Since the GCR Declaration was originally published a couple of weeks ago, there have been numerous attempts to interpret the statement. Many have read the document through the lens of Danny Akin’s now-famous “Axioms” sermon, a message which Dr. Akin and others admit inspired the GCR Declaration. Others have focused on parsing particular phrases in the statement: the word “sufficient” in Article V, for example, has been exegeted by many commentators because of the way some have used … [Read More]
Hot, Flat, and Crowded?
Is Al Gore right that climate change might really bring about the end of the species as we know it? Or is Rush Limbaugh right that climate change is a hoax devised by pony-tailed tree-huggers, seeking to lead our country toward a utopia of yoga mats, Birkenstocks, and tofu wraps? Who can adjudicate the conflicting claims? On climate change issues these days, it seems that the fringe positions are as crowded as the exit doors … [Read More]
How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future of the Globe
I sit corrected. In years past, I have viewed the conflicts in the Middle East as centering primarily on Muslim frustration with economic matters, globalization and modernity, and Christianity. But now Vali Nasr has come along and reminded us of the significance of the historic Sunni-Shia divide.
Nasr is a keen observer of the Muslim world. Any reader interested in Islam in general, and the Middle East in particular, would be well served to read Nasr’s … [Read More]
We Are All Dying
We are all dying. This may not be apparent to everyone; it may not be apparent about everyone. It is, however, very apparent that my mother is dying. Beyond the toll of some 77 years on this earth, her body lies ravaged by decades of rheumatoid arthritis and her mind has been taken from us by the cruelty we call Alzheimer’s. Mom stayed with us as long as she could. She fought to stay healthy … [Read More]
On Theological Elitism: One Professor’s Perspective
I am currently reading Jim Slatton’s new biography of William Whitsitt, titled W. H. Whitsitt: The Man and the Controversy (Mercer University Press, 2009). For those who do not know, Whitsitt was the third president of Southern Seminary and a longtime professor of church history at the school. In a series of articles and finally a monograph titled A Question in Baptist History (1896), Whitsitt debunked the then-popular assumption that the earliest English Baptists (both … [Read More]
Why Should I Attend the Southern Baptist Convention?
The first annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention I attended was 1985 in Dallas. You know, the one with 45k in attendance, where the bathroom lines had more congestion than Manhattan at rush hour. Like this year, the meeting was near one of our seminaries, this time the one I attended. So, Michelle and I drove over Monday morning to the Pastor’s Conference, taking with us a young believer who was as thrilled to … [Read More]
Wisdom for Pastoral Ministry from Abraham Booth
Abraham Booth (1734-1806) was a longtime London pastor and leader among the British Particular Baptists in the 18th century. Among his most famous books were The Reign of Grace, The Death of Legal Hope, and An Apology for the Baptists. You can find these works (and most of Booth’s writings) in the three-volume Select Works of Abraham Booth, which can be purchased at a very affordable price through Reformation Heritage Books. (Unfortunately, this edition is … [Read More]
