Last year the Frank Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, convened a diverse group of Southern Baptist leaders to forge a consensus statement on the issue of Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinism Advisory Committee has now released their statement titled, “TRUTH, TRUST, and TESTIMONY in a TIME of TENSION.” The statement is 3,243 words in length, and I believe it addresses concerns that Baptists on both sides of this issue have had. This is a good statement, one that I hope that Southern Baptists will unify around.

Laura Ortberg Turner has an interesting contribution to CT’s series on women in leadership. In “Too Girly To Lead?,” Turner contends that God doesn’t care about gender when it comes to pastoral leadership. She appeals to 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, which says, There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Turner observes that Paul says nothing about these gifts being gender-specific, and then she concludes that both women and men receive spiritual gifts that make them…

[UPDATE: The original You Tube video containing Stanley’s remarks has been pulled (see above). Readers who wish to see the video can do so by visiting this site. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post.] Andy Stanley’s comments on Adam and Eve have been making the rounds since they appeared on HereIBlog.com yesterday. In short, Stanley affirms the historicity of Adam and Eve, but not because Genesis says so. Rather, he bases his belief on what Jesus says about Adam and Eve. You can listen to the entire discussion above, but here are the relevant excerpts:

RadioWest interviewed Albert Mohler about the problem of evil and the tragedy in Oklahoma. You can download the audio here or listen below. It’s about 52 minutes long. [audio:http://cpa.ds.npr.org/radiowest/audio/2013/05/RW05212013.mp3]

Apparently the idea is abroad that the biblical book of Job is an inappropriate resource for Christians to turn to when addressing human suffering. I couldn’t disagree more. Is Job’s message the only thing to be said? No, of course not. There are countless other words of comfort that need to be delivered as we weep with those who weep and rally to support those in the midst of suffering (Psalm 34:18; Rom. 12:15). But neither can the message of Job be cast aside as insensitive or irrelevant to the current crisis. As tears stream down the faces of those grieving and hurting in Oklahoma, I’ll be praying that they…

Albert Mohler records a special episode of “The Briefing” to discuss the Oklahoma disaster and the difference between moral and natural evil. Download here, or listen below. [audio:http://4ff414ae5107de3a9e18-43dbab4d73aa8c295e652f2d85e793bd.r77.cf1.rackcdn.com/media/audio/totl/Podcast/20130520_BriefingSpecial.mp3]

The most recent issue of The Journal for Biblical Manhood & Womanhood has just released. The lead article is from Albert Mohler, who takes a critical look at the “contraceptive mentality” that so much defines the spirit of the age. Mohler writes: The effective separation of sex from procreation may be one of the most important defining marks of our age—and one of the most ominous. This awareness is spreading among American evangelicals, and it threatens to set loose a firestorm… A growing number of evangelicals are rethinking the issue of birth control—and facing the hard questions posed by reproductive technologies. Several developments contributed to this reconsideration, but the most…

I came across two helpful items yesterday, both of which contained exhortations about how we should be using our voices on the internet. An essay from Tim Challies warns against what we ought not be saying, and another from John Piper what we ought to be saying. There are exhortations and admonishments in both of these that we all need to hear. I commend them both to you.