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 right. God’s people ought to be able to discuss things, even our differences, in a forthright and reasonable way.
I am hoping that SBC Voices can be a model of lively but cordial discussion. Of course, we will fail at times. I will fail at times. But that is the goal.
Here’s what I want SBC Voices to be about.
1) We do not have a “point-of-view” at SBC Voices. We have Calvinists and non-Calvinists, different approaches, different eschatologies. There are blogs that are about one person’s viewpoint. Not here. I want to publish as many different points of view as I possibly can within the Southern Baptist fold.
2) We encourage disagreement. The contributors here do not engage in group think. Each of us states our opinions and we are free to challenge and criticize one another’s views. If you follow the site, we had a pretty sharp debate about the subjective voice of God to believers recently.
3) We expect debate to be focused and reasoned. It is possible to have a disagreement without that disagreement becoming personal or unkind. We fall short of that often – we all do. But that is the goal. Talk about ideas, doctrines and perspectives, not people. We can disagree respectfully.
4) I am becoming a little more aggressive in comment moderation. SBC Voices has seen a lot of wild comment streams in which personal insults reigned supreme. We just are not going there anymore. I expect you to control yourself. I’m not your mother, nor your babysitter. Choose to comment under the self-control the Holy Spirit produces in you. If you do not demonstrate self-control, I will put your comments on moderation. That means they have to be approved before they appear. As a last resort, we can block your comments. I’ve only done that twice and hope I won’t have to do it again.
5) I saw a page a while back that described the vision of the blog owner (Tony Kummer ) for this site. I liked it and that is my goal here. We want to post two or three thoughtful and well-written posts every weekday. Sometimes, I put something up on Saturday. Seldom will anything be posted on Sunday unless something huge happens.
6) We are a “regular joe” blog. There are some very good blogs written by SBC luminaries, scholars and blogging celebrities. They are well worth reading. We are a blog of average people from average churches.
My goal is that SBC Voices will be the place where Baptists come to talk (not argue or fight) about what is going on in our convention.
The Team
SBC Voices is owned by Tony Kummer. Every once in a while he stops by and posts something. But his interests are more focused on “Ministry to Children.”
Dave Miller, Editor
I am pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa – probably one of the true old fogeys in the blogging world. I used to have several blogs of my own, but now I only write at sbcIMPACT about twice a month and I manage this site.
Jeff Musgrave, Assistant Editor
Jeff holds one great distinction. He is the only one of our contributors who lives in a colder climate than I do! Jeff is from the frozen north of North Dakota. He blogs at Jeofurry’s Jesus Journey. Jeff is now helping me with editing duties – comment moderation and such. Jeff just got this amazing promotion last week, and we triple his normal contributor’s salary along with the title!
Yes, Jeff and I are involved in a conspiracy to keep control of SBC Voices in the upper Midwest!
Here’s our other regular contributors in alphabetical order:
Dan Barnes
Dan is the associate pastor at the other SBC church in Sioux City. He’s a friend of mine, but don’t hold that against him. His personal blog “Thoughts of J. Dan Barnes” is not recommended because it has a picture of him and frankly, he’s not a good looking man.
Mike Bergman
Mike, who blogs at “Unjust Justified.” writes mostly on ministry-related topics. His recent post, on the environment, was very active. He always has insight and practical wisdom.
Bernie Diaz
Bernie has actually been a contributor for quite some time and is just beginning to write for us again. He is a pastor in Pembroke Pines, Fl. We’ll be seeing one of his posts this week. Here is his church’s website.
Doug Hibbard
Doug has been a regular commenter here, but has just become a contributor. It is probably best for the Baptist World that Doug and I do not live to close. I think our shared sense of humor could cause a lot of trouble at Baptist meetings! Doug is an Arkansan, but we refuse to hold that against him. He blogs at “Obvious and Ordinary.”
Thom Hunter
Thom is a great writer who reveals the personal and painful struggles he has been through. His personal blog is “Signs of a Struggle” and he writes mostly about his personal struggles and sexual brokenness. Few have the kind of transparency and openness that Thom has. And his posts are literature that would make Shakespeare jealous!
Mike Leake
Mike is another one of our new bloggers here at SBC Voices. Mike blogs at “Borrowed Light” and is an excellent writer. He tends to write thoughtful and devotional topics.
Jared Moore
The problem with Jared is that he is scared to tackle controversial topics! Of course, you know that is not true. He loves to tackle the tough subject and we are glad to have him as part of our team. He blogs at “Jared Moore” as well as here.
Jeremy Parks
Jeremy is an IMB missionary but writes devotional and personal reflection pieces at his blog “The Only Question.” Look forward to his posts! And because I did not want this to be so short, I added this important sentence to make Jeremy’s bio look a little longer. I don’t really know a lot more about him, but I did not want it to seem like I was slighting him by making his bio seem so short. So, I haven’t really said much, but this at least makes it look good.
Hariette Peterson
Posts with us from time to time, but is a very active blogger at SelahV Today. She’s one of the stalwarts in the blogging world. She’s been around since the early days. Her posts are mostly devotional and very encouraging. If there was a vote for “nicest blogger” Hariette would be out there leading the pack. But she also has a deep biblical insight and a perceptive point of view. (Evidently, she is also French – see comments below!)
Anthony Russo
Anthony left a comment a while back and I went back and read his blog. “Throw Everything Away” I saw a post that cracked me up and got him to post a couple of times. We just recently added him as a regular contributor. What Anthony writes is always worth reading.
Howell Scott
Howell has a great story. He used to be a lawyer by has moved from “law to grace.” That’s his blog, “From Law to Grace.” He generally posts at Voices regarding SBC issues. I believe he is one of the up-and-comers in the blog world.
Guest Bloggers
We also have a lot of guest bloggers who post occasionally. In fact, if you send me something I will generally post it. As I said, I want as many voices contributing to Voices as we can get!
This list is pretty fluid. People become inactive or we add a new person. But for the time being, this is our team.
