GCRTF Report Challenges to all Southern Baptists (4): Challenges for Local Associations and State Conventions
By Danny Akin and Nathan A. Finn
From almost the very beginning of our movement, likeminded autonomous Baptist churches voluntarily cooperated through local associations in evangelism, church planting, mercy ministries, and doctrinal accountability. In part because of their aversion to the societal method of cooperation, by the 1820s the Baptists of the South were further cooperating through state conventions. In 1845, they … [Read More]
GCRTF Report Challenges to all Southern Baptists (4): Challenges for Local Associations and State Conventions
Why We Believe the GCRTF Report is Good for the Future of the SBC (4b): Reaching North America
By: Danny Akin & Jonathan Akin
The recommendations of component 4 will allow NAMB to have a direct church planting and evangelism strategy where they can appoint personnel directly. They have not had that freedom in the past. At present, and much of this due to cooperative agreements, the majority of NAMB “missionaries” are serving in the most reached and most served areas of North America (see recent blog by Micah Fries). Despite some comments … [Read More]
Why We Believe the GCRTF Report is Good for the Future of the SBC (4a): Reaching North America
By: Danny Akin & Jonathan Akin
“There is no formal conclusion to the book of Acts. It is open-ended. God means for the story of Pentecostal power and revival to be prolonged after the same manner…Since Pentecost, there is no age, no century, no era, no time without the marvelous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The soul-saving experience continues. Darkness and death and decay may reign in one place, but always light, life, and salvation … [Read More]
When Words Aren’t Enough: A Report from the Field, Part 1
For much of the month of January, a colleague and I have been in an international setting serving with overseas workers. We have worked together daily in an educational context, and I have been reminded continually of the significance of the Great Commission. To say I am impressed by the workers of our mission board is an understatement, but I don’t want to embarrass my friends by being overly effusive about their labors. None of … [Read More]
Aspect 7(b): A Mission Based on Local Church Initiative and Supplemented by Entities and Associations (NAMB, state conventions, ERLC, local associations)
(By: Danny Akin & Bruce Ashford)
What are some challenges ahead for the North American Mission Board and the State Conventions? It is the charge of both the NAMB and the state conventions to reach the United States of America with the gospel. How might they partner together in order to serve the church and further the church’s mission in a 21st century context? A detailed answer to this eludes our grasp, but some things are … [Read More]
Myth #6: Many members of the GCRTF are fundamentally opposed to the work of local associations and state conventions.
The GCR has always been about energizing and mobilizing Southern Baptists to get the gospel to the unreached peoples of the world and the underserved regions of North America, and to do so as effectively and efficiently as possible. Nothing more and nothing less is the goal and agenda of this movement. If something stands in the way or hinders this then it needs to change or be set aside as unhelpful and unnecessary to … [Read More]
On The GCR Declaration, Part 6
This is the final article in a series on the GCR Declaration in anticipation of next week’s SBC Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. As you read, please remember that while Between the Times is a group blog that includes a number of Southeastern Seminary professors, these articles (and every article I write) represent my own personal opinions. I speak only for myself, so please avoid imputing my views to any of my fellow contributors unless … [Read More]
Baptist Identification and Article IX
As many BtT readers know, no section of the GCR Declaration has caused more angst than Article IX: A Commitment to a More Effective Convention Structure. While Morris Chapman has recently come out against the current movement because of Article IX (though one could argue he voted for it before he voted against it) and other SBC leaders have signed the Declaration with caveats (not necessarily related to Article IX), by far the most vocal critics of … [Read More]
