This is the first in a series of posts. I’ll be interviewing people associated with IMB, whether current field workers, Richmond leaders, or people recently departed from the organization. For the most part, I will not divulge the names or locations of these folks. Many of them work in difficult spots and eschew the spotlight as a result. I’ll start frivolously and move right into the questions. Today’s guest is an adult MK (missionary kid) who grew up in Ecuador. I found our guest, Jim Shortz, at a florist shop purchasing roses while eating potatoes. Ecuador exports millions of … [Read more...] about Five Questions with…an IMB Missionary Kid
Five Things I Think I Think (by Rick Patrick)
Editor's Note: Rick Patrick is a frequent commenter here. He sometimes commits the unpardonable sin of disagreeing with me, but he always writes well and makes a clear point. I'm dying to see which of his five points is going to get the most discussion here today. These random opinions jump around. Fortunately, like the best things in life, they are free. If you don’t like one of them, don’t buy it. Or better yet, tell me why I’m an idiot, or as we say in our Christian vocabulary, “Share the truth in love.” 1. Church hoppers should be forced to wear a “Scarlet H” on their … [Read more...] about Five Things I Think I Think (by Rick Patrick)
Modification and Motive
Originally posted at Modern March There is a significant difference between teaching motive and teaching behavioral modification. For example: A husband is asked by his wife to help her clean the dishes and he refuses. After some arguing, he says, “FINE! I’ll do the dishes!” His wife is flabbergasted by his response and replies, “Nevermind…” The husband, of course, then becomes agitated that she no longer wants his help after all the fuss she made over it. His wife simply replies, “I want you to want to do the dishes.” The wife does not want her husband to offer a hand because she begged … [Read more...] about Modification and Motive
Evidently, This Man Did Not Like Obama
Mohler on Alcohol
Alcohol&Ministry.mp3 Dr. Mohler, Dr. Moore and others discuss the Southern Seminary view 0f alcohol. This is an hour long. You are welcome to listen to it and respond to what was said. If you don't listen, don't discuss. It's pretty simple. Its one of the most biblically sound and balanced treatments of the subject I've heard. As always, bravo Dr. Mohler. I am not going to give my view of the presentation because I want the discussion to be about what was said, not what I said about what was said. … [Read more...] about Mohler on Alcohol
Young, Southern Baptist, and Self-Important? (by Alan Pearce)
I am writing in response to Brad Whitt’s article “Young, Southern Baptist and irrelevant?” which was recently published in The Baptist Banner (vol. 24, no.6, pp. 5-8). He laments over what seems to be a self-perceived irrelevance brought on by a minority that he describes as “outsiders from within” (p. 8; code, I think, for Calvinists). This minority of men in the SBC has appropriated the Convention microphone and is taking its cues from not a few prominent non-traditional, non-SBC pastors. The bottom line is that these me are hurting the Convention, and if he, and others like him, could … [Read more...] about Young, Southern Baptist, and Self-Important? (by Alan Pearce)
Sometimes I Feel Like a House
(Note: Nearly eight months have passed since our home burned. Now, just a couple of weeks away from moving into our new home, I've been thinking back to the night of the fire and the thoughts that swirled around in my head the night I stood in the yard on a cold night and watched it burn. The post below is adapted from my Signs of a Struggle post that ran in December 2010, a few days after the fire.) For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. -- 11 Cor. 5:1 I have at times in the … [Read more...] about Sometimes I Feel Like a House
Eliminating the Tithe: Magnifying Christ and Missions – A Response to Les Puryear
I don’t typically respond to other people’s articles, and I try to stay out of controversy. Hopefully I do not regret responding here, but Les Puryear seems to be a reasonable man and if there were any discussion I think it would be cordial. Puryear recently posted an article on what is wrong with the SBC. Number two on the list (in no particular order) was “preachers and Seminary professors who teach that the biblical principle of storehouse tithing is not valid today.” He followed up that article with one this morning accusing those that “eliminate the tithe” as “jumping through … [Read more...] about Eliminating the Tithe: Magnifying Christ and Missions – A Response to Les Puryear
Level Three: Dinner Table Doctrine (Brick Walls, Picket Fences – 11)
I remember an argument I once had with a close friend over Matthew 13:33. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast.” Yeast is an interesting substance. Put a little bit of yeast into even a large lump of dough and pretty soon the whole thing begins to change, to expand, to grow bigger. A little yeast affects a lot of dough. This illustration is used throughout Scripture. Most of the time, it is clear that the point is negative. A little bit of sin works through everything and then grows and expands and creates spiritual decay. “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees,” Jesus warned. The … [Read more...] about Level Three: Dinner Table Doctrine (Brick Walls, Picket Fences – 11)
Adoption: It’s For All of Us (by Jim Giffords)
Hi all, Today I want to write about a topic that is near and dear to my heart – adoption. Adoption is wonderful in so many aspects. I have had the wonderful privilege to adopt three children (and perhaps more in the future). I want to say a few things about adoption. First, it is a wonderful way to rescue children. I cannot imagine what it is like to not have a home. But every time I look at my children, I see children for whom there was a time when they had no mom or dad. My boys were too small to remember it, and likely my daughter won’t remember it as she grows older either, but it is … [Read more...] about Adoption: It’s For All of Us (by Jim Giffords)