SBC Voices

This is meant as a discussion starter. I have to admit a couple of things.  First, I am pretty passionate about politics.  Though I believe the church should not be devoted to political work, I am quite interested in it myself. Second, I'm having a struggle with voting this year in the presidential election. There is no way that I could ever vote for Barack Obama as president.  First of all, I made a commitment long ago that if someone believes that killing a baby in its mother's womb is acceptable, they do not get my vote.  Abortion isn't the only thing I care about, but it is … [Read more...] about Obama, Romney and Political Theology…

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” What was Peter thinking?  A detachment of soldiers, led by Judas, found Jesus and the disciples in the olive grove across the Kidron Valley, to arrest him.  Peter, for reasons that escape me, had brought a sword to the prayer meeting, and he swung it. Badly. Being a fisherman, not a soldier, the best he could do was lop off the ear of the High … [Read more...] about Fighting the Right Battle with the Wrong Weapons

Dear My Friends Good But Sadly Suffering With The Sickness, For years now so many I have been in receipt of communications varied from strangers and people I have never yet the meeting opportunity being mine. As you can see from broken English mine so easily, this email is of the truth and coming from someone with good intention of nobility and to be generous. My attention has been coming to the astounding conclusiveness that people of means substantial, which is to say possessing considerable wherewithals, from nations abroad that no banks must availability be to them all, have … [Read more...] about Open Email to Rich Overseas Donors

There are a few places to go and find good solid wisdom.  The first of course is scripture.  We then have wise individuals in our midst, we have some wisdom in books and then there is the Jedi Master.  For being a little green guy, he is very wise in some of the things he instructs, and we would be wise to take them to heart.  At the end of his muppet life (In Return of the Jedi, there was no CGI), he told his young student Luke Skywalker to "pass on what you have learned".  Luke couldn't just keep the information to himself, he needed to train a new generation of Jedi. I'm not a Jedi, I'm … [Read more...] about Lessons from Master Yoda

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 Divorce and Ministry: Blanket Policies Don’t Work

He makes some really good points. Everyone knows the keyboard worship leader is passe.  And he is right, of course.  No one wants to incur Piper's wrath. My problem is that I'm not sure they make "True Religion" jeans in my size. … [Read more...] about How to Plant Churches – Guaranteed!

Watch this video: It occurs to me that the difference between an “attractional” church and a “missional” church is the same as the difference between an Old Testament view of mission and a New Testament view of mission.  This is not to say that one is wrong and the other is correct.  It is simply to say that one is past and the other is present. Before Christ the place to find the presence of God was found almost exclusively in the temple.  If you desired an experience with God then you had to “come and see”.  The primary mission of Israel was to draw people to Zion.  Micah 4:2 is a … [Read more...] about Is Your Church Old Testament?

Watch it tomorrow at 2 PM (CDT) at edstetzer.com.   … [Read more...] about The Exchange, with Ed Stetzer (and Eric Geiger): Transformational Discipleship

Chris Roberts blogs at "Seek the Holy" and is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Panama City, Fl.   Or: how we get from the glory of God to the gratifying of man. One thought frequently burdens me as I seek to pastor faithfully and raise my children biblically: how is it that we have seen a generation of young people who have been raised in solid, conservative Christian churches either plug into ministries and methods that take a decidedly postmodern, pragmatic turn or abandon the church outright? How is it that 21st century young people, and often their parents, have pursued the … [Read more...] about The evolution of the church’s focus (by Chris Roberts)

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…