SBC Voices

Like me, most of you missed what I hear was a great conference-Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism.  If you would like to read Trevin Wax's summaries of the messages follow the links below. Here are links to my summaries of all the lectures at the Union University conference: Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism. Special thanks to David Dockery and Tim Ellsworth for the invitation to live-blog this event. Trevin Wax To listen to the messages go here- Union University. … [Read more...] about Southern Baptists and Denominationalism

This is one of the most anticipated Conventions in awhile and I highly encourage everyone to attend!  Registration is now open! June 15-16 2010 in Orlando, Florida. SBC 2010 … [Read more...] about SBC 2010- Orlando

Multi-Site Churches: Not A Good Option Our family was once involved in a multi-site church at its satellite location. We began that experience with enthusiasm and anticipation. The possibilities seemed endless. It was located in a brand new community development. We had the weight of the mother church and all its resources behind us. The mother church had installed a strong Bible expositor as its pastor. Over time, however, the difficulties of this arrangement seemed to outweigh its benefits. To be sure there were many positives in our experience, but we finally concluded that the model was … [Read more...] about Diverse Voices Debate: Multi-Site Churches- Good Option?

In the new drama television series, "The Good Wife," Juliana Margulies plays the wife of an elected official who is caught in a sex and money scandal. The official, played by Chris Noth, is sent to prison and "the good wife" returns to work as a lawyer, raising her two children on her own. Take a look at the profiles of many of your Christian friends and you’ll discover that listed among their favorite programs are TV series like “Desperate Housewives,” and “Gray’s Anatomy,” both of which frequently glamorize sexual relations outside marriage. Other TV series are busy normalizing … [Read more...] about “The Good Wife” in Real Life

Thanks to Robin Foster and all who have participated in this debate – especially those who agreed with me! I have been disappointed only by the cruel comments that Doug Hibbard made about the New York Yankees, but I am trying to work through my feelings against him. Other than that ugly episode, it has been an encouraging inauguration of this debate series. Observations 1) Blogging has a tendency to magnify our differences. I am convinced that we are not as far apart on this issue as our rhetoric might make it appear. I do not say that church oversight is never appropriate and those … [Read more...] about A Response to the Baptism Oversight Debate

This rebuttal is only my attempt to challenge Dave Miller’s thoughts and theological understanding concerning the church’s responsibility to oversee baptism.  I appreciate what he has written and hope that further debates over essential doctrines in the Southern Baptist Convention can be as cordial as ours.   In Dave’s paper he proposes that, “…the view that all valid baptisms must be performed under local church oversight may be argued from historic confessions, but not from scripture.”  I beg to differ in that to argue against church oversight of Baptism is to make scripture say what … [Read more...] about Diverse Baptists Debate: Church Oversight of Baptism- Foster’s Rebuttal of Miller

Generations ago people wore hats to church on Sunday. Now they’re more likely to come with duct tape wrapped around their heads to prevent them from exploding from the 7-24 infusion of breaking news and cultural revision. Could it be that the constant cultural change blaring from our televisions, radios and the Internet on sites like Drudge, regurgitated on Facebook and Twitter and various blogs and forums is leaving us overwhelmed and searching for something truly constant? Could it be that Southern Baptists are yearning for a well-preached, on-target sermon, a clear and consistent Bible … [Read more...] about The Church Home: A Refuge in an Information-Overload Era?

As we begin a new year in our churches, in the sense that summer is behind us, maybe it’s a good time for each of us to take a close look at the admonishment to bear each other’s burdens. Fulfilling the law of Christ might prevent many a fall this fall. No one disagreed that I was probably the worst vocalist in our high school church youth choir. I had been told I was a bass, so I was always on the back row, which was fine with me. The choir director would sometimes know something was amiss and he'd say "Let me just hear the bass row on this part," and he'd cup his ear and lean towards our … [Read more...] about Ready to Bear Some Burdens?