SBC Voices

Job felt it. Habakkuk had fleeting moments when the thought crossed his mind. Jeremiah wondered as well. They all had crises when they asked the question... Is God cruel? I know in my head that God is good, a God of love, of mercy,and of grace.  He is far better to me than I deserve. I was born in sin and I embraced my nature willingly.  My heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. On the outside, I have been a "good boy." But I know the darkness of my heart - the self-centeredness and pride, the anger and vindictiveness, the lust and greed and...well, you get the … [Read more...] about When Life Makes You Wonder if God is Good…

I have become convinced that we have focused on the wrong thing too much today in the Christian faith. We have put so much effort into the things that we DO and not enough focus on NOT doing. Stay with me here, I'm not talking about a list of things not to do. I'm talking about not working so hard to justify ourselves. I am talking about surrender and I think that is one of our biggest struggles. Our flesh seems to be alive and well and we haven't put our flesh to death. We have instead found more acceptable ways of gratifying our pride and ego. We have Pharisee religiousness and it feeds our … [Read more...] about The Flesh and the Franchised Church

I've been involved in blogging for a long time - I'm the blogging equivalent of Noah.  Marty Duren, of course, is Methuselah.  But as a blogger I've been involved in a lot of discussions about a lot of things.  And I'm also a part of the workings of the Baptist Convention of Iowa. And I think, in all of this denominational involvement, strategic discussion and methodological argument, I have come to realize what the biggest problem is that we face in steering the SBC away from the iceberg. I spent 5 hours in the offices of the BCI Saturday in a major strategical meeting as we tried to … [Read more...] about The Biggest Problem We Face as Southern Baptists

Back in my seminary days, when I was young and idealistic, I took great comfort in the knowledge that men like Peter Wagner, Donald McGavran, Win Arn and Lyle Schaller had authored books containing all the wisdom necessary to bring numerical growth to any church I ever served. A comfortably warm feeling came over me when I read the lists of bullet points and action plans which seemingly guaranteed that I would baptize more saints than I buried and that more people would be discipled than would depart. More than twenty years later, almost 90% of our churches are not growing through healthy … [Read more...] about Questioning the Church Growth Gurus

I believe there are several important issues that we will face next month at the Annual Meeting. What do you consider to be the biggest? … [Read more...] about Talk amongst yourselves: What is the #1 Issue for the SBC at NOLA?

A KINGDOM VIEW OF RACE AND MARRIAGE What Mitt Romney and President Obama Believe Matthew 19:4, Acts 17:26a By Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr. A Message to be delivered at the Cornerstone Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas, May 20, 2012 “And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,” (Matthew 19:4) “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,” (Acts 17:26a) God’s universe centers around His Kingdom. At the heart of His Kingdom is His Dear Son. His Kingdom is an everlasting … [Read more...] about A KINGDOM VIEW OF RACE AND MARRIAGE By Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr.

Here is the cast: Nick Fury is Jesus - The consummate leader, always leading with perfect intentions and precise calculations. Captain America is Christians - The one with upright character and unmatched integrity. (Let's pretend that Christians exemplify this regularly.) Hammer of Thor is Scripture - An other-worldly power, unstoppable when in the right hands. Iron Man is Pride - He is the walking example of pride - self-centered, arrogant, boastful. (Forget that he totally sacrifices in the end... that hurts my point ;-) ) The Hulk is Young Calvinist - Well-meaning but … [Read more...] about The Gospel According to The Avengers

NOTE: I have just released a book which compiles (and edits and expands) these posts. It is called "Disqualified? What the Bible Says about Divorce, Remarriage and Ministry."   It is available on Amazon.com. The Kindle version will be released in the next couple of days - not sure what the hold-up is there. This book reviews the biblical evidence on divorce and remarriage, beginning with the cornerstone in the Old Testament - the twin principles of God's intent of marriage as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman and the understanding of the brokenness caused by sin. It then lays the … [Read more...] about “One Woman Man” – Examining Bart Barber’s Univira Concept