From time to time, we hear wonderful compliments ascribed to the people around us. Sometimes the compliment is about the person’s appearance. Sometimes about his generosity or her gentle spirit. Perhaps above them all, my attention is captured when I hear a person described as a true shepherd. “He really knows how to care for other people.” “She is in …
Top 5 Posts of 2018
As the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens“. If you’re like many, perhaps at the end of each year you too like to ponder the past twelve months. We at Baptist21 are no different. As each year sunsets, we find it advantageous to take stock of …
A Bi-Vocational Opportunity for Church Planters & Pastors
A Bi-Vocational Opportunity for Church Planters & Pastors By Ted Richard Imagine working 2 days each month bi-vocationally, and getting full medical benefits for you and your family for under $300 per month. Now consider the fact that this job would also allow you the opportunity to teach the Bible, share the gospel, counsel, and serve others for the glory …
Stories Matter
For my husband’s seminary ethics class, one of the assignments was to read Francine Rivers’s The Atonement Child. The book tells the story of Dynah Carey who has everything she thinks she needs in life: a handsome fiancé, loving parents, and the respect of her Christian community. When a violent rape leaves her pregnant, everything falls apart. Why …
The 2018 Unite Conference
On October 16th through the 18th, the Pillar Network will host their prime annual event, the Unite Conference, in Raleigh, North Carolina. For those unfamiliar with Unite, this conference provides the opportunity for planters, revitalizers, pastors and seminary students from all over the country to gather for several days of fellowship, biblical exposition, networking, refreshment, worship, and insight. If you have a …
Follow-up to “A Modest Proposal for Baptist Associations”
A few weeks ago I shared “A Modest Proposal for Baptist Associations.” I sought to do two things. First, I wanted to affirm the importance of associations in Southern Baptist life. We often spend so much time thinking about national or state work, we neglect the work in our own backyards—associations have typically filled that role. Second, I argued that …
Generosity Mean Thinking of Others
Alex Haley, the author of Roots, is known to have a picture in his office of a turtle sitting on a fencepost. When asked why he kept this picture he said that it reminded him that if a turtle is on a fence post you know he had some help. In an age of platform-seeking celebrities, it’s easy to overlook …
“I Can’t Be As Good As God.”
“the gospel is only good news if it gets there on time.” -Carl C. F. Henry I was with a friend. We just finished breakfast and ordered an Uber for the airport. Our driver, smiling ear to ear was interesting, fun and creative. He had what I would consider Chicago style blues playing in his rhythmic sedan—horns and major seven …
Conflict Among Fellow Elders
For the nearly twenty years I’ve been in vocational ministry, I’ve always served in a setting that understood the need for a plurality of elders. Prior to this, I served as a lay elder for a number of years as well. I’m grateful for the foundation of a Biblical ecclesiology that others laid as a legacy upon which I’ve had …
Did Gerald Harris and I Attend a Different SBC This Year?
Recently, I was sent Gerald Harris’ article in the Christian Index entitled, “The Southern Baptist Convention is Undergoing a Seismic Shift.” Harris is the Senior Editor of that Georgia Baptist Paper. After reading the article, I was left with the question, “Did we attend completely different conventions?” Harris laments in the article that Southern Baptists used to be about evangelism and missions, but that …