Carter and Clinton – New Baptist Leaders!

by | Jan 10, 2007 | Southern Baptist Issues

Here’s what the world needs:  Two moderate-liberal politicians starting a new Baptist denomination.  They promise to openly debate most everything.  I’m happy that these pluralistic brethren are doing this.  Perhaps the more moderate and liberal voices in the SBC will distance themselves from the SBC since they won’t actually embrace a more biblical view. Former Presidents Carter & Clinton <br>call for ‘A New Baptist Covenant’ –...

Wells and the Wasteland 2

by | Dec 12, 2006 | Bookreviews, Ecclesiology, Seeker-Sensitive

On the revamping of the church by men such as George Barna “The expectations of the postwar baby boomers have been shaped by such a therapeutic bounty and surfeit of on-demand entertainment that small, struggling, one-dimensional churches may well appear unattractive and uninviting however real and faithful their worship and service may be. In order to offer a rich array of programs to this new generation – a large selection of Sunday school classes, support groups, and specialized pastoral staff from which to choose, good child care facilities, and engaging (or even entertaining) worship services – churches have to become large. This generation is used to working and living within large bureaucratic structures, so they may well feel more at home in the corporate environs of a megachurch than in the more familial context of a small congregation. That may explain why a new megachurch emerges every two weeks in America” (74). “What is going to happen when churches meet all of the felt needs of their consumers and then realize that they have failed to meet the genuine need for meaning? Meaning is provided by the functioning of truth – specifically biblical truth – in the life of the congregation”...

Wells and the Wasteland 1

by | Dec 10, 2006 | Bookreviews, Ecclesiology, Education, Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, Seeker-Sensitive, Theological Education

In my quiet time, I begin by reading from a book that will stimulate my mind and heart about sanctification or practical life in the church. Recently I have begun reading God in the Wasteland by David F. Wells. I want to share a few excerpts from his book that I noted during my fifteen minute-a-day reading time. On the current reactions against formal theological training: Noting the how the early colonial American trends in the mainline schools were producing polished institutions, there was a strong reactions against them. “This ambitious drive [among the intellectual schools of colonial America] produces some savage anti-clericalism but also because the insurgent leaders were “Ëintent on destroying the monopoly of classically educated and university trained clergymen.’ Their sermons were colloquial, “Ëemploying daring pulpit storytelling, no-holds-barred appeals, overt humor, strident attacks, graphic application, and intimate personal experience.’ The point of it all was to engage the audience. Charles Finney despised sermons that were formally delivered on the grounds that they put content ahead of communication, and, although both he and Dwight L. Moody had their own theologies, they both vigorously opposed “Ëthe formal study of divinity'” (65). “‘As the common man rose in power n the early republic,’ says Hatch, “Ëthe inevitable consequence was the displacement from power of the uncommon man, the man of ideas.’ Never again, he adds would America produce people of the caliber of Adams, Jefferson, and Madison in the realm of politics or of Jonathan Edwards in the realm of theology” (67). In light of some of what we have seen in the modern Seeker Sensitive and Emergent Church...

Team Ministry

by | Nov 2, 2006 | Ecclesiology

I serve as one member of a pastoral team.  Reading this article, I could affirm much of what it suggests about a team approach to church leadership. Four Secrets of Great Team-Based Leadership –...