Dr. Paige Patterson and the SBC: 3 Ways B21 is Praying

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 …

Introducing #OneforSeven

What difference can one dollar make? Well, one dollar a week from each active Southern Baptist could double the number of IMB missionaries on the field. Our friends at Brainerd Baptist Church and the IMB have just recently rolled out a new initiative called ONEforSEVEN. This initiative encourages each Southern Baptist to give an additional dollar per week to the …

Setting the Record Straight: An Exercise in Brotherly Love

When the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) convenes in June, at least two men will be nominated for president: J.D. Greear and Ken Hemphill. Both men are my brothers in Christ and my friends. I love them, and I am extremely grateful for their ministries. I have nothing negative or unkind to say about either one of them. As we move …

Queue’s and Limbs in Church Planting and Renewal

Today we welcome Dr. Mark Coppenger as a guest writer on Baptist21. Dr. Coppenger is Professor of Christian Apologetics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and managing editor of the online Kairos Journal. You can follow him on Twitter at @mcoppenger. When I sensed God’s call to pastoral ministry, some thought it odd that I would go to seminary for …

The Louisiana Baptist Convention, CP Dollars and Presidential Politics

Update: I received an email from someone close to Ken Hemphill stating “Ken paid for the website and no CP dollars were used to produce it.” There’s a lot financially that goes into website production and management. Whether a domain name was the only purchase made or Ken is financially covering the costs of maintaining the site is not clear. …

We’re Headed to Dallas

We are thrilled to announce the 2018 B21 Panel at the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, TX! This year marks the tenth anniversary of hosting the B21 Panel during the annual meeting and we couldn’t be more excited to be celebrating in Dallas! Each year we gather around open dialogue with key leaders and ask the questions that pastors across our …

Platt’s Departure from the IMB: Great Things Behind and Before

Jaclyn S. Parrish worked as a writer for the International Mission Board in South Asia. She currently serves in the United States as a writer, editor, and social media associate for the IMB. You can follow her on Twitter at @JaclynSParrish. I think I sat in my car for a solid twenty minutes. Shoulders hunched. Head hanging. I’d come to …

The Frequently Overlooked Part of Leading Change in the Church

This is a guest post by John Mark Harrison, Lead Pastor at Apex Baptist Church in Apex, North Carolina. You can follow John Mark on Twitter here. One of the great challenges of pastoring a church is shepherding people through seasons of change. Most people don’t enjoy change, but change does not have to be that unconquerable mountain that it …

The Triumph of Christianity’s Reading Practices: How Some Faulty Assumptions Swept Biblical Scholarship

This is a guest post by Brian J. Wright (PhD, Ridley College). Brian serves as adjunct professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Daniella, have been blessed with four children. He is an active member of Hillcrest Baptist Church, Pensacola, FL. Welcome to biblical scholarship: set your watch back 30 years—or at least 29. In 1989, …