SBC Voices

I have been a regular attender at a Southern Baptist church since nine months before I was born. I've been a member of 10 different Southern Baptist churches over the last nearly five decades - and what a turbulent 50 years they have been. I was saved and baptized in February of 1964 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was a different denominational world that I was baptized into than the one I serve in today. I heard the frustration in my dad's voice a few years ago as he talked about his church search in the new community into which he and mom had moved. "I can't find a … [Read more...] about The Tie That Binds? The Sea-Change in Southern Baptist Culture

If you leave my house and head north on the only highway that runs north out of town (the other way out of town? West) you would take Arkansas Highway 130. Almost any place you intend to go from here, that is the road you want to be on. The first direction you will get is "Go north on 130." However, after a certain length of time, if you continue to follow that first direction, you will drive through a caution sign and plant yourself into the middle of a bean field. If your vehicle is fortunate enough to survive leaving the pavement and making the two-and-a-half foot drop into the field, … [Read more...] about Your logical result is a bean field

In the first chapter of Deuteronomy, we can read Moses’ account of certain aspects of Israelite history.  Specifically, he addresses the situation in which the people were too afraid to enter the land due to the reports of the spies.  In short… Spies went. Spies returned. Spies disagreed on report. The people despaired. God sent them back to the wilderness. The people recanted. The people entered the land. The Amorites rocked. People died. And in verse 45 Moses laid it out: “You came back, sobbing like schoolgirls, licking your wounds, but the Lord totally ignored you and let you … [Read more...] about He’s Not Listening, I Don’t Think…

There is a spot on my stomach—somewhat stretched from too much McDonalds—that is a reminder of my days as an avid baseball player.  I am not certain that it would classify as a scar.  It’s nothing gnarly.  It is not a portrait of a painful injury or anything of the sort.  It is simply a discoloration of the skin that certainly belongs in the scar family but probably as a sissy third cousin. That “thing” on my stomach comes from not one play but a lifetime of aggressive baseball.  It probably originally came from diving for ground balls playing shortstop or second base.  It grew more … [Read more...] about Review of The Sacred Wilderness of Pastoral Ministry

As I grow older, I understand more clearly what nostalgia is all about.  I remember days when life was simpler, when I had “free time” and hobbies; when I read books for fun; when I shot hoops in the driveway and took naps on Sunday afternoons. Life today is complex. There are bills to pay, yards to landscape, tasks to accomplish, posts to post, pressures to endure.  I hope that doesn’t sound like whining. I consider myself normal in this, not unique. We live in an all-out, pedal to the metal, fast-charging world. I don’t know what it was like to be king of Israel, but I imagine it had … [Read more...] about An Undivided Heart

WARNING: Having just declared my intent to steer away from discussions of Calvinism, I'm going back to the subject less that 48 hours later, now that Frank Page has named his Calvinism Committee (or whatever they are calling it). There is a certain irony intended in the title of this post. I have written forcefully about my disdain for the "God's Man" rhetoric that has been employed by search committee chairs. You can read one of my rants here. I may have mellowed a little, but I still agree with what I said two years ago. I think it is a dangerous tactic to label someone "God's Man" to … [Read more...] about Frank Page is “God’s Man” for THIS Moment (and…the Calvinism Committee is here!)

Trevin Wax posted a 311-word summary of the entire story of the Bible, the story that was at the heart of the development of the "Gospel Project" Sunday School curriculum, which is evidently blowing up! LifeWay has consistently printed the plan of salvation in materials, but in preparation for the release of the Gospel Project decided to rewrite it in story form, appropriate to the purpose of the curriculum. Here is the Bible, summarized in 311 words. Obviously, a summary like this can't be exhaustive, but my view is that is a pretty good attempt. God's Word to You: A Summary of the … [Read more...] about The Bible in 300 Words: The Foundational Story of the Gospel Project

Elijah was on Mt. Carmel facing the prophets of Baal and Asherah.  He waited all day while they called to their gods to bring fire on the altar, but “no one heard, no one answered.”  He taunted them, they cut themselves, they made a ruckus that would have gotten the attention of any god, if that god existed.  Still, no answer came. Then, as evening drew near, it was Elijah’s turn.  He prepared the altar and the bull.  He stood before the people and prayed a very simple prayer.  He asked God to bring fire on the sacrifice to show the people of Israel that Yahweh is God – the only living … [Read more...] about Water on the Altar: Letting God Be God