Archive for the ‘Baptist Issues’ Category
The Discipleship Void, Republished
July 25th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Christian Living, Worth Reading
A while back, I’d shared a post here regarding The Discipleship Void.
Today, I’ve republished it (slightly modified) over at sbc IMPACT. When you get a chance, check it out and share your thoughts on the issue.
The Discipleship Void…
May 21st, 2008 | 3 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Christian Living
Over the past couple years, I’ve spent quite a bit of time learning about “Baptist Issues”. I’ve spent way too much time reading blogs, internet forums, and other online Baptist publications, and have read quite a few books on a variety of topics ranging from church vision to small group development to missional living to apologetics.
In doing all of the above, I’ve come across some general facts and statistics that are simply frightening:
– Southern Baptist church membership growth is vastly outpaced by general population growth.
– The vast majority of “church growth” is either biological growth (children of church members getting saved) or transfer membership.
– Somewhere between 80 to 90 percent of teens never return to regular church attendance after they graduate school and move out of their youth group.
From these things, I conclude three things:
– Most churches are doing a miserable job or reaching unchurched people.
– Most churches really aren’t even reaching their own kids.
– Something must change.
There’s no beating around the bush here… these are serious problems that churches need to address, and quickly at that. We’re losing a spiritual battle for the hearts and souls of our kids, our families, our friends, and our communities!
Something must change.
I write all of this in the context of self-examination. You see, I am the Sunday School director at my church (Missouri Valley Baptist), and in my two years serving in that position, I’ve done absolutely nothing to make a dent in these problems. While I could chalk that up to being rather new in the church and still feeling my way in regard to how we operate, I’m really without excuse. I’ve seen the problem… even in my own church… and done nothing.
Something must change.
But what?
Here’s my thought as to one root cause… the discipleship void.
Do a bit of self-examination here, and tell me if your answers don’t reflect a lack of discipleship.
– Describe the quality and frequency of your quiet times with God.
– When is the last time you prayed with your spouse? Your children?
– What kind of regular, focused efforts do you take to help your kids grow in Christ?
– What kind of intentional efforts do you make to share your faith with others?
– How do you go about “being” the church on a daily basis?
Here’s the deal… when I see the unchurched continuing to be ignored by the church, I don’t see a lack of pastoral concern for the matter so much as I do a lack of congregational concern rooted in stagnant faith. When I see teenagers graduating from high school and leaving the church behind for good, I don’t see the youth minister at fault for lack of effort in helping to mold them, but the failure of moms and dads to step up to the plate and fulfill their God-given assignment to guide them in the ways of the Lord.
Worst of all? I see these traits in myself, and I simply don’t want to live a life of dead faith anymore. And I certainly don’t want to see my kids grow up only to bolt straight out the doors of the church, running from God, never to return.
I believe there is a huge opportunity here to make a difference in addressing these problems through family-focused faith. If we can help moms, dads, and kids to grow in their faith together, we can see miraculous things happen in their lives. As families begin to reflect God’s design, and they begin to see what God can do in their lives, I believe we’ll see the unchurched want to see what makes faith-focused families tick. I believe we’ll start to see families begin to have a passion for sharing what God is doing in their lives, and I believe God will open doors for them to make a difference in the lives of others.
Pipe dream, God-given vision, or something in between?
Let’s wait to see how God helps to develop this idea for discipleship before we make that call. This is something I feel pretty strongly about implementing in my church, and I’m definitely open to the advice and insights of others as I pray about this and formulate a discipleship plan.
Your challenge? Help me with a few ideas.
What should a family-focused discipleship strategy look like? How would you go about getting this off the ground? What kind of curriculum or other materials would you use? Am I totally missing the boat on this? If so, how?
You get the point? This is free game, so fire away with whatever thoughts and ideas you may have on this topic.
Convictional Baptists?
April 30th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Yes, I know I promised to stay out of this stuff, but I can’t help myself here.
You see, I couldn’t help but laugh today when I saw there’s a new group forming in SBC life… the Association of Convictional Baptists. Their website isn’t fully functional yet, but they’ve apparently been working on a resolution for the 2008 SBC Annual Meeting.
I won’t get into that… just the name, “Association of Convictional Baptists”. As opposed to the Association for Non-Convictional Baptists?
Conviction is certainly not a trait lacking from ANY Baptist, as far as I can tell.
I know I’m odd, but I wonder… will the new running “gotcha” question to embarrass SBC pastors be, “Have you become a Convictional Baptist yet?” After all, the old standby, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?” is REALLY worn out, and just not all that funny. (I suppose this one isn’t either, but again… I admit to being a bit odd.)
SBC Presidential Campaigns?
March 11th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in » Baptist Issues
As the one responsible for updating and monitoring my church’s website, I get some interesting e-mails from time to time through our “contact” address.
This morning was no exception.
While not offensive, like most of the junk mail we get (we must be on every spam list available), and not just plain out in left field (supposedly, I could have billions of dollars in the bank if I followed up on every promise to receive an inheritance from a long lost heir that died in Nigeria or elsewhere)… it definitely took me by surprise.
Yes… we received a bulk campaign e-mail today.
And not from an official running for governmental office.
Now I admit that I’m just a bit out of the loop on SBC matters, but are we really to the point where SBC Presidential candidates are actually running funded campaigns, complete with bulk e-mailers, websites, campaign platforms, and the like?
Amazing.
Baptists Going Green…
March 10th, 2008 | 3 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, In the News...
So, Southern Baptists are going green.
This will probably make me unpopular amongst Baptist bloggers (maybe even with one of my closest friends), but suffice it to say that I think this initiative (however well-intentioned), AS WORDED, is a mistake.
I’m all for environmental stewardship, but please… let’s stay out of the global warming / climate change debate!
Why? Let’s take a couple sentences from this group’s declaration to start…
We recognize that we do not have any special revelation to guide us about whether global warming is occurring and, if it is occurring, whether people are causing it. We are looking at the same evidence unfolding over time that other people are seeing.
We recognize that we do not have special training as scientists to allow us to assess the validity of climate science. We understand that all human enterprises are fraught with pride, bias, ignorance and uncertainty.
Here’s my suggestion. If you’ve got no “special revelation”, “special training”, or the like that allows you to assess “whether global warming is occurring and, if it is occurring, whether people are causing it”… stick to the theological issues and principles that lead Christians to a position of environmental stewardship, and leave climate change out of your statements.
After all, isn’t human-influenced climate change covered by environmental stewardship?
Of course it is. So why hit the hot button issue?
Political expediency and media coverage. At least that’s what it looks like to me.
If that was your goal, I extend my congratulations… you made top story on MSNBC.com for a while, and are sure to receive plenty of publicity for the cause.
Out of the Overflow…
January 8th, 2008 | 4 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies, My Life
I was looking back over some of the things I’d written from various times of Bible study over the years, and ran across a devotion on Luke 6:43-45 I’d written almost five years back. In thinking over what I’d written, it occurred to me that this passage might be somewhat applicable to much of the rhetoric, debate, and conflict in Baptist life recently. Or, maybe it’s just applicable to me.
Regardless… here’s the passage:
Luke 6:43-45
43No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
I’d originally written the following:
I don’t think this passage needs much explanation. Think about it a bit, then ask yourself the following:
- What’s coming out of my mouth?
- What are my most frequent topics of discussion?
- What do these things reveal about my heart and what’s most important to me?
These questions are still applicable for self-evaluation… it’s clear, beyond a doubt, that what we talk (or write) about reveals a lot about what’s important to us.
The question I find myself asking tonight is simply this:
If a blog primarily focuses on the conflict in Baptist life, what does it reveal about the author?
If you look at the categories in my left sidebar, you’ll notice pretty quickly that “Baptist Issues” is my number one topic. Worse, were you to look at my bloglines feeds, you’d find the majority of blogs I read deal with Baptist conflict.
While I feel I’ve been civil (for the most part) in the discussions in which I’ve partaken, and I’ve moved away from this almost completely in the last couple months, tonight I simply find myself ashamed of the fact that this has been what has consumed my blogging interests in the past… foolish and stupid arguments (2 Tim. 2:22-26).
No more.
Burleson Censured
November 8th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
Baptist Press coverage here.
Burleson / Corbaley Feud Comes to a Head…
October 23rd, 2007 | 5 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues
According to Wade Burleson’s blog, Jerry Corbaley is asking the IMB Board of Trustees to remove him as a trustee for the “gross and habitual sin” of gossip / slander.
Here’s the 153 page letter that Jerry submitted to the Board.
*SIGH*
Here’s my proposed solution to this mess… how about Jerry and Wade both submitting to Christian conflict resolution prior to the next Trustee meeting, facilitiated by a trained Christian mediator?
I don’t expect that to happen, but it certainly makes sense to me.
MBLA Endorses Candidates… or Not.
October 12th, 2007 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, In the News...
I hate to take up more space on this site about MBC politics, but the saga has taken another turn this evening. There was incorrect information passed on previously here, and it must be corrected.
Remember a few days back, when I posted news from David Krueger (originating on the Missouri Baptist list) about a new set of candidates for Missouri Baptist Convention officers? Well, supposedly, they were endorsed by the Missouri Baptist Layman’s Association (MBLA).
This evening, David informed the list that his “sources” were in error. Although the candidates he announced were spot on, the endorsement didn’t actually happen. David conveyed that, per a conversation he’d had with Kerry Messer (MBLA president), that MBLA has not met, that they did not endorse the candidates, and that they have no plans to do so.
Given the deluge of debate and argument on the list over endorsements for candidates since the announcment on Monday (there have been so many messages, I can’t hardly keep up with reading them all), the sudden news that these endorsements didn’t really happen is certainly interesting, to say the least. It raises quite a few questions in my mind, but to vocalize these publicly and imply that there was anything other than misunderstanding involved in this wouldn’t extend a bit of the grace to David and his “source” that I would hope for were I in their shoes.
(BTW, Rodney? You’ll probably want to correct your post, or create a new one clarifying the matter.)
More Missouri Baptist Nominations…
October 8th, 2007 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Baptist Issues, In the News...
This seems to be the week for MBC announcements. This evening, e-mail on the Missouri Baptist list from David Krueger (reprinted here as it’s of interest to all Missouri Baptists) announced the following:
A number of fellow Missouri Baptists have announced that they will be nominated as officers for the Missouri Baptist Convention at the annual meeting in Tan-Tar-a. They include:
- Mike Green, for a second term as President. Mike is the DOM of the Twin Rivers Association.
- Jay Scribner, for 1st Vice President. Jay was a long-time pastor of FBC, Branson and is now retired.
- Roger Moran, for 2nd Vice President. Roger is a layman and a member of FBC, Troy.
- Jerry Williams, for Recording Secretary. Jerry is the DOM of the Barry Baptist Association.
All four have received the endorsement of the Missouri Baptist Layman’s Association.
Obviously, the same things I wrote about the “Save Our Convention” nominees apply here as well… I hope Missouri Baptists will prayerfully consider each of these, and vote as God leads.
I do hope, given the announcements of the last few days of candidates endorsed by each group, that the convention doesn’t decay into a political battle, with SOC on one side and MBLA on the other. Fireworks will accomplish nothing aside from further fracturing of the MBC, and we know who that will benefit… no one.
