do. While it may have been unpleasant at the time, it was for my good as I can clearly recognize now. As Christians, … [Read more...] about II Peter 3:15a The Four Imperatives of a Forward Looking Faith Part II (by Joe Blackmon)

I preached on this text the other evening: Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7 ESV) It’s sad that for many our first response to this text is to be chaffed because Peter refers to the woman as the “weaker vessel”.  And in some ways I understand that because guys can be jerks and use texts like this one to promote their insecure theology.  Yet if we aren’t careful we’ll neuter the beauty of this text … [Read more...] about One Reason Your Prayers May Be Hindered

Monday is a bad day for me. I am trying to recover each week from the "Southern Hills Marathon" - my normal Sunday Study/Preaching schedule. I'm no spring chicken anymore and it leaves me exhausted. I usually start my day with a long list of things I want to do, then tend to squander the day reading blog posts and sometimes writing them. That's what I've been doing this morning. Lo and behold, there was some good stuff up there. I would recommend Bart Barber's insightful post asking whether Catholicism is actually a monotheistic religion. Well worth reading. Ed Stetzer (I'm guessing most … [Read more...] about The Dangers of Theology

I get annoyed sometimes watching sports - and not just because my teams usually lose. I get annoyed with fans and with announcers and even with participants. I think I have discovered a solution: the PDC. A Paintball Discipline Crew will attend all American sporting events, armed with paintball guns, to deliver discipline when needed. This is a badly overdue thing. Here are some circumstances when such a crew could be helpful. 1) Every time someone at a golf tournament yells, "Get in the hole" immediately after a shot, the PDC will descend on him and pepper him with 50 to 100 tiny balls … [Read more...] about The Sports World Needs PDC (Paintball Discipline Crews)

        … [Read more...] about P4CM – The Exegesis of Jesus

NOTE: I've been discussing this issue with Marty King of LifeWay over the last couple of days. His response on behalf of LifeWay is attached below. While we are not seeing this the same way, I am appreciative of LifeWay's responsiveness and willingness to talk these things through.  World Changers has been coming to Sioux City, Iowa as long as I have lived here (7 years) and for some time before that. When you minister outside of the established SBC states, in what are now called "new work" states, you come to appreciate ministries like World Changers. Southern Baptists struggle for … [Read more...] about An Iowan’s Lament: Regretting LifeWay’s Changes to World Changers (with Response from LifeWay)

Another entry from our newly named Sports Editor. Hey Sports Fans! The Fall Classic is just around the corner of the MLB Baseball Season, yeah boy! I know you all love it because it is a Sports tradition, maybe even the biggest one in all the Sporting World. And that is saying a lot for someone who has seen the ultimate greatness of the FOOTBALL UNIVERSE as I have, being a Sabanite and a member of the SABANATION. With the World Series coming up in mind, my good friend and big time SBC analyst, Scott Gordon, made a statement about the great Mickey Mantle that caused me to ponder something … [Read more...] about THE GREATEST EVER? (by CB Scott)

And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own; And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known. C. Austin Miles Principle #1. In order to hear God, you must first expect for God to speak to you. God may already be speaking to you. But if you don’t expect Him to speak, it is likely you won’t hear Him. There are some who read the Bible like they were reading a history book, nothing more. And, then they say that it is boring. One of the main ways God speaks to us today is through the Bible. Hebrews 4:12. For the word of God is … [Read more...] about Hearing God, Part 2