SBC Voices

*this is a post I wrote on my own blog a few days ago- thought itd make some good conversation! The book of Revelation has 2 different genres in it: 1) Apocalyptic literature and 2) Historical Narrative. We always interpret narrative literally- Genesis, Exodus, the Gospels, etc... Apocalyptic literature is another story. Throughout the whole Bible the biblical authors often times interpret apocalyptic literature symbolically. All throughout the Bible apocalyptic literature events are described symbolically. In the book of Revelation there is a tension- we have to try and differentiate … [Read more...] about Interpreting the Book of Revelation

You can read the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force's Progress Report- here. You can watch it- here. There will be posts written soon about certain aspects of the progress report in order to discuss some of the Task Force's "findings" and suggestions. For now, if there is anything specific you want to discuss now, the comment thread is open! … [Read more...] about GCRTF Progress Report

When Christ said: 'I was hungry and you fed me,' he didn't mean only the hunger for bread and for food; he also meant the hunger to be loved. Jesus himself experienced this loneliness. He came amongst his own and his own received him not, and it hurt him then and it has kept on hurting him. The same hunger, the same loneliness, the same having no one to be accepted by and to be loved and wanted by. Every human being in that case resembles Christ in his loneliness; and that is the hardest part, that's real hunger." -- Mother Teresa When I was in college, I spent a summer in Bangladesh, … [Read more...] about Sex and the Church: Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell?

This post is written by Kevin L. Howard Should Southern Baptist women use the Scriptures to teach or train men in Sunday school or other settings?  It's a simple thesis with many implications, so let's get into it. The Baptist Faith & Message of 2000 and Scripture Article 6, The Church, of the BF&M 2000, says, "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture." I agree with this BF&M statement.  I just wished it went further.  Scripture doesn't say, "Women can't pastor or hold the office of … [Read more...] about Women and SBC Ministry: Clarifying the 2000 BF&M

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. -- Luke 6:42 Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and do a life review? In that rear-view mirror of reclining restlessness all the wrong turns of the past seem to paint a clear direction to the present. That retrospective road map can be painfully revealing. This morning at 4:44 a.m., I awoke, not to a clatter, not … [Read more...] about Jesus Wasn’t Home in Time for Dinner

I was traveling this last week and found myself at Lebanon, MO on Sunday morning.  I decided to go to First Baptist Church.  There wasn't much to it.  It was a normal, Bible-belt traditional service.  They had a later contemporary service, but because we were traveling we went to the early, traditional service. The music was fine, the people were nice, and my son seemed to enjoy the nursery.  Looking at the surface,  most people would of probably thought, "This is a pretty nice church." When one gets beyond the surface they see something very different.  They seem something better.  One … [Read more...] about My morning at First Baptist Church of Lebanon, MO

Whether you know it or not, members of your church are ministering to Christians who struggle with homosexuality. Like the struggle itself, their ministry to those who suffer may be hidden, but it goes on, fueled by love. They are parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, cousins, and friends of your church members – men and women -- who are drowning in the residue of the sin of unwanted homosexuality. Those who walk with homosexuals share the solitude and isolation that afflicts Christians who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction. Secrecy fuels this sin in the shadow of the … [Read more...] about Homosexuality and Your Church — Part Two