Baptist21 is grateful and honored to make three announcements about the upcoming b21 panel:
1. Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church has agreed to be part of the b21 panel at this year’s Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville.
2. Albert Mohler has also agreed to be part of the b21 panel.
3. In addition, we are excited to announce that there will be books from some of the panel members given away to all attendees of this event.
Leading up to the event, Baptist21 has sent around to those participating on the panel a questionnaire that will highlight some of the topics to be discussed at this event. Below are Dever’s answers as well as information about the event.
Interview with Pastor Mark Dever
1. What is the best thing about being a part of the SBC? International Mission Board
2. Why do you think young, cross-centered ministers who accept baptist theology might not want to be a part of the SBC? Perhaps because of me. Also, perhaps because of the nominalism, the pride, and the cultural conservatism that distorts too many people’s understanding of God’s inerrant Word.
3. How and why did you come to the SBC? I was born into it. I reaffirmed it in seminary due to its baptistic and reformed roots. I’ve come to appreciate its emphasis on missions. I love the way it unlocks the resources of thousands of churches and helps our congregation to fulfill the Great Commission.
4. How can we honor our heritage while continuing to move forward? Preach the Gospel.
5. What are the three most important things that need to change, for the SBC to grow in our gospel mission? How would you do them, if it were up to you? There are so many things. We need to re-center our pastoring around expositional preaching. We need a renewed understanding of God’s sovereignty and of our utter dependence on Him and on His work in Christ. And we need to be crystal clear on the Gospel and on the church (including membership and discipline).
All of these must be pursued with great patience, perseverance, and much prayer.
My simplest answer to this would be, “By God’s ordinary means of grace.” That is, by the right preaching of the Word of God and the right administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The most important, relevant, provocative, and evangelistic things about us and our congregation’s life are never those things which are unique to our context and congregation, but are always those things which we have in common with every true church around the world, from Jesus’ time till our own.
For more information about IX marks check out their facebook page.
Information about the b21 panel @ the SBC
When is the b21 panel? June 23rd 11:45am-1:45pm (during a break at this year’s Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville). This will be shortly after the President’s address to the convention. We highly encourage you to attend Pastor Hunt’s address which promises to address some of the topics to be discussed by the panel.
Note about the event: There will be a $5 cover charge at the door; this $5 dollars will include a meal and books from some of the panel members. Sign up ASAP so that we can begin to prepare adequate arrangements and please blog about this event to stir up interest.
Where is the b21 panel to be held? Sojourn Community Church, 930 Mary St. Louisville, KY 40204 (about 5 minutes from where the convention will be held)
What is the b21 panel? It is a forum discussion about the present and future of the SBC. Each panel member will briefly address a key issue in SBC life, and this will be immediately followed by Question/Answer time.
What will the b21 panel discuss? The benefits of cooperation, the great things the SBC is doing, changes the SBC needs, how we can involve younger leaders, how we can move forward, and others.
Who will be part of the b21 panel? Daniel Akin from SEBTS, R. Albert Mohler from SBTS, Mark Dever from Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Ed Stetzer from Lifeway (see his promo for the event here), and Daniel Montgomery from Sojourn Community Church. The Baptist 21 guys will be moderating the event.
Why have this event? Many in the SBC see a great need for a directional change, but are also very excited about the things that the SBC does well. This event will celebrate what we are doing well and discuss possible areas of change.
Thank you for taking the time to visit our site and we certainly pray that you will make an effort to be a part of the b21 panel at this year’s convention.