SBCvoices

28/11/2023

Scatter shooting, while wondering if leisure suits will make a comeback. (asking for a friend) We need to pray for my friend, classmate, and former pastor Steve Gaines, the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. He’s been diagnosed with kidney cancer. The disease must be advanced because he will consult with doctors at the M D Anderson Clinic in Houston....

Scatter shooting, while wondering if leisure suits will make a comeback. (asking for a friend) We need to pray for my friend, classmate, and former pastor Steve Gaines, the pastor of Bellevue Bapti…

28/11/2023

When this posts, if all goes well, and God blesses, I will be on the Omaha to Atlanta leg of my trip fourteenth trip to Senegal, West Africa. In January of 2015, I traveled there for the first time with Bart Barber and felt conflicting emotions. I wanted to leave and go home almost every moment I was there. I was filled with fear, stress, and anxiety in so many ways....

When this posts, if all goes well, and God blesses, I will be on the Omaha to Atlanta leg of my trip fourteenth trip to Senegal, West Africa. In January of 2015, I traveled there for the first time…

27/11/2023

There are plenty of reasons to not be on Twitter these days. But here's something you may have missed this weekend that is worth your time. Andrew Hébert posted an excellent essay arguing for supporting women teaching in some mixed-gender settings in the church. Two reasons I thought this was worth highlighting as a post for our readers: First, this is a pressing question for the SBC right now as a vocal group seems intent on limiting women's leadership roles severely....

There are plenty of reasons to not be on Twitter these days. But here’s something you may have missed this weekend that is worth your time. Andrew Hébert posted an excellent essay arguing for…

21/11/2023

I have been attending a Southern Baptist Church since 9 months before I was born, and I've been a member of one since I was baptized in February of 1964, holding membership at churches in Iowa, Georgia, Taiwan, Florida, Texas, and now Nebraska. When my ministry in Sioux City ended I immediately began preaching at a Nebraska church that was loosely affiliated with the American Baptist Churches (we were guests at the convention last year, not messengers - it felt weird!), but was exploring affiliation with the SBC....

I have been attending a Southern Baptist Church since 9 months before I was born, and I’ve been a member of one since I was baptized in February of 1964, holding membership at churches in Iow…

20/11/2023

Some years ago, while serving with the IMB in the Philippines, the IMB’s Regional Leader, Bill Wakefield, came for a visit. Our mission administrator asked me to serve as his driver and translator. So, I drove him where he wanted to go, and I interpreted for him in Cebuano as necessary. As we drove along, I asked what I could do to keep my daily devotional time fresh....

Some years ago, while serving with the IMB in the Philippines, the IMB’s Regional Leader, Bill Wakefield, came for a visit. Our mission administrator asked me to serve as his driver and translator.…

07/11/2023

"Death to Moby Dick! Death to Moby Dick!" The grog-fueled, semi-ecstatic chant of Daggoo, the west African harpooneer of the doomed ship Pequod. A little Melville goes a long way in today's SBC. Our venerable North American Mission Board is the SBC Moby Dick, the enormous spermaceti whale and object of the crazed, morbid, and ultimately fatal quest for vengeance by Captain Ahab and willing crew....

“Death to Moby Dick! Death to Moby Dick!” The grog-fueled, semi-ecstatic chant of Daggoo, the west African harpooneer of the doomed ship Pequod. A little Melville goes a long way in tod…

02/11/2023

Jonathan Whitehead is unlikely to win a popularity vote among SBCV people but his words on the current controversy over a brief filed by lawyers for the SBC, SBCEC, Lifeway, and SBTS regarding a Kentucky case should be read. I've always found his writing to be incisive and well informed. Excerpts from his American Reformer article: Many Baptists have understood the SBC abuse reform effort in terms of brochures, websites, and trainings about how churches can prevent grooming and abuse. ...

Jonathan Whitehead is unlikely to win a popularity vote among SBCV people but his words on the current controversy over a brief filed by lawyers for the SBC, SBCEC, Lifeway, and SBTS regarding a Ke…

26/10/2023

The following statement was released to media outlets earlier today and is reposted here. _____ Statement from Leaders, Advisors and Advocates in the Southern Baptist Convention. As individuals who have worked alongside the Southern Baptist Convention in abuse reform or held positions of past or current leadership in the Convention related to abuse reform, we come together to express our deep grief at the Amicus Brief filed on behalf of the Convention, Lifeway…...

The following statement was released to media outlets earlier today and is reposted here. _____ Statement from Leaders, Advisors and Advocates in the Southern Baptist Convention. As individuals who…

26/10/2023

The following statement was released by Megan Lively, Jules Woodson and Tiffany Thigpen and is reposted here unedited with permission. As survivors who have chosen to continue in a role actively engaged with members of the EC, ARITF, and others within the SBC, with the goal of reform, we are sickened and saddened to be burned yet again by the actions of the SBC against survivors....

The following statement was released by Megan Lively, Jules Woodson and Tiffany Thigpen and is reposted here unedited with permission. As survivors who have chosen to continue in a role actively en…

18/10/2023

Jared Wellman and the SBC Cooperation Group is doing a survey. Lifeway Research is collaborating in this and all SBC churches with an email address receive the survey. Here is the survey and how I would have answered as pastor of the church from which I retired. The survey asks for answers on a scale from "strongly disagree" to "don't know"....

Jared Wellman and the SBC Cooperation Group is doing a survey. Lifeway Research is collaborating in this and all SBC churches with an email address receive the survey. [As an aside, I get a malware…

11/10/2023

It's stunningly stupid that in the 21st century any church or individual would not recognize that white people using black theatrical makeup to portray any African American is highly offensive. But, one Oklahoma church pastor did (8 years ago, when Obama was president) just that. The mostly dysfunctional SBC Executive Committee recently expelled the church. Here's what I don't like about that:...

It’s stunningly stupid that in the 21st century any church or individual would not recognize that white people using black theatrical makeup to portray any African American is highly offensiv…

09/10/2023

A Tweet I read the other day got me to thinking about preaching. On X (formerly Twitter) a preacher posted that as a young preacher, he was advised to study one hour for each minute he preached. In the thread that followed, most disagreed with that advice, as do I. A disclaimer here—I am not a preaching professor. I majored in missions in my PhD studies, and I’ve taught mainly missions and evangelism....

A Tweet I read the other day got me to thinking about preaching. On X (formerly Twitter) a preacher posted that as a young preacher, he was advised to study one hour for each minute he preached. In…

15/09/2023

If you like turmoil, rancor, disasters, and train wrecks...you should be enjoying SBC life right now. But...a glimmer of optimism appears. Is the Cooperation Group too little, too late? Cooperation Group named by Barber. Our president, Texas cattle baron and beleaguered Cardinal fan, Bart Barber said: “These declarations that churches are not in friendly cooperation and these appeals in response to those declarations represent a change in the fundamental processes by which we cooperate with one another,” ...

If you like turmoil, rancor, disasters, and train wrecks…you should be enjoying SBC life right now. But…a glimmer of optimism appears. Is the Cooperation Group too little, too late? Coo…

07/09/2023

Scatter shooting while wondering why Alabama’s mascot is an elephant, but the team is called The Crimson Tide. Perhaps C. B. Scott can enlighten us. We should strive to be good stewards in both life and death. Every adult should have a will. Your state Baptist foundation or the Southern Baptist Foundation can advise you and point you to a Christian attorney....

Scatter shooting while wondering why Alabama’s mascot is an elephant, but the team is called The Crimson Tide. Perhaps C. B. Scott can enlighten us. We should strive to be good stewards in both lif…

05/09/2023

Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable... He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, That would be the universe of our Grand Convention, proudly Southern Baptists, and doggone the critics we will slog onward whatever the insanity. I cannot provide the mindset of Southern Baptist women, since my pronouns are "he," "him," and occasionally "jerk," but I'm taking a risk that our recent experiences with amending the SBC constitution to target any woman who fills a job with the title of "pastor/elder/overseer" has set the sisters' teeth on edge....

Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable… He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, That would be the universe of our …

31/08/2023

My answers below are a broader version concerning the plaque posted in the lobby of Broadus Chapel in remembrance of the enslaved whose exploitation of their labor funded the early years of Southern Baptist Seminary. The questions are from Andy Wolfson, a longtime reporter in Louisville at the Courier Journal. My answers address the plaque and a discussion in Word & Way of whether Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has fulfilled its pledge to erect a "major marker" on the campus which acknowledges the sin of American slavery and the contributions made to the seminary by enslaved Black people....

My answers below are a broader version concerning the plaque posted in the lobby of Broadus Chapel in remembrance of the enslaved whose exploitation of their labor funded the early years of Souther…

30/08/2023

Take the biblical approach to this: when you hear about SBC transparency, see that ye be not troubled. It's not going to happen. But allow me to sally forth and tilt once again against the non-transparency windmill: I commend herewith respected pastor Andrew Hebert, whose Baptist Press article included this point: If our cooperative work if going to succeed, we need a new commitment to integrity in our leadership and transparency about our leadership....

Take the biblical approach to this: when you hear about SBC transparency, see that ye be not troubled. It’s not going to happen. But allow me to sally forth and tilt once again against the n…

23/08/2023

Last week, I felt sad when I learned that Willie McLaurin had resigned his position with the Executive Committee of the SBC. The Search Committee seeking a new president discovered he had falsified his resume, falsely claiming to have graduated from three institutions. This saddened me for two reasons. First, I hoped Willie McLaurin would be elected to the president’s post....

Last week, I felt sad when I learned that Willie McLaurin had resigned his position with the Executive Committee of the SBC. The Search Committee seeking a new president discovered he had falsified…

22/08/2023

We chastise those who ignore biblical commands about unity, love, and gentleness on social media to speak evil in the name of Christ. This is a real concern but recently I have become concerned about the opposite problem - our tendency to post every act of ministry and every good deed on social media. When we live our lives on social media, when we post our quiet time shots (open Bible and steaming coffee), trumpet how many got saved or baptized at church, rejoice publicly at all the great things happening at our churches and in our lives, there is a danger that we could be violating a command Jesus gave in Matthew 6....

We chastise those who ignore biblical commands about unity, love, and gentleness on social media to speak evil in the name of Christ. This is a real concern but recently I have become concerned abo…

21/08/2023

Does the next leader of the Executive Committee need to be a Pastor? A look at past leaders and exploration of current needs.

The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention has not always been a part of Baptist life. For the first several decades of the SBC the business got done through committees, meetings, a…

16/08/2023

I had a conversation with the son of one of the members of my church last night, and it put me in mind of one of the darkest times in my life, a period no one warned me about. The fact that it coincided with the COVID shutdown didn't help much. I can't remember the exact timeframe, but sometime in early 2019 (I think - might have been 2018), my mom was diagnosed with her second round of breast cancer....

I had a conversation with the son of one of the members of my church last night, and it put me in mind of one of the darkest times in my life, a period no one warned me about. The fact that it coin…

12/08/2023

Our Grand Convention has the attention span of a toddler. We lurch from one topic/crisis/scandal/issue du jour to another at breathtaking speed, "forgetting what lies behind" and boldly, sometimes recklessly, turning our attention and energies to the next one. Witness the ease with which s*x abuse reform was displaced in favor of policing job title vocabulary in local churches. Egad....

Our Grand Convention has the attention span of a toddler. We lurch from one topic/crisis/scandal/issue du jour to another at breathtaking speed, “forgetting what lies behind” and boldly…

11/08/2023

Scatter shooting, while wondering if it will ever rain in Texas. I still need “hot” jokes. It is supposed to be 107 in Fort Worth today and over 100 for the next ten days. Speaking of rain, I took my Texas grandchildren on vacation in northern Michigan. It rained one day, and I had to explain what that water was....

Scatter shooting, while wondering if it will ever rain in Texas. I still need “hot” jokes. It is supposed to be 107 in Fort Worth today and over 100 for the next ten days. Speaking of rain, I took …

21/07/2023

Scatter shooting while trying to find a cool place in Texas. It’s so hot in Texas that people are telling hot jokes to cope. (The high today in Fort Worth will be 106.) Here’s one—It’s so hot; my dream home is any house in Alaska. If you’ve got a good “hot” joke, please send it. We are struggling to cope here in Texas....

Scatter shooting while trying to find a cool place in Texas. It’s so hot in Texas that people are telling hot jokes to cope. (The high today in Fort Worth will be 106.) Here’s one—It’s so hot; my d…

18/07/2023

If a church has multiple pastors, who is the pastor and how does the congregation express this? Is the fresh-faced nineteen year old summer student pastor the same as his ultimate supervisor? The SBC spent decades with a pastor/deacon model. Those decades were the greatest in our growth. Why is that model so easily discarded? How much of our ecclesiology can be traced to American affluence and liberty?...

If a church has multiple pastors, who is the pastor and how does the congregation express this? Is the fresh-faced nineteen year old summer student pastor the same as his ultimate supervisor? The S…

14/07/2023

At the heart of the proposed (and first-vote-affirmed) amendment to the SBC Constitution are two doctrinal beliefs held by a majority of Southern Baptists. (Count me among those who hold them. Men and women, while both created in the image of God, were created with different roles to play in both the home and the church. Only men are to be responsible to fill the pastoral role(s) in the church....

At the heart of the proposed (and first-vote-affirmed) amendment to the SBC Constitution are two doctrinal beliefs held by a majority of Southern Baptists. (Count me among those who hold them. Men …

10/07/2023

At the Annual Meeting, messengers voted multiple times overwhelmingly in favor of complementarianism. One of those votes included amending Article III of the SBC Constitution with a sixth requirement of churches. The exact wording of that section of Article III would read: “The Convention will only deem a church to be in friendly cooperation with the Convention, and sympathetic with its purposes and work … which:...

At the Annual Meeting, messengers voted multiple times overwhelmingly in favor of complementarianism. One of those votes included amending Article III of the SBC Constitution with a sixth requireme…

08/07/2023

That is the question. Here's a church: The church has always been SBC, at every level, association, state convention, and national convention. The church supports each of those "levels" of SBC life through contributions. The church is doctrinally orthodox and closely identifies with the BFM although it has not been formally adopted as the church's statement of faith. The lead pastor has two degrees from one of the six SBC seminaries....

That is the question. Here’s a church: The church has always been SBC, at every level, association, state convention, and national convention. The church supports each of those “levels&…

05/07/2023

Around the time discussing Beth Moore’s Mother’s Day activities became controversial, my pastor husband and I began having regular – and sometimes heated – conversations about what women can’t do in service of the church. The question I started asking was, “What, then, can women do in the church?” As complementarians, we are quick to make lists, and they vary from church to church: women cannot preach, women cannot teach mixed group classes, women cannot be ordained, women cannot baptize, women cannot be the worship leader, women cannot be deacons, women cannot be in authority over a man....

Around the time discussing Beth Moore’s Mother’s Day activities became controversial, my pastor husband and I began having regular – and sometimes heated – conversations about what women can’t do i…

01/07/2023

Scatter shooting while thinking that Bart Barber is out, standing in his field. Color me pleased that Bart Barber won the SBC presidency for a second time. He has served us well and deserved a second term. Beyond that, he has proven one need not be a mega-church pastor to handle the demands of the office. That opinion was often voiced in the past....

Scatter shooting while thinking that Bart Barber is out, standing in his field. Color me pleased that Bart Barber won the SBC presidency for a second time. He has served us well and deserved a seco…

30/06/2023

Baptist's love Task Forces! How have they been used in baptist life over the years?

At the 2023 meeting in New Orleans, one common thing that came up over and over was proposals for a task force/committee. There were several calls, proposals, submissions, motions, and more about c…

27/06/2023

Language really is a funny thing, because so often how words are used determines what they mean regardless of their actual definition. Or to put it another way, meaning is dictated by connotation more than by actual denotation. This is especially so when it comes to current discussions in the Southern Baptist Convention about who can and cannot serve as pastor....

24/06/2023

This is gonna be a long one. For the last few years I have posted a list of things I would identify as my top 10 takeaways, favorite things or memorable events from the annual meeting. This year’s list will be different than my normal post-convention review for 2 main reasons. First, I have had a peek behind the curtain into the making of the convention and it has been a real eye-opener to me....

This is gonna be a long one. For the last few years I have posted a list of things I would identify as my top 10 takeaways, favorite things or memorable events from the annual meeting. This year’s …

19/06/2023

On Tuesday night during the SBC Annual Meeting, a breakout session sponsored by SBC Voices took place, focusing on the dynamics of adult s*xual abuse. Dr. Heather Evans, an expert in the subject matter, joined forces with Chellee Taylor, a survivor of clergy abuse, and pastor and SBC Voices member, Dr. Todd Benkert, to lead the session. As part of the program, Chellee and her husband Peter were interviewed and shared their own experience of the impact of adult clergy s*xual abuse....

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14/06/2023

Listening to Chellee Taylor last night at the SBC Voices breakout session on Adult Sexual Abuse in Churches, put together by Todd Benkert, I was reminded of how important this subject is. I sat as she told her horrifying story of abuse in an SBC megachurch, as one of her pastors groomed and then abused her in ways that are horrendous....

Listening to Chellee Taylor last night at the SBC Voices breakout session on Adult Sexual Abuse in Churches, put together by Todd Benkert, I was reminded of how important this subject is. I sat as …

14/06/2023

Our buddy Jay Adkins was elected overwhelmingly on the first ballot to be First Vice President of the SBC. There were 12,715 messengers registered, and 3782 voting at the end of the day. Jay received 2343 votes, for 63.27% of the votes. Dusty Deevers, the surprise candidate, received 784 votes, for 20.73%. Gevan Spinney received 581 votes, or 15.52%. We, here at SBC Voices, are thrilled for our brother Jay!...

Our buddy Jay Adkins was elected overwhelmingly on the first ballot to be First Vice President of the SBC. There were 12,715 messengers registered, and 3782 voting at the end of the day. Jay receiv…

14/06/2023

Three churches appealed to the convention to appeal the EC action that found them not in friendly cooperation with the SBC. 1. Fern Creek church has a woman pastor. She had 3 minutes to speak and was delightful. She is conservative, a gospel-preaching, right-wing pastor. She believes what we believe except for the idea that women should not be pastors....

Three churches appealed to the convention to appeal the EC action that found them not in friendly cooperation with the SBC. 1. Fern Creek church has a woman pastor. She had 3 minutes to speak and w…

13/06/2023

Bart Barber won a second term in a landslide. 12,710 messengers registered at the time of voting. 11,019 messengers voted. Bart received 7531 votes for 68.32%. Mike Stone received 3458 votes for 31.40%. 25 votes were disallowed. Bart won reelection in a landslide and I couldn't be happier!

Bart Barber won a second term in a landslide. 12,710 messengers registered at the time of voting. 11,019 messengers voted. Bart received 7531 votes for 68.32%. Mike Stone received 3458 votes for 31…

13/06/2023

I realize that what I am about to say is going to anger people, but it's an observation many have made in the seconds after the nomination speeches. I've never seen such a difference in tone and spirit in the two nominating speeches for president. Jarrett Stevens (was that the right name?) gave an upbeat, positive, and hopeful nominating speech for Dr....

I realize that what I am about to say is going to anger people, but it’s an observation many have made in the seconds after the nomination speeches. I’ve never seen such a difference in…

13/06/2023

Bart is about to share his presidential address. I will be posting highlights on SBC Voices Twitter account as fast as I am able to type.

Bart is about to share his presidential address. I will be posting highlights on SBC Voices Twitter account as fast as I am able to type.