Tag Archives: SBC

Opportunity and the Southern Baptist Convention

Posted on April 18, 2018 | 6 comments

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) faces some challenges. We have slowly declined in recent years. We have less members and attenders. The decline in evangelistic effectiveness is especially troubling. But there is opportunity.

Our fellowship has not always been stellar. We can be cantankerous towards each other and our disagreements are not always handled as agreeably as they should be. Sometimes we find ourselves unnecessarily snarky. But there is opportunity.

We have vacancies at the leadership of two major agencies– the International Mission Board and the Executive Committee. These are critical roles and there are no perfect people to lead them. But there is opportunity.

God provides Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, Christian unity, evangelism, friendship, humility, International Mission Board, southern baptist convention, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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#SBC17 Our Greatest Need

Posted on May 25, 2017 | 1 comment

If programs were our greatest need, the Southern Baptist Convention (and Evangelicals as a whole) would have accomplished all the Lord asks of us long ago. Programs are fine, even good. We need the practical application of our faith. But programs and methodology are not our deepest need.

If behavioral changes were our greatest need, we might whip people into obedience and call it a day. Right behavior is good, even critical. We need to do the things God asks us to do and avoid those he tells us not to do. But this is not our deepest need.

If cultural battles were our greatest need, we could Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, Christianity, revival, sbc, southern baptist convention, spiritual awakening, Uncategorized

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#SBC17 My Hopes

Posted on May 18, 2017 | Leave a comment

The Southern Baptist Convention meets in Phoenix for the annual meeting in just a few weeks. This will mark the end of my brief service as 1st VP. While I wonder how the convention will ever make it without me in this role (I’m pretty sure no one else besides me is wondering that!) here are some of my hopes for Continue reading →

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Posted in southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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#SBC17 What I Look Forward to in Phoenix

Posted on May 11, 2017 | Leave a comment

The Southern Baptist Convention is in Phoenix, AZ this June and it will be different for me. I am the 1st Vice President of the Convention this year. That plus .79 cents (plus even more for taxes) gets me a soft drink at Circle K. There isn’t much power to the position but I did have a chance to learn more about the SBC. I will even lead a brief part of the convention on Tuesday afternoon. (A good time for controversialists to make their move if ever there was one!)

Here is what I’m looking forward to at the convention in Continue reading →

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Posted in Christianity, sbc, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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The Cooperative Program Rediscovered

Posted on March 23, 2017 | Leave a comment

One of the the things I want to do in my time of service with the Southern Baptist Convention is to encourage greater support for the cooperative program (CP). Oddly enough, more attention than ever has been paid to the CP through some recent dust ups with churches and the ERLC- one of our SBC agencies. Perhaps the CP is being rediscovered.

Every church in the SBC can decide how much- if any- they give to missions through the cooperative program. Every state convention can decide how much they forward on to national agencies. Every convention can debate the percentages that each agency should receive. But, I contend, the CP remains a marvel of opportunity. Here are some of the blessings of this method of mission giving.

First, the CP has been remarkably Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, cooperative program, giving, International Mission Board, sbc, southern baptist convention, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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The Value of State Conventions

Posted on August 18, 2016 | 2 comments

The Southern Baptist Convention is organized through state conventions. (Though some of the “state” conventions combine multiple states.) I suggest to you that these state conventions play a helpful, but underappreciated role in the work of our faith and denomination.
I’ve heard people predict or even advocate the demise of state conventions for years now. Are they necessary? Do they add a level of redundancy? That sort of thing. While I always appreciate efforts to make our work more effective and efficient, there are some benefits to the work of our state conventions that ought to be considered. Here are just a few.
1. They keep us locally focused. I appreciate a big picture approach to SBC life. But that big picture is made up of many smaller portraits. State conventions have the pulse of churches in their region that national entities can’t. No one knows more about the needs of my state better than my own state convention staff. The very fact that they live and worship here allows them to understand our needs in church planting and revitalization and discipleship in a way that is difficult for others. Continue reading →

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Posted in sbc, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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Those who don’t attend the Southern Baptist Convention

Posted on June 16, 2016 | 10 comments

I just got back from attending the Southern Baptist Convention. It was an unusual and interesting and exciting meeting.
My wife served as the president of the Ministers Wives Conference with about 1,200 ladies attending the luncheon. It was awesome but she is worn out. (Shout out to all who helped her- we love you!)
I was elected the 1st Vice President of the SBC. Don’t you have some suspicions about an organization that would do that?
But I noticed some people who weren’t there. In fact, several Continue reading →

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Posted in missionaries, missions, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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Encouraging the Southern Baptist Convention, part 1

Posted on February 4, 2016 | 5 comments

A series of seven blogs on the Southern Baptist Convention? I’m not sure many will read one and I’m doing seven? Well, hope springs eternal in the blogger’s heart. These are seven areas or people that I think need some special attention and encouragement in the years ahead- seven areas that I want to encourage especially.

#1.  I want to encourage Cooperative Mission and support for the Cooperative Program.

I love missions of all sort. I’m not against societal missions in any way. But I do think our denomination’s method of cooperative missions with the International Mission Board has a special brilliance. Missionary Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, cooperative program, encouragement, International Mission Board, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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Whither the Cooperative Program?

Posted on October 20, 2015 | Leave a comment

Whither? At least I didn’t say “ye olde Cooperative Program”. But sometimes it feels as though the Cooperative Program, the primary means by which Southern Baptists have funded their missionary and educational responsibilities for decades, has been relegated to an unnecessary relic of the past. Is that a good thing?
The percentage given by the average SBC church to the Cooperative Program (CP) has dropped over the years to just over 5%. Is that a good thing?
Some churches have, instead, adopted a more societal approach to missions. They tend to do direct mission work (or support those who do) instead of the more cooperative work of the CP.
There are several reasons given for this. “There Continue reading →

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Posted in baptist, cooperative program, missions, southern baptist convention, southern baptist convention, Uncategorized

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What Pastors Need

Posted on September 21, 2015 | 2 comments

The world of pastors and other vocational ministers is a different world. It can be wonderful, fulfilling, frustrating and discouraging all in the same day. It is fantastic because we get to work with people and it can be challenging because… well, because we get to work with people.
The majority of ministers do it because they believe God has called them to this important task. They want to make a difference in this world and in eternity. They care about people and love the message of the gospel. Their motivation, if they are what they need to be, is to honor the Lord, teach His word and help others to join them in following Jesus.
But, like all people, they have needs. Let me mention four things pastors need from their churches.
1. They need Continue reading →

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Posted in encouragement, minister, pastor, Uncategorized

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