I wrote last month about an article that Jim Hamilton and I have written for the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. In our research for this article, we obtained Pastor Mark Driscoll’s position statement on church leadership, which was published as a little booklet titled Church Leadership. According to Mars Hill Church’s website, this booklet and others from their “Theology Series” are slated to be published by Crossway in 2008. So you can no longer download Church Leadership from the church’s website. You’ll have to wait for the book. In any case, we were interested in Driscoll’s book because we were trying to figure out…
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Southern Baptists and Elders
Morris Chapman wrote an interesting piece in the Baptist Press last week about the confessional status of the SBC’s doctrinal statement, “The Baptist Faith and Message 2000” (BF&M). His article comes on the heels of the annual meeting of the SBC in San Antonio where Southern Baptists voted to reaffirm the BF&M as a sufficient guide for SBC leaders when they make convention-wide policies (read story). Because Chapman is president of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), his reflections carry a lot of weight with many Southern Baptists. I’m not going to interact with Chapman’s entire essay, but I do want to comment on a small piece…
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Ruth Graham and End of Life Ethics
From Jeffrey Weiss at the Dallas Morning News: Shortly before she died, a family spokesman told the news media that Mrs. Graham had asked to no longer receive nutrition or liquids though a feeding tube. How she and her family reached that decision offers valuable lessons for others who will inevitably face similar situations, said professionals who work with the dying. . .
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SBC Debates on Tongues and Calvinism
The gift of tongues and Calvinistic theology are two hot topics in Southern Baptist life right now. Criswell College President, Dr. Jerry Johnson, moderated two fascinating debates on these topics at the Southern Baptist Convention just this week. Both debates are available for download from the “Jerry Johnson Live” podcast or from the podcast’s website.
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Did Baptist Moderates Win in San Antonio?
Did the Southern Baptist moderates win in San Antonio? I think that some of them think that they did, and at least one person at the Associated Press agrees. The headline to the AP story says, “In victory for moderates, Southern Baptists reaffirm faith statement.” Here’s the relevant excerpt which includes comments from both Wade Burleson and Ben Cole:
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Preview of forthcoming Article
My good friend Jim Hamilton and I working on an article for the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and we have sent out a survey as a part of our research. I have been somewhat surprised by the results and what those results reveal about evangelical opinions concerning women in ministry. The task that Jim and I have is to set out the state of the gender debate among younger evangelicals. Our work is still not finished, but we have identified four positions on the spectrum of evangelical opinion. We believe that the fundamental issue that differentiates opinions on this question is whether or not a principle of male…
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Podcast of Debates at the SBC
Several readers have been asking if the audio of the SBC debates on Calvinism and Tongues will be available via the web. The answer to that question is yes. I will post the two debates on the JJL podcast site as soon as possible. Hopefully, I will have time to post the tongues debate between McKissic and Moore as early as today.
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Debates at the Southern Baptist Convention
I am in San Antonio, Texas right now attending the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. If anything of interest happens, I will be blogging about it. A couple of items will be of interest to many of my readers. Dr. Jerry Johnson will be hosting his daily radio program from here at the convention, and he has scheduled a couple of interesting debates to take place at the Criswell College booth tomorrow. The first debate will be at 1pm between Dr. Mark Coppenger and Dr. Danny Akin over the issue of Calvinism. Dr. Coppenger will be arguing in favor of the Calvinist position, and Dr. Akin will present…
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Russell Moore on Climate Change
I read Dr. Russell Moore’s testimony to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, and it’s a careful reflection on the climate change debate from an evangelical perspective. Dr. Moore does not go along with the Sojourner wing of evangelicalism which has been trying to downgrade life-issues within the consciences of evangelicals. This fact was apparent in Dr. Moore ‘s testimony when he argued the following:
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Dr. Mohler on Female Pastors
Dr. Mohler comments on the new pastor of First Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia. Her name is Julie Pennington-Russell, and she’s leaving the pastorate of Calvary Baptist in Waco, Texas to take the reins in Georgia. Dr. Mohler writes: “Gender is the issue. For those who support and celebrate women as pastors, this singular concern is irrational. For those who believe that the Bible is clear that only men should be pastors, this singular concern is non-negotiable. The Southern Baptist Convention has made its convictions on the issue clear. The adoption of the revised edition of The Baptist Faith & Message in 2000 elevates the issue to confessional status. This is…