SBC Voices

This was originally publish at Joel Rainey's blog "Themelios." I appreciate his willingness to share it with us. About 13 years ago, Pastor Trey Rhodes was sitting in a meeting of other pastors who were considering the sponsorship of a new church. The local Baptist Association had called this meeting to discuss "concerns" that several of the pastors had relative to this new church proposal. Church planting wasn't nearly as "cool" back then as it is now, and in fact was held in high suspicion in several segments of my denomination. In particular, these guys were concerned about the theology, … [Read more...] about When “Friendly Fire” Isn’t So Friendly (by Joel Rainey)

I was working on a post this morning, and then Ed went and posted an article at Between the Times that said what I was trying to say, but did it so much better.  Sometimes I hate that guy - saying it first and saying it better!  His post is called "The Baptist Bogeyman."  I encourage you to read it.  However, the fact that someone else has already said it (and perhaps better than I could) never stops a blogger from saying it again, right? So, I put my other article on hold and I want to make some observations about what the Rev. Dr Stetzer said. We have had a parade of bogeymen in the … [Read more...] about I’m Furious at Ed Stetzer! (Well, Sort of…)

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH BY WILLIAM DWIGHT MCKISSIC, SR. A KINGDOM RESPONSE TO THE ELEPHANT ROOM II Featuring Pastor James MacDonald and Bishop T.D. Jakes The late Rev. Vernon Johns made a lighthearted, yet loaded comment regarding engaging in ecclesiastical and civic controversy that I believe is applicable to The Elephant Room II controversy. The Johns comment: “If you see a good fight, get in it.” There are significant, substantive, and scriptural issues yet being debated in the aftermath of The Elephant Room that I feel compelled to address in light of Rev. Johns’ admonition … [Read more...] about “Fighting the Good Fight of Faith” by William Dwight McKissic, Sr.

It is a privilege to talk today with Trevin Wax, the Managing Editor of “The Gospel Project”, a new Sunday School curriculum from LifeWay Christian Resources of the SBC.  He has agreed to answer a few questions about The Gospel Project for the readers of SBC Voices.  (I think you could probably figure this out, but my questions are in bold and Trevin's answers are in normal print.)  Trevin, welcome to SBC Voices.  Tell us about beginnings of The Gospel Project.  How did it come to be?  Thanks for the invitation, Dave. The Gospel Project is LifeWay’s response to churches asking for a … [Read more...] about The Gospel Project: An Interview with Trevin Wax

This post was orginally published on Howell's blog, From Law to Grace. Yes Man: a person who agrees with everything that is said; especially: one who endorses or supports without criticism every opinion or proposal of an associate or superior (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Throughout recorded history, we have always had "yes men" (and women too), those people who simply refused to ask any questions -- much less the hard questions -- of those in leadership.  Given our human nature, that is completely understandable.  After all, who wants to be seen as "difficult" or "divisive?" Those who … [Read more...] about The Proliferation of “Yes Men” in the SBC!

Recently I was in a meeting of sorts with a variety of individuals from different walks of life.  As we tried to talk about the church, the same topic continued to come up.  People talked about how they started going to church and they stopped doing all the stuff they use to do that was bad.  There is a pretty constant list of those behaviors that are not acceptable that we give up in the Christian church, but I wonder as I spend more and more time focusing on discipleship, does behavior modification equate to life transformation?  I am not so sure. Let's look at the list of behaviors that … [Read more...] about Life Transformation vs Behavior Modification

I was listening a few days ago to a radio show that featured an interview with a college basketball coach.  His team had recently pulled off a few surprising victories.  The interviewer acknowledged a good amount of their successes and then asked the coach his thoughts on the games.  The coach, without skipping a beat, threw out a cranky, “we didn’t rebound well”. This is not an anomaly.  I have heard interviews like this numerous times in all my years of following sports.  I even had coaches like this in high school.  No matter how well you play there is always something that can be a … [Read more...] about The Church Should Be Less Like Angry Coaches