Archive for news
I’m Not Sorry for Being a Christian
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s really sad to hear some people whine and cry and complain about the way that some Christians have messed up in the past, or about all the bad things that they think are happening now. It’s really sad to hear someone get up in front of some crowd in a coffee shop, or a poetry reading group, and apologize for being a Christian. It’s a sad day when people listen to the lost crowd, and they listen to the lost crowds’ shouts of “hypocrites,” and “mean, intolerant buffoons,” and then some Christians apologize to this angry, rebellious crowd for being a Christian. Read More→
A Day of Mourning for Our Nation
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday should be known as a day that our country took a huge step down. In fact, it should be known as a day that our nation fell down into a deep pit. That deep pit’s name is socialism. Today should be declared a day of mourning for our country. May God have mercy on all of us, and especially on our children, who will have to deal with this far more than we will. I never thought I’d see the day that our country would do something like this. If you can’t tell, I’m very deeply concerned; more concerned than I’ve ever been. At the same time, I know that God is still on His throne. He is still God no matter what our government leaders do to hurt and destroy our country. And, I know that my Heavenly home is waiting on me, and on all true Believers. So, I’m not depressed, nor am I in despair. But, concerned? Yes.
We need to pray for our nation. We need to pray for God to watch over us. We need to ask God to give our national leaders some good sense and wisdom. And, we need to look to God for our strength. Also, in November, we need to remember who it was that tried to lead our country into socialism and bankruptcy. At the next Presidential election, we all need to remember who it was that caused our nation to take such a drastic step in the wrong direction. We need to remember who these people were who wanted our tax dollars to fund abortions. We need to remember the ones who wanted our country to make this big change in direction towards socialism, and higher taxes, and more government control over our lives. I will remember. Will you?
“It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over”
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That quote is most commonly attributed to Yankee great, Yogi Berra. I am choosing to borrow that expression to express my thoughts on the recent GCR Task Force lunch meeting in Rogers, Arkansas, and the status of the GCRTF in general.
Let me begin by saying that Pastor Ronnie Floyd’s church, The Church at Pinnacle Hills, was a gracious host to this meeting. The meal was excellent and the fellowship was good. I was able to attend this meeting with good friend and fellow SBC Today-er, Wes Kenney. I also ‘ran into’ old friends from Missouri and Oklahoma and met new guys with whom I had only previously interacted online. Read More→
Podcast Episode 5
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We’re back with episode five of the SBC Today podcast. This time, I’m joined by Robin Foster, Scott Gordon, and Joe Stewart, and with a smaller crew comes a shorter podcast, this time coming in under thirty minutes. We were all over the place in terms of topics in this episode, from the President Obama’s health care initiative to Baptists in Romania to tornadoes in Minnesota.
You can listen to the podcast right from the site using the player below, or, as many folks have done, subscribe to our podcast in iTunes and have it downloaded immediately when it becomes available each week. Click the podcast image in this post or the link in the sidebar to be taken to our iTunes page, and while you’re there, give us a rating and/or a review. We’d appreciate feedback, which you can put in a review there, or in a comment here. Let us know how we can improve the podcast.
Below are some links to the items we discussed in this episode. See you next week on the podcast.
- Trevin Wax’s blog discussion with Romanian Baptist leaders
- Oklahoma’s ultrasound law struck down
- Tornado warnings
- Richard Dawkins equating evolution skeptics with holocaust deniers
- Southwestern prof resigns to retain membership in Broadway Baptist Church
- National health care as moral concern
Enhanced Podcast: Meaningful Church Membership
Posted by: | CommentsIn this episode of SBC Perspective, Keith Sanders, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Keller, Texas, joins us in the spotlight to talk about leading his church to a more meaningful view of church membership. The news roundup covers everything from President Bush in China to deputies in churches in Tennessee, while the roundtable discussion centers on the church membership issues faced by our churches.
You can listen to the podcast here by clicking below, or you can take it with you by clicking the iTunes link in the sidebar. Here are links to some of the items we discuss in the podcast:
- First Baptist Church of Keller, Texas
- Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency
- President Bush speaks out for religious freedom
- Bradley County (TN) Sheriff’s explanation of his “Special Deputy Church Protection Program”
- Al Mohler’s Atheism Remix
One Baptist’s Reply to the Evangelical Manifesto
Posted by: | CommentsSo as not to bury our interview with SBC presidential candidate Rev. Johnny Hunt, we only offer this post as a PDF link, also accessible on our “Print Resources” page. Upon reading the Evangelical Manifesto, I felt impressed to write a response. Click here to read it.
A Curious Omission
Posted by: | CommentsBaptist Press (BP) recently posted a story about the April meeting of the trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS). The story, dated April 15, was taken from a news release written by SWBTS writer Keith Collier and posted to their website on April 11 (click here to read the release). The byline of the BP edition also credits Collier as the writer. There are some differences of phrasing throughout, but the content is otherwise identical, with one curious omission. If you read both articles, you will notice that the version posted by BP does not contain the following two paragraphs:
“The trustees received a report from the president where he provided his annual disclosure of his compensation information and entertained questions related to it and the same information for the rest of the seminary’s senior administration.
Chairman Van McClain stated that “since Southern Baptists expect that their entities supported by the Cooperative Program will be governed with integrity and accountability, I am glad the salary of the president of Southwestern has been fully and willingly disclosed to all of the trustees of the seminary, even though Dr. Patterson has refused an increase in compensation since his arrival in 2003.”
I spoke by telephone with Keith Collier, and he had no explanation for the omission. He told me that the release as it now appears on the SWBTS website has not been edited since it was posted on April 11, so it is clear that BP was deliberate in removing the paragraphs quoted above. I contacted BP by email to ask about the omission, but have received no response.
News organizations certainly are within their rights to edit anything they publish for style, length, and content. It is curious to me that they have chosen to omit this information concerning the president of the seminary, who has been relentlessly attacked for enriching himself with Cooperative Program dollars but has refused to accept even a single cost-of-living pay increase in the five years he has served at SWBTS.
