Author Archive
Podcast Episode 29
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Les Puryear joins us on the podcast to discuss the SBC Majority Initiative and his recent series of posts on the distinction between Reformed pastors and traditional Southern Baptist pastors who are Calvinists. A storm caused us to lose our connection with Les just as we are beginning to discuss his blog series, so you’ll notice a bit of disconnected dialogue in there, as we edited out the chatter that went on while we were working to get everyone reconnected.
This podcast also marks the beginning of a bit of a hiatus (or should that be “an hiatus”?) for us here at SBC Today. As we explain in the closing moments of the podcast, summer is in full swing, and everyone is busy with VBS, camps, mission trips, and the like, so we’ve decided it would be best to take a break. We plan to be back around the time state conventions begin having their annual meetings in the fall, and we will return with a renewed focus on the issues of ministry, evangelism, and ecclesiology that give us our distinctive identity as Baptists. We look forward to promoting and discussing these issues.
You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or you can subscribe in iTunes by clicking the image in this post or the link in the sidebar. Below are links to some of the items discussed in the podcast:
SBCMI’s online presence:
Les Puryear’s Reformed/Southern Baptist series:
- Introduction
- Pastors
- Why It’s Important
- Ordinances or Sacraments?
- Covenant Theology
- Polity
- Altar Calls
- Support of SBC/non-SBC ministry
- Final Thoughts
Article about the SBC
Enhanced Podcast [47:38m]: Podcast Episode 28
Posted by: | CommentsThis podcast, which I incorrectly introduce as episode 27, was recorded around a conference table at a hotel near the convention center in Orlando after an eventful first day at the 2010 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. From the Pastor’s Conference to the motions to the debate and passage of the report of the Great Commission Task Force, we touched on all the topics of the day, and had a great time doing it.
Listen to the podcast using the player below, or subscribe in iTunes by clicking the image in this post or the link in the sidebar. Share your comments here, either on the content of this podcast or with your suggestions for future episodes. And help us out by leaving a comment on our iTunes page or simply by giving us a rating there.
Brotherly Love
Posted by: | CommentsNOTE: This post was originally published on my now-mostly-dead personal blog in October of 2007.
In doing some research for a report I am to deliver to the Frisco Baptist Association at next week’s annual meeting, I read through some of the minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association from their meetings in the eighteenth century. My last two posts on the subject of church membership and discipline generated some healthy discussion on the topic, so I thought I would add the view of some of our Baptist forefathers to the mix, in the form of responses the association gave to queries from member churches.
Their regard for the importance of membership in the local church was so great that they didn’t believe it proper for someone to pass another Baptist church on their way to the one of which they were a member. This is from the annual meeting of 1735:
Upon a motion moved by some members of the Association:
Whether a person that is a well-wisher to us, and desires to be admitted a member into a church far distant from the place of his abode; whereas a church of the same order is nearer to him than the church that he proposed to join with; whether it be orderly for the distant church to receive such an one? Yea or nay?
Resolved in the negative, there being substantial reasons to the contrary. Such practice is contrary to the intendent, in instituting particular churches.
They also didn’t think it proper for a person to change their church membership unless it was required by a move, as they asserted in the annual meeting of 1728:
Query from the church at Montgomery: Whether a church is bound to grant a letter of dismission to any member to go to another church, while his residence is not removed?
Answered in the negative, we having neither precept nor precedent for such a practice in Scripture.
Does it bother the pastors in my readership when faithful members are missing from services, and later they can’t wait to tell you about the nearby preacher they went and heard instead of coming to their own church? It bothered our eighteenth-century brethren, if the following answer to a query from the church at Middletown is any indication (from 1734):
Whether it be justifiable for our members to neglect our own appointed meetings, and at their pleasure go to hear those differing in judgment from us?
Answered in the negative. Heb. x. 25
I don’t think anyone would argue against the reality that church membership today doesn’t mean what it used to mean. The questions I have are these: Are the attitudes toward membership reflected in these answers worth reclaiming, and if so, how do we go about reclaiming them?
Podcast Episode 25
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It’s been a few weeks since our last podcast. Okay, it’s been two months. But the important thing is, we’re back. David was unable to join in the fun, but the rest of us forged ahead, and recorded less than fifteen minutes before we ran out of steam. We’re out of practice, and need to pace ourselves. We’ll do our best to get back on a regular schedule of weekly podcasts, but in the meantime, enjoy this abbreviated discussion which mainly focused on the upcoming vacancies in the president’s office at three of our SBC entities.
You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or you can subscribe in iTunes by clicking on the image in this post or on the link in the sidebar. Share in the comments here your suggestions for how we can improve the podcast, and take a moment to give us a rating or a review on our iTunes page. Thanks as always for listening, and we’ll be back for more podcasting fun next week.
Podcast Episode 23
Posted by: | CommentsThis week’s podcast is our longest yet, at just over forty-four minutes, but hopefully the discussion will prove worth the time. We didn’t even cover all the topics we intended to address. In times past, such long-windedness would have been laid squarely at the feet of Bart Barber, but since he’s not around to blame, we’ll have to come up with another excuse. We began by addressing the response by Dr. David Allen to a review by Dr. Tom Nettles of a book by Dr. William Dembski. If you think you’re confused now, wait until you hear our discussion. We finished the podcast discussing tithing, antinomianism, and Les Puryear.
Listen to the podcast by using the player below, or subscribe in iTunes by clicking the image in this post or the link in the sidebar. We’d love to hear your ideas on how we can improve the podcast, and we’d also appreciate a review or a rating on our iTunes page. Thanks for listening.
Links to some of the items discussed:
- A Reply to Tom Nettles’ Review of William A. Dembski’s The End of Christianity: Finding a Good God in an Evil World
- Les Puryear’s original “storehouse tithing” post
Podcast Episode 22
Posted by: | CommentsThis week on the podcast, we discuss issues surrounding the allegations made by a Dallas area television station against Ed Young, Jr., and Fellowship Church. Joining us as our guest to help define some of those issues is Dr. John Mark Yeats. Dr. Yeats is assistant professor of church history at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and author, along with his SWBTS colleague Dr. Thomas White, of Franchising McChurch, a book that deals with issues of commercialism and “branding” among large contemporary churches. We went over our self-imposed time limit of half an hour, but hopefully listeners will find the discussion to be worth the time.
You can use the player below to listen to the podcast, or you can click the image in this post (or the sidebar link) to be taken to our iTunes page. There, you can subscribe to the podcast, download past episodes, write a review, or give us a rating. All of the above are strongly encouraged. And please leave your comment here with suggestions for how we can improve future podcasts or for guests you’d like to see in the future. And as always, thanks for listening.
Links to some items discussed:
“Common Ground” or Common Deception?
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Our podcast this week seems to have stirred up some folks, yet there has been no meaningful refutation offered of the basis for all this consternation, specifically Dr. Ergun Caner’s claim that use of the Camel Method by our International Mission Board is deceptive and that the method contains heresy. Admittedly, I’m no expert on these matters; others are far more able to speak to the specifics of what the Camel Method is and what it teaches. For example, our friend and former contributor, Dr. Bart Barber, wrote a lengthy series of posts, which can be found by clicking here, and ultimately concluded that the Camel method is deceptive and in error.
As I understand it, the Camel Method is part of a larger missiological movement known as “Common Ground.” As it relates to evangelism among Muslims, I suppose the name speaks for itself. Today I came across a guest post on the blog Biblical Missiology. It was written by a Christian from a Muslim background, and I was fascinated by his perspective on this “Common Ground” movement. Particularly intriguing to me were the questions he asked regarding the so-called “converts” that result from this approach. Here is his paragraph containing those questions:
And so following some years in closeness with Common Ground movement, still there were a lot of unresolved questions within myself! Should CMBs (Christians from a Muslim Background) continue to attend mosques and would that be helpful for them? If that is the situation what happens after the Islamic congregation understands there are some different Muslims in their congregation? Will they tolerate, expel or persecute them? Where will they get their true spiritual nourishment? Perhaps they will meet in home groups in addition to attending mosque, but for how long that situation will last? What about church planting since they are supposed to stay within the Islamic culture and religion, will it be established at some point the Christian community or such a thing is not necessary? What about their identity, is it like Christian with Christians and Muslims with Muslims? Who are going to be their true brothers and sisters, Muslims or Christians or both of them? Is there any compromise in all of that? These were some questions I faced and am quite sure most of these believers do go through.
The entire post can be accessed by clicking here, and I encourage readers to take the time to read about the experiences of this former Muslim who believes that this deceptive approach is doing more harm than good.
Podcast Episode 21
Posted by: | CommentsTimid. Reserved. Reticent. All of these are fine adjectives, and none of them describe our guest on this week’s podcast. Dr. Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, joins us for a conversation that ranges from apologetics to camels to task forces. Also this week, we welcomed our newest team member at SBC Today, David Worley, though he found out it’s difficult to get a word in edgewise. He’ll be more prepared next week, I’m sure.
Listen to the podcast using the player below, or visit our iTunes page to subscribe. A click on the link in the sidebar (or on the image in this post) will take you there, and while you’re at it, write us a review or give us a rating. And as always, we welcome your comments here on issues we discuss or on how we can improve the podcast. Thanks for listening.
Links to items discussed:
- Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary
- The Camel Method – Endorsements
- Great Commission Resurgence Task Force
- The Sacred Desk
Podcast Episode 20
Posted by: | CommentsOur discussion in this episode is given entirely to the topic of a potential changing of the name of the Southern Baptist Convention. Peter Lumpkins joins us as our guest to talk about his recent series of posts on the topic. This podcast is especially notable because it’s the quietest Tim has been in the history of the podcast, and if you know him, you understand the significance.
Listen using the player below, or subscribe in iTunes. You can find our podcast in iTunes by searching “SBC,” or by clicking the logo in this post or the link in the sidebar. Leave your comments here with suggestions for how we can improve the podcast, and give us a rating or a review in iTunes while you’re there. Thanks, as always, for listening.
Links to items discussed:
- Peter Lumpkins’ series on SBC name change: Part One, Excursion, Part Two, Conclusion
- J.D. Greear’s blog post raising the issue
- Dave Miller’s post in favor of a name change
Podcast Episode 19
Posted by: | CommentsA little later than usual, we’re back with another installment of the SBC Today podcast. We were shorthanded this week, a description at which Scott Gordon for some reason took offense. No one is sure why. In any case, the three of us bravely forged ahead, with discussion about a proposed Cooperative Program change that intrigues us, Missouri’s move to two giving plans for churches, and IMB strategies. And despite our best efforts, Tim Rogers managed to bring a little college football coaching drama into the discussion. It’s a little shorter than usual, perhaps to make up for last week’s 40-minute-plus marathon talk session.
Listen by using the player embedded below, or subscribe in iTunes to have the podcast delivered to you fresh from the oven. Comment here with your suggestions for how we can improve our podcast, and while you’re at our iTunes page, click some stars to give us a rating, or better yet, write a quick review of the podcast on that page. And as always, thanks for listening.
Here’s a link to the post that got the discussion rolling:
