Is the EC or SBC at Fault in the SBC Sexual Abuse Scandal In a recent interview the President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Dr. Bart Barber, discussed the sexual abuse scandal in the SBC among other topics. In the interview Barber says, What the investigation found after looking hard to see if they could find a time when the convention or the executive committee knew about abuse and failed to report it, or facilitated an abuser being able... Read more
What Happens When Hope Dies? Ben Franklin once said that many people die at 25 and we only get around to burying them when they reach 70. Whatever his motivation for the saying, if he were referring to the death of hope, then he was right. When hope dies, the power to strive dies along with it. Funerals for dreams and imagination soon follow. When hope dies, the only things that remain are our coping mechanisms. Food, substances, pleasure,... Read more
Jesus Walks on the Water and Jesus’ Divinity In my social media adventures over the last several months, I have noticed a group of people denying the divinity of Jesus. Because it is social media, it is hard to tell if it is a large movement or if it is just a small group whose voices seem more numerous because they are concentrated on Twitter. Some of them are following the work of UNC professor Bart Ehman, who has sold... Read more
Weeping Over Work Her name is Brielle Asero, a college graduate with a degree in marketing. Recently, she posted a video about her struggles with her work. In her video, Asero weeps as she rails about the way her work life is going. The work itself is not the problem for her, it is the amount of time it takes out of her life. Unable to afford to live within walking distance of her work, she makes her commute on... Read more
In honor of the anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Thesis, I am writing 95 theses of my own with my own Baptist flavor. I last did this a few years ago. While there are some changes, the list remains quite similar. I The Bible is the final authority of faith and practice. All religious ideas and traditions are subject to correction by the Scriptures. With the Bible as the final authority, pastors and theologians should be conversant... Read more
Institutions and the Hamas Horror Leading religious and educational institutions is a difficult venture. Sometimes knowing when to speak and when to be silent is difficult. Issues like war and peace, the role of government, or how to resolve race disputes can be extremely complex. Because of this difficulty, institutions are often reticent to get involved in such disputes, and rightly so. On occasion, however, events occur that are so toxic that the distinction between right and wrong is clear.... Read more
A Time to Speak There are times when the best thing to say is nothing. When one is angered or outraged, silence is wisdom. After all, after expression words cannot be rescinded. They have a power of their own. One must be careful, especially when indignant. So, waiting for the whole story to emerge, waiting for fury to pass a good course of action. Stillness and silence have an expiration, though, and they have expired. Now, truths must be spoken.... Read more
Don’t Call It Burn Out Don’t call it burn-out Andrew Lang’s recent article detailing his reasons for leaving the pastorate generated many responses, including mine. One published response caught my attention. Ordinarily, a response to an article like his does not merit a separate response because one gets to the point of diminishing returns. Todd Thomason’s article, Don’t Call It Burn-Out in Baptist News Global, however, is an exception. It demands a response. In it, Thomason takes exception to... Read more
Beth Moore A recent Tweet by Beth Moore is a curiosity and it points to a misuse of a method of Biblical interpretation, the Jesus Criterion among, Baptists and other evangelical Christians. In 1994 Beth Moore founded Living Proof Ministries to teach women the Scriptures.[1] Since then Moore has become a beloved author and teacher, selling 17.5 million copies of her Bible studies. Once the darling of the SBC, Moore has left the denomination to be part of an Anglican... Read more
“Lord, who are you and who am I?” St. Francis of Assisi She is a student at a community college, perhaps she is 17 or 18. Wearing typical college attire, sweats and a t-shirt, she appears finished even though trying to dress down. Her hair, parted in the middle, is fiery red, but there seems to be little fire in her soul. She engages in class, but she seems rather detached otherwise. Her crystal blue eyes look heavy when not... Read more
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