GCR Report Impressions, Part 6

This is the sixth part of my continuing effort to weigh in on the Great Commission Resurgence interim report that was given in Nashville on Monday, February 22nd. My assessment will consist of three subsequent parts over the next few days.The fourth component of the report is far narrower in its scope than the previous components and seems...

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Ex Libris Review and Giveaway: Holy Subversion, by Trevin Wax

How should the lordship of Jesus Christ play itself out in the lives of believers? Trevin Wax answers that question in his book, Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals.To see more and enter for a chance to win your own copy, check out my review on Ex Libr...

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GCR Report Impressions, Part 5

This is the fifth part of my continuing effort to weigh in on the Great Commission Resurgence interim report that was given in Nashville on Monday, February 22nd. My assessment will consist of several more parts over the next few days.While the second component dealt exclusively with the North American Mission Board, the third component concerns...

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Let Me Learn

Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,that to be low is to be high,that the broken heart is the healed heart,that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,that to have nothing is to possess all,that to give is to receive,that the valley is the place of vision.Taken from Valley...

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GCR Report Impressions, Part 4

This is the fourth part of my continuing effort to weigh in on the Great Commission Resurgence interim report that was given in Nashville on Monday, February 22nd. My assessment will consist of several more parts over the next few days.The second component moves from philosophy to practice. It speaks of the necessity to reinvent the North...

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GCR Report Impressions, Part 3

This is the third part of my continuing effort to weigh in on the Great Commission Resurgence interim report that was given in Nashville on Monday, February 22nd. My assessment will consist of several more parts over the next few days.The first component concerns developing a convention-wide missional vision that parallels Matthew 28:19-20....

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GCR Report Impressions, Part 2

This is the second part of my continuing effort to weigh in on the Great Commission Resurgence interim report that was given in Nashville on Monday, February 22nd. My assessment will consist of several more parts over the next few days.The strongest part of the report was the introduction. It conveyed an attitude of humility and called for...

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GCR Report Impressions, Part 1

Like every other Southern Baptist with a blog, I am going to weigh in on the Great Commission Resurgence interim report that was given in Nashville on Monday, February 22nd. As is to be expected from an initial, interim report, there are many questions that remain unanswered. It is my prayerful desire that those questions will be answered...

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The SBC Great Commission Resurgence Interim Report

The SBC Great Commission Resurgence Interim Report. A seminal moment for the Southern Baptist Convention.GCR Progress Report from GCR on Vim...

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Forgive

The first words Jesus spoke from the cross were words of forgiveness. Have you ever wondered what that really means? This message looks at the depth and bredth of the forgiveness that Jesus offers. Click to listen or use the player at the bottom of this page to download....

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The Existence of God

The opening words of the Bible relay the fundamental assumption of the text: “In the beginning God…” Unlike systematic theology books which have bled ink on hundreds of pages in an attempt to lay out the case of God’s existence, the Bible opens with an unabashed, bold, unquestioned claim that God simply is. Whereas Hodge spends over 170 pages filled with unbearably small print, Chaefer barely uses 50. These and countless other...

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Extreme Truth

The godless professor smiled at the photo of Lenin hanging next to the door and then stepped up to the pitcher of water sitting on a table. He pulled out a packet of powder, and as he slowly poured it in, the water turned red.“This is the whole miracle,” he began his lesson. “Jesus had hidden in his sleeves a powder like this and then pretended...

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Sustaining Grace

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,Nor flight from all distress, but this:The grace that orders our trouble and pain,And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.--John Pi...

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Happy Birthday to My Precious Baby Girl

Today is the 17th anniversary of the time when Miranda and I ran through the gate of Keesler Air Force Base. I was driving our little Ford Escort as fast as it could possibly go and refused to be deterred by the young Security Policeman with the M-16 strapped to his shoulder who was guarding the gate. Although undeterred, I did have the wherewithal...

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For Starters

This is the first message of a new sermon series in the book of Philippians titled, "Impossible Joy". Do you need to experience true joy in your life? Then join us as we explore this great book of joy in the midst of impossible circumstances....

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Ex Libris: Plan B, by Pete Wilson

Life rarely goes according to plan. Most of the time, our Plan A gets quickly scrapped and we're forced into an undesirable Plan B. How should we respond when that happens? That is the subject of Pete Wilson's, Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?Read my review over on Ex Libr...

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Think About It

Does life ever seem frustrating? Does it ever seem like all the money you earn goes into a wallet with a big hole in the bottom of it? Does it seem like your life is busier than ever but you have less to show for it?  If that describes your life, then this series of messages is for you.  The series is titled, "Think About It,"...

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Relating to God

God is personal, yet transcendent. He created man in His image in order that man could have a relationship with Him. Of course that relationship was broken when Adam sinned in the garden. Even though man was (and continues to be) rebellious and broke the relationship, he still bore (and bears) the image of God. Though it is marred by the effects of sin, the image remains. So what is the image of God? The image is the common link...

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Extreme Family

In the Cambodian jungle, Haim and his family were given shovels and told to dig their own graves. They were hostages of the Khmer Rouge who considered Christians “enemies of the glorious revolution.”The soldiers allowed Haim and his family to kneel, hold hands, and pray. Haim then urged the soldiers to repent and accept Jesus as their Lord...

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Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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Ex Libris: The Unlikely Disciple, by Kevin Roose

What would happen if a liberal, Brown University student took a semester off and enrolled at Liberty University? That is exactly what Kevin Roose did. He tells his story in The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. Read my review over on Ex Libr...

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Fifty-One Percent

Fifty-one percent. It seems as if I am inundated with statistics nearly every day. Statistics on the breakup of the family. Statistics on divorce. Statistics on the number of unchurched people in my community and in my state. Statistics on the decline in baptisms. And then there are the secular news polls that flood the airwaves. Approval...

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Deep Riches: Knowing God

After a long hiatus, I am once again posting theological articles over on Deep Riches.  Essentially, these articles are brief essays that I have written on various theological topics that I plan on posting each Monday.  Remember that the Bible is the only infallable source of truth.  As you read these essays, I encourage...

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Knowing God

By way of simple definition, propositional knowledge of God is knowing facts about Him. This type of knowledge is what some might term, “book learning.” For example, I could have spent a lifetime pouring through historical data studying Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. I might know every fact about him down to the most trivial minutiae. As the world’s foremost Stonewall expert, people worldwide could seek to drink from the fount...

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Extreme Devotion

Before burning at the stake for teaching the Bible, Dr. Rowland Taylor wrote these beautiful words:“I say to my wife and to my children, the Lord gave you to me, and the Lord has taken me from you and you from me: Blessed be the name of the Lord! I have ever found him more faithful and favorable than is any husband or father. Trust in him...

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Statement of Faith

Statement of Faith: Based on my current, incomplete understanding of Biblical teaching, I wholeheartedly and without reservation affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Additionally, for elucidation of my views of Scripture, I echo the Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy and the Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics. For the purpose of doctrinal clarity and specificity, I also humbly affirm the following: 1. Scripture a....

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Extreme Devotion

The people of Hadley begged Dr. Rowland Taylor not to go see the bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor. They knew the bishop was furious at the teachings of Dr. Taylor.For nearly twenty years, the English Bible had been legally distributed in England. Dr. Taylor had simply taught all those in his church to read the Bible for themselves...

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