You Are What You Do

As I grew up a Southern Baptist I remember being taught, often, that “Southern Baptists are not a denomination, we are a convention of local churches.” Perhaps that is true in theory. However, I am of the opinion that we are what we do. If I say I am frugal but I max out my credit cards on weekend spending sprees then it doesn’t much matter what I say because what I say doesn’t match the reality of my actions.

I claim to be a fairly disconnected Southern Baptist when it comes to things on the national level. Read more

The Nature of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things that confronts humanity. Nations fight wars over hurts that go back literally hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of years. The conflict in the Balkans in the 90s is a good example of how, for hundreds of years, Bosnians and Croats have fought because at various times in their history they have each perpetrated inhumanities against one other. They have spent hundreds of years “getting back” at each other. When they aren’t fighting they are enduring their own little “cold war” of animosity. Until forgiveness is found, this sad history will simply continue to repeat itself into the future.

Individuals are no different. Read more

America, We Have A Problem

While at youth camp this summer I heard a statistic quoted that 80% of seminary graduates leave the ministry within five years of graduating.  I went snooping around to see where such a statistic might come from.  Well, it turns out that LeadingFromYourStrengths.com has come across various troubling studies.  They posted them at their blog about a year ago.  Here’s what they found: Read more

Two Referals And A Request

Wow.  This has been a very busy and very long week.  Nearly every night has been taken up with some sort of activity and an extra project along with a doctor’s visit have filled up my already busy days.  I intended to post something original this week, but instead I want to point you to two other sites and make a request.

First, I want to point you to this update from J.D. Greear.  J.D. is a pastor in North Carolina who has been asked to serve on our national convention’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.  This is a task force that was appointed by Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt to examine how the SBC can be more effective in our obedience to the Great Commission.  Baptisms in the denomination are down, giving to our International Missions Board is down.  How can we reverse those trends?  Read more

Jesus The Center

For a religion that takes its name from its founder it would seem that Jesus being the center of the Christian faith would be a redundant statement of the obvious. But is it?

I think there are two sources of competition for Jesus being the center in the modern American church. One of those sources of competition shouldn’t be competition at all because it actually points back to Jesus everywhere. The other source of competition is killing the church while we sit by and sing My Jesus I Love Thee. Read more

Wading Back In

I need therapy.

Many of us do.

Therapy is usually a bunch of talking. I’ve never submitted myself to formal therapy with a professional, but I’ve seen the caricatures on TV. Patient lies on couch and talks. Doctor mumbles profundities like, “Mmmm hmmm,” and “I see,” and “how does that make you feel?” And then, of course, “That will be $75. See you next week.” So it seems that it’s mainly an avenue for people to get stuff off their chest. Verbalize their thoughts and feelings.

Why pay $75 when you can do the same thing with a blog for free?

There are some who don’t get blogging. They generally don’t get e-mail or Facebook or Twitter or amazon.com or how to use a remote either. I’m pretty sure my dad’s one of those people. I mean, I’ve had a blog for over six years and I doubt he’s ever read a single post. And that’s ok. [Hi, mom!]

But I need this therapy. I need to talk. I need to express myself. I’ve been in a self-imposed lock-down mode for nearly a year now, with an exception here and there. I think this is my eighth post this year (in eight months) not counting video links. I’m going to try to improve that to one a week. Then I’ll go from there. My vocation, no, my calling, is to communicate.

Stay tuned.

Semper Reformanda

You’d either have to know Latin or church history to know what that means, but Semper Reformanda was a phrase used by some of the Protestant Reformers to indicate that church reformation is always ongoing; literally “always reforming.”

As I look at 2000 years of church history one thing I note is that the church has regularly been called back from a place of compromise, apathy and lethargy to a place of greater faithfulness and vibrancy. Read more

Obscuring Reality

As I think about the last 2000 years in the history of the church there are many people and groups that I admire.  I often wish I knew a little more about the early church Fathers because they lived so close to Jesus that I’m inclined to the belief that their faith was more pure.  Untainted.  There are aspects of the lives and teachings of Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin that really hit home for me.  Later I see the deep devotion of the Desert Fathers.  Then, of course, there is Augustine.

I appreciate the devotion, the call to a simple life and authentic faith that can be seen in the Waldensians in France, the Lollards in England and the Moravians in Bohemia.

I’m inspired by the mind of the Reformers and the devotion of the Radical Reformers.

But looking at the history of the church, there is something in each individual or group that, to me, just isn’t quite right.   Read more

Lessons From Church History

Over the past 6 months I’ve been teaching a Sunday School class in church history.  When we step back from the specific details of God’s work in his church through time there are some repeated trends that one notices.  I want to think through some of those I’ve noticed as I’ve taught this class.  Rather than give a list I want to examine some specific trends and I’ll dedicate a separate post to each one.

Today, however, I want to lay my presuppositions on the table. Read more

Are Football Bowls Worthless?

I’m going to answer yes for a variety of reasons.

1. When more than half of all Division I football teams qualify to play in a bowl; when teams that barely had a winning record get a bowl invitation; when we get treated to the likes of Houston vs. Air Force or Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois, then bowl games have become worthless.
2. Except for one game - the National Championship game - bowl games mean nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  No one’s conference standings change.  For the most part they aren’t even real games.  Nothing next week, or next month, or next year depends upon the outcome.
3. There is very little interest in them.  There were 34 bowl games this year.  How many did you actually watch from beginning to end?  Even as announcers would tell of a “sold-out” game, the overhead blimp cam would reveal lots and lots of empty seats.  Even at some of the more interesting ones.
4. They foster the continued and agonizing debate over “who really deserves to be number one?”  So far I’ve already heard Tyrone Wittingham of Utah and Mack Brown of Texas say that they will be voting their own teams number one in the final poll and every on-field announcer seems to feel the need to ask every winning coach and every winning player in every BCS game who they think deserves to be number one.  [Side note to all of the Texas and Utah fans out there: Neither Texas nor Utah will be crowned National Champions at the conclusion of this bowl season.]
5. Many teams realize that the game is meaningless and simply go to the bowl destination to have a good time.  Nine times out of ten Oklahoma will beat Boise State, but not when Boise is playing for pride and Oklahoma is playing for nothing.  They simply aren’t real games.  The week heading into bowl games is not a “normal” week of preparation.  Focus is often on things other than the game.  Things like interviews.  Limo rides.  Party spots.

So, except for the National Championship game, in any given year there is only one bowl game that matters and that is the National Championship game.

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