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'SBC' Tagged Posts

But SBC Calvinists Believe That Too

The Southern Baptist Convention has certainly seen a mellowing out of what came to be quite a heated debate once again over Calvinism after the publishing of “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation” in May 2012.  Of course, Dr. Frank Page’s appointment of the Calvinism Advisory Committee the next month in June 2012 and the unifying document they crafted and published in June 2013 called “Truth, Trust, and Testimony in a Time of Tension” (aka, T5) has had a great deal to do with the mellowing out we are now enjoying, or at least I am.

Nevertheless, there are those still in the convention that are really concerned about the “problem of Calvinism.”  In fact, I recently overheard a group of men eating breakfast before attending the Tennessee Baptist Convention discussing the issue of Calvinism in the SBC.  One of them declared about Calvinism, “Why if I believed that, I’d never go out and share the gospel because it would already be decided who’s going to be saved!”  Apparently this man understood SBC Calvinists to believe that people are saved apart from hearing and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, which tells me that there’s still work to be done in communicating what SBC Calvinists actually believe.  I thought to myself and almost chimed in across the aisle, “No, SBC Calvinists believe too that we’ve got to share the gospel if anybody’s going to be saved.”  Unfortunately, that fellow had a misunderstanding of what SBC Calvinists believe.

Calvinist Coexistence, Bob Hadley Says “No!”

Most folks outside of Westside Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, FL, where Bob Hadley pastors, probably don’t know who Bob Hadley is. That’s not a put down because most folks outside of West Main Baptist Church in Alexandria, TN, where I pastor, don’t know who Ben Simpson is. Bob Hadley and I are like the great majority of pastors in the world:…

Jeremy Vanatta’s Call for SBC Unity

If you’re Southern Baptist, you really need to check this out!  Dr. Jeremy Vanatta is beginning an important series he’s calling The Ephesians 4 Project.  The purpose is: to seek unity among Southern Baptists around the fact that our doctrine is mostly uniform, though our practice may be less so.   It seeks to highlight the unifying principles of the Baptist Faith & Message,…

To the Fountain: Weighing Scripture and Tradition

Around the dawn of the fifth century A.D., a scholar of the church by the name of Jerome did something that was rather controversial in his day: He produced the official Latin translation of the Bible, which become known as the Vulgate. That in itself wasn’t controversial. The controversy lay in the fact that he ignored the Greek translation of the Old…

Young, Southern Baptist… and Kingdom-focused!

I wasn’t born and raised a Southern Baptist.  I was a born and raised a sinner. In 1980, I was born to my family in Bowling Green, KY.  You hear of people who are “E. C. Christians,” meaning they only go to church at Easter and Christmas, but my family wasn’t even that.  I guess my story is quite different from Brad…

The Problem of Rebaptism in SBC Churches

I absolutely love a baptism service!  Some might imagine a quiet version of “Holy, Holy, Holy” as the soundtrack to baptism, but I hear rousing, triumphant versions of “How Great Is Our God” or “Crown Him with Many Crowns” in the background.  I get a little excited!  Just ask my church.  They have laughingly said,…

Why Is Church Membership Important?

Church membership is on the ropes.  Anecdotal evidence abounds as our church literally has been knocking on every door here in the city of Alexandria.  So many times we’ve heard, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t need to ever go to church.” Compelling evidence also exists in the statistics of our denomination.  The Southern Baptist Convention boasts a membership of over 16…

The Great Commission Task Force

I’m not sure how many of you are aware of what happened at this summer’s Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, KY. IF YOU’RE NOT AWARE, YOU NEED TO BECOME AWARE! At this meeting, SBC president and FBC Woodstock pastor Johnny Hunt and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary president Danny Akin spearheaded a movement they are calling the “Great Commission Resurgence.”  The movement is summed up…