Let’s Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
I’m a Southern Baptist. I was raised in a Southern Baptist church. I was saved in a Southern Baptist church. I went to a Southern Baptist college and attended two Southern Baptist seminaries. I’ve lived long enough to see the conservative resurgence in the SBC When I was in school, the influence of liberalism was
We Live in an Anti-Christian World
(Adapted from an article by Gene Edward Veith entitled “Anti-Christian Paranoia”WORLD Magazine, DECEMBER 2, 2006) “The case against Christianity has not degenerated in to paranoid bigotry. The old argument against Christianity was that it is not true. Modern science, evolutionary theory, rational argumentation and the like were said to disprove the existence of God and
Are You a God Pleaser…? (Part 2)
Methods matter. Some folks today are using methods that are unworthy of the gospel. They use gimmicks to entice. They use “worship aids” to manipulate emotions. You can’t watch religious television without feeling people are being baited. They are being sold the gospel of blood and sacrifice at a bargain basement price. They are buying
Are You a God Pleaser…? (Part 1)
Do you ever watch television shows like “American Idol?” What about shows like “The Great Race” or “Survivor?” Personally, I’m tired of all these “reality” shows where you have to make deals with people so you can eventually rip them off, take the money and run. I’m also weary of watching untalented people who think
Results That Demand Revival
In the March/ April issue of FACTS & TRENDS published by LifeWay Christian Resources, there was an excellent article on closing the back door written by Brad Waggoner of LifeWay Research. All of us know that the overwhelming majority of our churches are plateaued or declining. Status quo seems to be the norm. Baptisms are stagnant,
This Should Come As No Surprise
An article in USA TODAY, Thursday, March 8, 2007, says “Americans get ‘F’ in religion.” According to Cathy Lynn Grossman, “Sixty percent of Americans can’t name five of the Ten Commandments, and 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married.” Okay, let’s start there. We can’t name five of the Ten Commandments
It’s Sad We Have to Talk About This (Part 2)
A few months later, I was fired from the church I served in Jackson. There were several reasons given. One—I had challenged the finance committee about taking part of a love offering at a concert and using it to build a fence around the church property to keep the black kids (not the word they
It’s Sad We Have to Talk About This (Part 1)
George Aiken wrote, “If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon.” I grew up in the deep south. When I was growing up, racism and prejudice seem to have been the accepted norm. I
When It’s Time to Go
Too often, staff members and pastors leave a church and burn bridges. I’ve done it. As a youth minister, I left a church under less than the best of conditions. I was young, immature and foolish in the way I responded. I thought people needed to know my side of the story. They didn’t. I
What Do You Mean By That?
While watching the Disney Christmas parade, I heard Regis and Kelly and Ryan Seacrest introduce several people as “superstars,” “the one and only,” and “the incredible.” My problem was the fact that I had never heard of most of them. Now I feel like someone who tries to keep up with the culture and listen
Are We the Infidels?
WORLD Magazine ran a recent article entitled “Cross-Culture Wars.” The premise of the article was this: “Are problems in American culture making the international war on terror harder to win?” We do have a problem. If you’ve never been to America, you would assume everyone is an infidel. What does the world have to judge
To Ring or Not to Ring – That Is the Question
I’m one of those guys who likes technology. I don’t understand it, but I like it. I don’t know how my GPS system works in my car, but as a directionally dysfunctional person, I’m grateful that it knows where I am and where I’m headed. I don’t understand electricity, but I’m grateful it works when