SBC Voices

I love an optimist and Baptist Press “staff” reports on our beloved Cooperative Program are invariably positive and optimistic. “Staff” should get a raise. Latest CP story headline: Cooperative Program giving highest in three months, down only 1.47% for year This is the Executive Committee portion of the CP, funding mostly for the mission boards […]

This is the closest church to my house if you don’t count the bird house church in my backyard, a little box with a steeple that someone gave me. The church pictured isn’t my church but it’s Southern Baptist. I know the pastor who is a good guy. Good church. Good pastor. God bless them. […]

No, this one isn’t about topical sermons vs expositional or that sort of thing. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but during the shutdown, I’ve fallen into a new pattern for preaching that I hope to continue now that the slow march toward normalcy has begun. I used to preach from […]

Our church has recently started up live services and I am glad. Sunday, we celebrated the Lord’s Supper together for the first time since late February, a great moment. Things are not horrible, but something doesn’t feel right either. I had a conversation with several friends last week about ministry during a pandemic and it […]

Some of our recent posts on Voices have proven controversial. Folks have strong opinions about SBC politics, racial reconciliation, and especially President Trump. I thought I would write a post that would be noncontroversial. In the old days, when William Thornton and I were young, pastors would ask their congregations to recite their favorite Bible […]

The cultural war over Confederate statues, monuments, and naming colleges, buildings, and other memorabilia after slave masters – is not simply cultural warfare – it is also spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is an eternal and cosmic conflict between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. It is also a conflict or battle between […]

Jay Adkins, occasional contributor here, was honored with an award as Citizen of the Year in his lovely town, Westwego, Louisiana. Well-deserved. Jay is the goateed guy on the left. Some of the pastors I looked up to were of the school where the pastor was not only to represent God in the community but, […]

Quick thoughts on today’s Supreme Court decision striking down abortion restrictions (requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospital): First and foremost I’m saddened by the result of this ruling. As someone strongly pro-life, I want every baby given an equal chance at life, and I believe that should be legally guaranteed. Many pro […]

Earlier this week, we published How the Conservative Baptist Network took control of the Executive Committee. Yesterday the Executive Committee officers released a statement disputing its interpretation of the facts. Since that statement was released in Baptist Press, there have been calls on social media for SBC Voices to remove the article and issue an apology. After reading […]

Dear SBC Leaders, I recently read your joint statement addressing the death of George Floyd. Calling for the end of racial inequality in how America distributes justice to African American men and boys is appreciated. Unfortunately, your statement is simply not enough. After we have cried out to God in prayer against racial evil and […]

I don’t know if any SBC leader would dispute the title here and I appreciate the timely article from Baptist Press on the subject. I’ve been looking for it: Southern Baptists report growth among ethnic minorities despite declines in broader SBC Minority ethnic fellowships comprised 22.3 percent of the 51,538 Southern Baptist congregations included in […]

It’s impossible to study about Baptists without talking about division.  The old joke that if you ask 4 Baptists you will get 5 opinions seems remarkably true to anyone who’s spent much time around a group of Baptists. As long as there have been baptists there have been splinter groups of Baptists, but some take […]