A surprising thing happened at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention last week. The messengers approved a resolution opposing the 2011 edition of the NIV. This kind of move is not unprecedented for an annual SBC meeting. Messengers approved similar resolutions in 1997 and in 2002, both of which were in response to gender-inclusive revisions of the NIV. But there was something different about the resolution that came out this year. This resolution came not from the resolutions committee, but from a single messenger who was concerned about the issue and who wanted the convention to speak to it.
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My Ex-Gay Friend
The New York Times has a fascinating report about a man paying a visit to his long lost ex-gay friend. The ex-gay friend is Michael Glatze, a former homosexual who has converted to Christianity. The author is Benoit Denizet-Lewis, and he writes: “One Saturday afternoon last winter, I drove north on Route 85 through the rolling rangeland of southeastern Wyoming. I was headed to a small town north of Cheyenne to see an old friend and colleague named Michael Glatze. We worked together 12 years ago at XY, a San Francisco-based national magazine for young gay men, back when we were young gay men ourselves… Michael was fast becoming the…
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Emergent Confab
USA Today has a note about a conference/music festival for emergent-types, and it is set to take place next week in North Carolina. It’s called “The Wild Goose Festival,” and conference organizers are expecting about 3,000 to attend. According to the website, here’s what “The Wild Goose Festival” is all about. “The Wild Goose is a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit. We are followers of Jesus creating a festival of justice, spirituality, music and the arts. The festival is rooted in the Christian tradition and therefore open to all regardless of belief, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, denomination or religious affiliation.”
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David Platt’s Message at the SBC
David Platt delivered the convention sermon at the SBC this year. I’m grateful for Platt’s heart and ministry. His message was powerful, and you can watch it below. It starts at about 8:00.
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Piper’s Prophetic Message to the SBC
Here’s the video of John Piper’s prophetic message to the Southern Baptist Convention. It’s titled “Be a Radically God-Centered Pastor,” and it’s an exposition of one line from the Lord’s prayer, “Hallowed be your name.” As I noted yesterday, the manuscript is available as well at the DesiringGod.org website. The other messages from the SBC Pastor’s Conference are available here.
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Videos of SBC Pastor’s Conference
It looks like the videos of the SBC’s Pastor’s Conference will all be posted for free at the Conference’s Vimeo site. Speakers include John Piper, Darrin Patrick, Louie Giglio, Rick Warren, and more. As I write, eight sermons have been posted, and the rest will be uploaded very soon. Darrin Patrick’s sermon is above. For the rest, see here.
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John Piper’s Message at the SBC
The manuscript ofJohn Piper’s message to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Pastor’s Conference is now available from DesiringGod.org. It’s titled “Be a Radically God-Centered Pastor,” and it’s an exposition of one line from the Lord’s prayer, “Hallowed be your name.” The audio version of this and all the other messages will be available for purchase at a later time from SBC Tapes (yes, you read it right—tapes!).
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Book Length Responses to Love Wins
John Starke has a helpful round-up of book-length responses to Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. He notes that the one by Francis Chan is probably the highly anticipated of the bunch. He also observes the following: “These books are being published very quickly after the Bell’s book began mailing and hitting shelves. The obvious reason for this was how much the blogs dominated this discussion. Most of the notable reviews occurred within a few days of the book’s publication date. Subsequent reviews seemed dated and almost had to interact with others reviews as much as the book itself. So the speed of these publications says something of the speed of…
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Owl City’s Newest Drops Today
Owl City’s sophomore release drops today. It’s the follow-up to the 2009 album containing the mega-hit single “Fireflies.” My two girls loved “Fireflies”especially the video. They don’t know that the lead singer’s name is Adam Young. They always refer to him as “the man with all his toys.” Christianity Today has an interview with Adam Young today. In the interview, Young talks about how he writes songs. He explains, “My prayer has always been, ‘Lord, just give me the songs you want me to write so I can record them, release them, put them in the can, and reflect all glory and praise back to you.” Read the rest here.…
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D.A. Carson on Turning the Other Cheek
“Turning the other cheek without bearing witness to the truth is not the fruit of moral resolution but the terrorized cowardice of the wimp.” –D.A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, p. 585
