I was left standing at the microphone 6 at the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention during the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) report to the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas. Russell Moore, president of the ERLC, gave that report and reminded messengers of the various ways he and his…
Through a series of inexplicable providences I found myself, along with my brother, Bill, in a late night meeting of about 25 men during the 1990 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Assembled in the small room were the key leaders of the conservative resurgence. To clarify, though we both were…
I had the privilege of serving on the Southern Baptist Convention’s Calvinism Advisory Committee under the leadership of David Dockery and Frank Page. The statement that resulted from our work has been widely distributed and analyzed. Today, the Executive Committee of the SBC released the video of panel discussion…
I posted the following article December 18, 2007. In light of recent discussions in the SBC I thought it might be helpful to publish again. Then Frank Page was the president of the SBC. Now he is the president of the Executive Committee. His views then are consistent with…
Branton Burleson, pastor of Christ Covenant Community Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina introduced a resolution on regenerate church membership to the Carolina Baptist Association of Southern Baptist churches last month at their semi-annual meeting. After printed copies of the resolution were distributed to the messengers, it was adopted unanimously….
One of the most encouraging outcomes of the recent gathering of Southern Baptists in Orlando is the adoption of a resolution on the centrality of the gospel. While some Southern Baptists–including academics and pastors–have scoffed at the idea that we need to recover the gospel in our day, this…
The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force Report (GCRTFR) passed with relatively little change. The expected fireworks never materialized despite ominous predictions by those on all sides of the issue. Component 3, on Great Commission Giving, had some language amended to reiterate that the Cooperative Program is still a valued…
Yesterday I was sent the following 3 documents that have been circulating in Western Tennessee among some Southern Baptist Churches. It seems that they were distributed at seminars being held for churches to teach “how to find out if any of your staff are Calvinists and how to get…
This is the first of a series of “bloggersations” that I hope to publish here over the next several months. One of the vitally important dimensions to the resurgence of gospel unity that is developing within and beyond the SBC is the establishment of friendships. Too often, brothers who…
Dr. David Dockery, President of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, was interviewed for a Baptist Press article regarding the topic of inflated membership rolls in Southern Baptist churches. He offers some helpful insights, such as this: “We need to highlight the foundational matters of church membership,” Dockery added. “We…