By Jed Coppenger It’s not loving to create laws that promote falsehoods, confusion, discrimination, and harm, while reducing the institutions that help people flourish the most. That’s why, out of love for all people, including the LGBTQ+ community, I’m praying against the Respect for Marriage Act. I know this isn’t a popular position in our culture or, most likely, a …
BY JED COPPENGER Pride doesn’t pray. Pride doesn’t think it needs God’s help. Pride thinks that more will be accomplished today by skipping a time of prayer and starting to do the tasks for the day. What does pride sound like? “I’d love to pray, but I don’t have time to pray. I have so much to do.” That’s pride. It’s …
BY JED COPPENGER Charles Spurgeon was one of the greatest preachers in the history of Christianity. He was known as the “Prince of Preachers.” If you’ve ever read one of his many available sermons from the 1800s, then you can understand why so many are still impressed with his preaching ministry. But it was prayer that Spurgeon believed gave his …
By Jed Coppenger When the biblical idea of “unity and diversity” becomes a reality amongst Christians, most figure out that it is a lot messier than it sounds. There’s enough sin present amongst believers to make unity impossible, apart from a massive influx of heart-transforming grace. One of the temptations in the midst of the friction is either to be, …
By Jed Coppenger The SBC has problems. Lots of them. If you’ve been around the SBC very long, that’s not a surprising statement. What is unique about our current situation is the nature of the topics around which we disagree—race, politics, women in ministry, handling abuse—and the intensity with which we disagree. People don’t just disagree with each other; they demonize their …
Most pastors lead congregations that are made up of three types of people: people who love them no matter what they do, people who hate them no matter what they do, and people who are somewhere in between. SBC entity presidents are in similar situations. They have people who love them no matter what they do, hate them no matter …
The biggest steps are often the smallest steps. Most of the people I know think bible reading and prayer are small steps. They’re boring steps. They’re not world-changing steps. They’re certainly not big steps. But a quick look at every survey examining “causes for spiritual growth” that I’ve seen, tells a different story. It turns out that these small, boring, …
Four years ago we set out to start a church that would join Jesus in building Redemption City with the gospel—a city where everyone is redeemed, every aspect of life is redeemed, because it is completely centered on the Redeemer (Rev. 21-22). We’ve given our lives to connecting people to Jesus and growing people in Jesus with the gospel. …
Another Southern Baptist Convention is behind us. Most of us have made our way back to our homes and are starting to engage in regular life. Hopefully, we are all returning encouraged and challenged to take greater steps forward for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. I pray that all of us have greater hearts for prayer and evangelism. And …
Since 1845, Southern Baptist’s have focused on “… eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians, for the propagation of the gospel….” While it’s true that our faithfulness to this cooperative mission has varied over the years, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed with gratitude for the grace of God so evident in the SBC’s impact …
