According to the ERLC, the group’s purpose will be to consider how Southern Baptists at every level can take discernible action to respond swiftly and compassionately to incidents of abuse, as well as to foster safe environments within churches and institutions. This group will also study both how Southern Baptists are currently engaging these issues... Continue Reading

All preaching requires skill in rhetoric and oratory, but perhaps the best and most influential preacher in biblical times was reputed to lack them. Indeed, by his own admission, Paul tells the Corinthians he did not come with the kind of speaking gifts and philosophical panache that was so admired in their day (1Co 2.1-5).... Continue Reading

Evangelism is the great exercise of our trust in God – a truth we easily ignore, because we constantly fall prey to the lie that evangelism is what we do for God. We slide back into performance-driven obedience. We are not the catalyst for evangelism; the Spirit is. I feel there are probably more like me who struggle to... Continue Reading

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) will be completed. Only it won’t be completed by American churches. The Holy Spirit is passing the baton on to others. Countries that were formerly missionary-receiving countries have become missionary-senders. Which is why I stay in Malawi, training the leaders of this new movement of God.       Today’s... Continue Reading

“Jesus flips everything on its head. Jesus puts this little boy in the center and tells his disciples they need to become like a child, otherwise they will never enter the kingdom. Forget about being the secretary of defense; you won’t even get in without becoming like a child.”   Can you imagine if all... Continue Reading

“So what do the Puritans have to say to the weary, exhausted, discouraged pastor? Look to Christ. By faith, look to Jesus Christ, the One who is mighty and glorious and whose steadfast love is better than life. Out of a love for the glory of God, the word of God, and the people of God, the... Continue Reading

“The history of the Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and the history of Israel is the history of the institutional church. To be sure, Israel was a national church, and we are not. The national promises and conditions given to her have been fulfilled by our Lord Jesus. Still, the pattern is instructive.”   In a recent... Continue Reading

It is plain that a very serious responsibility before God and man is assumed by those who return an affirmative answer to that question. It is something more than ordinary falsehood, if our inward convictions do not correspond with a profession made in presence of the Church, and as the condition of our receiving authority... Continue Reading

The fall of another pastor means the agony of another church, as yet another community of Christians grapples with the fallout of their pastor’s great sin. The fall of another husband means the agony of another wife, as she bears the weight of her husband’s immorality. The fall of another leader means the disquiet of... Continue Reading

Squandering time and living and leading lazily are foolish. Like all sin, laziness can slowly creep into our lives and leadership. If we fail to address the temptation to move toward laziness, we become unfaithful in our leadership. Here are five warning signs.   The people of God have always understood laziness to be a... Continue Reading