SBC Voices

I have a young pastor friend that I am extremely proud of. (Not that I’m not proud of my other pastor friends, but this guy takes the cake right now). This is his first pastorate and it has not been a grand experience as of yet. The details do not matter. What pertains to this post is his attitude. The only thing that you need to know is that he is having to endure a dangerous disposition from an influential man in the church.  From what it sounds like this is the type of guy that could split the church. My young pastor friend has decided that rather than leave town he is going … [Read more...] about Monday’s Ministry Musing: Hired Shepherds v. Jesus-type Shepherds

I invaded enemy territory this week.  As a lifelong and passionate fan of the greatest sports franchise in the history of sports (need I name the Yankees?), I've always considered Boston a swirling vortex of evil.  But my son moved there two years ago and we cashed in our frequent flier miles and booked three seats from Omaha to Boston's Logan airport.  After a rather roundabout trip (four flights instead of two) we landed in Boston Monday night. First, my son took us on a tour of the MIT Media Lab (a playground for people with astronomical IQs) where he has worked and studied the last two … [Read more...] about What Does This Say about Me?

One morning as I was taking a shower this text came across my mind:  “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”  I didn’t give it much thought until a few days later… There I was sitting in the bath tub at a spiritual crossroad.  I felt as if all of hell was pulling at my soul.  Tempting me, sifting me…sifting me…wait, was God communicating something to me a few days ago.  I had no idea.  Everything was cloudy. Here I was a youth pastor.  I am supposed to be leading teenagers.  I … [Read more...] about Review of Tempted and Tried

Originally published at From Law to Grace When you hear the words, "Sharia Law," what immediately comes to mind?  If you said an Islamic legal code that is incompatible with the laws of our nation and states, you would probably be in "good" company, at least in Oklahoma.  Whether or not you would be 100% correct is debatable. I must admit that when I hear "Sharia Law," I do not have a positive dispostion toward this Islamic code.  I suspect this is the case with many people, including many Southern Baptists.  Our reticence in allowing Sharia Law to be used AT ALL in the United States … [Read more...] about Sharia Law: Constitutional Menace or a Religious Freedom?

There are times in my life that I am reminded that all the stuff I say, all the stuff I know, unless there are hands and feet behind it doesn't mean anything. Here in the part of Iowa I live in, there is a surge of water being released from an overfilled and overstressed dam. This surge in an already bloated river will flood many basements and destroy some homes. Our church has organized to send people to help our family who is in the path of the water. We have been packing and moving quickly before the date of the release. As I was packing, I was joking with some guys. We were talking … [Read more...] about Shut Up and Work

Baptist Press has recently published an article by Trevin Wax entitled, "Being Southern Baptist among & for Evangelicals." Southern Baptists are in an identity crisis right now, trying to decide what it means to be a Southern Baptist.  At the risk of oversimplifying, there are traditionalists who think that the key is to look back at the cultural, theological and ecclesiological identity that identified Southern Baptists and work to restore that identity.  Brad Whitt has articulated the traditionalist viewpoint very well.  Then there are the "reformationists" who believe the SBC needs … [Read more...] about Trevin Wax’s Important Baptist Press Article

Originally posted at my blog earlier in May. ---Doug   I've spent a good bit of time these past weeks reading in early medieval Britain. Fortunately for me, the books have been mostly translated into modern English. Except for one from the 1800s that left the most important quotes in the original Latin. Shows a bit of a focus change in education: Latin was once a bigger deal than it is now. Of course, I'm now going to be spending this summer getting a better grasp of it… Moving on, one of the situations I learned about in this process was the conflict in the fifth and … [Read more...] about Right on the small–wrong on the big