I have seen a variety of responses to the news yesterday that the SBC has found Saddleback Church to be out of step with “the Convention’s adopted statement of faith” and now no longer recognizes them as a “cooperating” church (Art. 3, SBC Constitution). As many of you know, the presenting issue is Saddleback’s recognition of a variety of female pastors, including one of their new lead teaching pastors. Having female pastors contradicts our statement of faith, The Baptist Faith & Message (BF&M), which says, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” As…
-
-
Heterodoxy in the Rectory: The Blessing of Gay Spouses in the Church of England
How would you feel if your denomination seized your church building and sold it to a mosque as a result of your biblical stance on sexuality? That is exactly what happened to Matt Kennedy, the Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghampton, New York. Rev. Kennedy joins us on the CBMW Podcast today to answer our questions about what it cost him and his family to be faithful to the Bible’s teaching about homosexuality and marriage. He also helps us to understand the current controversy within the worldwide Anglican communion over the Church of England’s decision to bless same-sex spouses. This is a really fascinating conversation, and…
-
An Ecclesiastical Shot Heard Round the World
No doubt many of you have already read about the Church of England’s recent decision to bless same-sex marriages. The orthodox leaders of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) have responded with a declaration that is nothing less than an ecclesiastical shot heard round the world. These leaders are largely from Africa, although other regions are also represented. They have set forth a series of resolutions that effectively declare their independence from the heterodox Church of England. Rather than explain it, I will let you read the powerful declaration in their own words: As the Church of England has departed from the historic faith passed down from the…
-
Sprinkle Reconsiders His Views on Complementarianism
Preston Sprinkle is reconsidering his views on the debate between complementarians and egalitarians. If I’m not mistaken, he has claimed the complementarian label up until this point. But now he’s doing a deep dive on the issue and is processing out loud so that others can follow him on his journey. Recently, he released a two-hour video in which he talks his way through the exegesis of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and especially of verse 12 (watch video below). He announces at the outset that he is not going to come to any firm conclusions by the end of the discussion. He is merely going to talk through the issues. I…
-
Some Thoughts on the Asbury Revival
Perhaps you have heard or read by now reports about a revival taking place on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. A campus chapel service on Wednesday did not end at its appointed time but rather carried on for days on end. Students lingered and prayed and repented and worshipped. Students from surrounding universities and parents began arriving to experience what appears to have been a powerful move of the Spirit. Traffic jams accumulated in Wilmore as countless others came to Asbury to see what was happening. I know that people of a more Calvinistic bent tend to be reflexively skeptical about such reports. After all, haven’t we…
-
An Eternal Weight of Glory – 2 Cor. 4:16-18
On Thursday, I preached a message in the chapel service of Southern Seminary and Boyce College. The text is 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, and it’s titled “An Eternal Weight of Glory.” It’s available on the SBTS Chapel podcast, which you can subscribe to or watch below. Excerpt: Don’t let your present pains eclipse your coming glory. That glory has already been planted in your heart, and the Devil and your flesh have no power to steal away the seeds sown on the good earth. God has planted the seeds of glory so deeply in your heart that your future renewal has already broken into the present through the Holy Spirit. Fight…
-
Introducing the CBMW Podcast
The title of this post is a bit of misnomer because this is actually a reintroduction of a podcast that has been around for a while but only with irregular content. Well, that has changed. Colin Smothers and I are now producing weekly episodes of the podcast. For the next several months we are going to be discussing/teaching through the Nashville and Danvers Statements. The first episode has already been posted, and it is available now. We will also be doing interviews with guests from time to time to discuss books and other items of interest. Our first interview is with Dr. Heath Lambert, the pastor of FBC Jacksonville, who…
-
Jinger Duggar Vuolo Takes on Bill Gothard… and Wins
I have known of Bill Gothard’s name for many years but have paid very little attention to his ministry. For a long time, my knowledge was pretty limited to “his followers don’t like drums and have an emphasis on family and legalism.” I had heard bits and pieces of his teaching over the years but had never made a study of it. What I had heard gave me the impression that he was a fringey figure. His ministry seemed to me passé, like an 80’s thing that—except for a handful of “hangers on”—was flickering out. After Gothard was exposed as a hypocritical lech in 2014, I thought surely that whatever…
-
FBC Jax Speaks the Truth in Love about Sexuality
I just finished watching one of the most extraordinary things I’ve ever seen. A megachurch pastor and his congregation took a strong and clear stand on sexuality and gender, and then held an open mic forum for community members (hostile or otherwise) to come and speak or ask any question they wanted of the pastor. I have never seen anything like it, but it was astonishing. You can watch the video below, but first a little background. Some of you will recognize Heath Lambert’s name because he and I were coauthors of a book linked in the sidebar, Transforming Homosexuality. Heath now serves as the pastor of the First Baptist…
-
Examine Yourselves – 2 Corinthians 13:5-7
I have been preaching through 2 Corinthians and on Sunday made it through verses 5-7 of chapter 13. In this text, Paul tells believers to examine themselves whether they are in the faith. Essentially, he tells them, “You don’t need to be examining me and whether I’m a true apostle. You need to be examining yourselves to see if you are really even in the faith at all.” It’s a very practical text and certainly crucial for us to understand. You can download the message here or listen below.
