Like cottage cheese in the refrigerator, intellectual movements have a shelf life. Movements are born with promise and hope, and they often die in odious calamities. Evidence of the end of an intellectual movement is often mistaken for something else. Observers blame infighting, when the real problem is the inability of the movement to address new realities. Observers blame loss of zeal, when the problem is intellectual exhaustion of the movement. The “Conservative Resurgence” of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)... Read more

Baptist No More An often-recurring discussion in the Southern Baptist Convention has focused on the denomination’s name. From time to time some will make a recommendation to change the name because “Southern” does not seem to fit. In truth, while most of the SBC’s 47,500 congregations are in the south, the denomination has 41 cooperating state conventions and partnerships with Baptists around the world. In thinking about the name, many SBC leaders have adopted the term, “Great Commission Baptists.” While... Read more

Yesterday was a very difficult day for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The Executive Committee (EC) met for one of their three yearly meetings, the first meeting since the most recent Annual Meeting of the SBC. The EC had been directed by the messengers of the SBC, the representatives of local congregations empowered to vote on their congregations’ behalf, to fund an investigation on sexual abuse and waive attorney-client privilege so investigation could gain the most information. What should have... Read more

Saturday morning was a typical Saturday at my house. My little girls woke up before I wanted to get out of bed. Reluctantly, I got up too. We played in the den for a few minutes, but before long we were watching one of their favorite movies, Inside Out. When 9:03 am arrived, I had one of my girls snuggled up under my right arm, and one under my left. We were at peace. It was, a perfect Saturday, a... Read more

On June 15th of this year the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) elected Rev. Ed Litton to be the Convention’s 63rd president. The election was quite contentious as differing factions of the SBC were vying for control. Since no candidate got a majority of the votes in the initial ballot there was a run off between Litton and Rev. Mike Stone. Stone had the support of Paige Patterson and a group called the Conservative Baptist Network. With Stone’s connection to Patterson... Read more

If you follow the news, you know this has been a terrible week for the people in Afghanistan. The long expected American exit from Afghanistan commenced and chaos ensued. The images from the airport in Kabul were horrifying. Men, women, and children fleeing for their lives from the Taliban, desperately clamored for passage to a safe place. There were some so desperate as to grab ahold of the wings of an aircraft hoping, by some miracle of strength, they would... Read more

Photo by Wendy van Zyl on Pexels.com In order to get good matches it is important for congregations and clergy to understand each other on a very deep level. Here are some questions that will help congregations understand who they are hiring. Who is Jesus God? Who is Jesus Christ? Who is the Holy Spirit? What is God like?* What is your philosophy of leadership? How do you manage staff? How do you view the authority of the office of... Read more

Photo by Rene Asmussen on Pexels.com Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to find a pastor that fits your congregation? In Baptist life we once had a system. Pastors who were looking for a new congregation to serve would send a resume to the Director of Missions (For those of you outside of Baptist circles or for those who are from Independent or Free Will Baptist traditions, the Director of Missions (DOM) is the one who helps... Read more

Photo by Poppy Thomas Hill on Pexels.com In one sense, I am a classic Generation X’er. Among many characteristics we are purported to share is an anti-institutional bias, and there is good reason for that. We Generation X’ers have seen institutions fail at their basic missions, become inflexible, have a basic allergy to change, have no capacity for self-criticism, and lose their ideological moorings. One the worst failures of institutions, however, is their willingness to assume power over the people... Read more

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com 95 theses for the 21st century For doors in Nashville and Atlanta I 1.  God is God.[1] Humans are notorious for making God into their own image or revising their image of God according to current sensibilities. God, however, is unaffected by our desires to make Him suit our preferences. God is infinite in nature, unlimited in power, astounding in wisdom, lives in eternal blessedness and bliss, and is beyond all human understanding. God will... Read more