(Dr. Roger D. Duke is our guest blogger today. The author, though, is the great John Bunyan. Dr. Duke is cowriter with Phil Newton. Venturing all on God: Piety in the Writings of John Bunyan. This volume is one of in the Profiles in Reformed Spirituality series of Reformation Heritage Press and is slated for publication sometime in 2011.) Christ Jesus: An Advocate Who is Always Ready to Defend the Believer[1] A . . . [particular] privilege that they have who have Jesus Christ to be their Advocate is this, He is always ready, always in court, always with the judge, then and there … [Read more...] about Christ Jesus: An Advocate Who is Always Ready to Defend the Believer (from John Bunyan)
An Open Letter to Bryant Wright and the Committee on Nominations: Let’s Paint with Color This Year
To President Bryant Wright and the Members of the SBC Committee on Nominations, Race has been a hot topic in the SBC recently. Dwight McKissic offered a motion in Orlando last June to include racism along with homosexuality as a sin that will eliminate a church from SBC participation. Johnny Hunt referred the motion to the Executive Committee who has declined to recommend the change to the c0nstitution. According to one person, the belief is that such a move would be redundant. Our stand against racism and bigotry is already encoded in the Baptist Faith and Message statement and … [Read more...] about An Open Letter to Bryant Wright and the Committee on Nominations: Let’s Paint with Color This Year
The “New and Improved” SBC Voices
I put out an appeal for help in posting at SBC Voices and the response was gratifying and overwhelming. I want to tell you a little about what we want this site to become – “the vision thing.” Then, I want to introduce you to our new team of regular contributors. Of course, we will also have guest bloggers on a regular basis. The Plan When I got into blogging back in 2006, it was a Wild West shootout. There were good guys and bad guys, our side against their side. I joined right in. But I always had this nagging feeling that the way we communicated with one another just was not … [Read more...] about The “New and Improved” SBC Voices
Understanding the Science or Making the Throw
Dave wrote such a nice piece about Pujols a week or so ago, that I thought I would return the favor and play up a Yankee analogy. I was sitting around watching SportsCenter and they were talking to Mariano Rivera, the historically great Yankee closer. During the segment, they showed a feature by the "Sports Science" guys about how Rivera's pitches work and at one point there was a split screen and it honestly looked like Rivera was stunned to see the mechanics behind his own pitch. When the announcer asked him if that was really how he did it, Rivera's answer was telling. He said, "I don't … [Read more...] about Understanding the Science or Making the Throw
Two Questions for the Readers of SBC Voices
1) Who is going to Phoenix? I had a great time last year in Orlando, getting to know people I had blogged with (and against). I discovered that rumors that Tim Rogers has horns are greatly exaggerated. I found out that CB Scott is a real person, not a myth. It was great fun. This year, of course, Phoenix is a little longer trip for most of us. But I am wondering who is planning to be there and who wants to hang out. My goal would be to get a wave going during one of the entity presentations. We'll see. Who is going to be there? 2) Do you guys like the nested comments or … [Read more...] about Two Questions for the Readers of SBC Voices
The Racism Motion: A Response from the Inside
I received an email from someone who was "in the know" relative to some of the decisions that I have been critical of here. I'll call him Jason Bourne (Obviously, NOT his real name). He responded in a reasoned and forthright way to some of the comments that I (and others) have made here about Dwight McKissic's motion about racism in the SBC. It is really important to see all sides of things. Jason gently shared a different perspective than the one I had formed and I learned from it. He has asked that I protect his identity but granted me permission to share some of his thoughts and … [Read more...] about The Racism Motion: A Response from the Inside
When the Strong Man Gets His Way
(This post originally appeared on my blog: Borrowed Light) Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin in that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head…every rise of lust, might it have its course, would come to the height of villainy: it is like the grave, that is never satisfied. -John Owen If you want to see this principle in full force then look … [Read more...] about When the Strong Man Gets His Way
I Wish Every Baptist Executive Was Like Our Jimmy Barrentine!
I got an email a couple of days ago telling me what I had already heard. Sometime this year, the SBC's best state executive director will be retiring. We Iowa Baptists don't have a lot to brag about. We are one of the smaller conventions - so small we don't even get representation on our boards and agencies. We struggle to plant churches. Its not easy to get "Southern" Baptists to venture to the frozen north to serve our churches. Iowa is often difficult soil in which to plant the seed. But we have had the best exec in the convention. Don't argue with me. I'm right on this one. I … [Read more...] about I Wish Every Baptist Executive Was Like Our Jimmy Barrentine!
Westboro’s Free Speech Win: Repugnant Yet Right
"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and—as it did here—inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a Nation we have chosen a different course—to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case." (Majority Opinion of the Court, delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts, in ALBERT SNYDER, PETITIONER v. FRED W. PHELPS, SR., ET AL., March 2, … [Read more...] about Westboro’s Free Speech Win: Repugnant Yet Right
Heretics and the SBC Blogosphere (by Todd Littleton)
(Editor's Note: Todd Littleton was one of the prominent early Baptist bloggers. Like most of the pioneers, he has mostly laid down his keyboard for other pursuits. But he has an interesting perspective to share on the TD Jakes/Jamar Jones conflict that went on last week - to which I contributed. Our desire here is to be "SBC Voices" - which means we will have as many voices chime in as possible!) Kenneth Scott Latourette noted, As in the Apostles' Creed, so in the Nicene Creed, painfully, slowly, and through controversies in which there was often lacking the love which is the major … [Read more...] about Heretics and the SBC Blogosphere (by Todd Littleton)