tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22941708016737532912012-02-02T13:03:45.323-05:00SBC PlodderI love the SBC. I love the opinionated folks in the SBC because of who they think they are. My opinions on things SBC from the perspective of a plodding pastor.William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.comBlogger3281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-46189833019976227362012-02-02T07:05:00.000-05:002012-02-02T07:05:08.146-05:00Association yields doctrinal autonomy to the SBC?The Surry (NC) Baptist Association made news last year as a result of their action to summarily and quickly expel a member church because the church had called a female pastor.
The association, presumably tidying up things after that mess is in the process of revising their associational by-laws. Sounds like a good idea.
Here is the proposed revision as concerns the association's doctrinal William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-42024078460207813322012-02-01T08:26:00.000-05:002012-02-01T08:26:25.622-05:00Stained glass SBC logo
The photo above is of a leaded stained glass SBC logo. You recognize the world, cross, and Bible. It graced my office when I had one but is now excess inventory and I need some fishbait money...alas...I part with it reluctantly.
It is roughly 8 inches by 11 inches and weighs a little under a pound. It has a tiny loop at the top for hanging. I had it in a window at my office at the church.
It'sWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-11585848801801094612012-01-31T07:35:00.002-05:002012-01-31T07:52:26.168-05:00The powerless God of anti-MormonsFor five years I've heard not a few Southern Baptists declare that they would never vote for Mitt Romney or any other Mormon, lest they promote and make Mormonism more acceptable to the public.
Aside from the usual politico/religious non sequiturs that we have adopted (think 2008 when we preferred "I am not a born again Christian" McCain to "I am a devoted follower of Jesus Christ" Barack Obama William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-84802498716422904822012-01-30T08:42:00.000-05:002012-01-30T08:42:18.528-05:00Can this church survive?I attended an SBC church down the road from me yesterday. It's a small church and I know one or two people who attend there.
My wife and I made up about 7% of the entire attendance, 30. I don't have any aversion to a small church. The worship was traditional and they had a very nice baby grand piano. The congregation is mostly seniors but with a couple of younger families and three or four kids.William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-43738904482158186552012-01-26T10:25:00.002-05:002012-01-26T11:49:59.551-05:00When states cannot pay their Cooperative Program 'bills'The innocuous Baptist Press headline read, "Ga. Baptists reaffirm commitment to forwarding CP gifts to SBC" and, had I not been a Georgia Baptist, I would not have read the article.
The piece was from our state paper The Christian Index and was written by Gerald Harris, editor. What the article explained was that the Georgia Baptist Convention had fallen way behind in sending the Cooperative William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-84824910013024416572012-01-23T08:28:00.000-05:002012-01-23T08:28:55.211-05:00Jesus loves you double cheesburgerWhile traveling through a small south Georgia town Friday, the sign for the local Dairy Queen captured my attention: "JESUS LOVES YOU DOUBLE CHEESBURGER" it read. I didn't take a photo but the sign continued with fries, drink, and a price.
Had it been around lunch time perhaps I could have persuaded my wife to pull in and order it. I could visualize myself at the counter speaking with some teenWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-28876817120618500742012-01-20T08:16:00.000-05:002012-01-20T08:16:31.367-05:00Thank the Republicans for great prime time entertainmentThese debates have been wonderful theater and quite entertaining. I confess to watching all of all of them. Perhaps I should get a life.
Ah, the irony, the spectacle, the agony:
Newt: I like Newt. Newt hits home runs, bunches of them, in the debates. But Newt is a walking political time bomb. I lightly defended his adultery and multiple marriages in past months but the latest renewal of the William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-23080773214989496832012-01-19T11:41:00.001-05:002012-01-19T11:45:20.725-05:00Your friendly Iron Skillet ChefI'm proudly displaying a recent culinary achievement, a very nice breakfast frittata that was a big hit the other evening around the house. I was a hero for at least an hour or two after that, then things went back to normal.
I trust that my readers understand the old axiom that if one knows how to cook and gets in the kitchen and does it, there are some wonderful benefits the chief of which isWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-15658209214917857192012-01-18T08:49:00.000-05:002012-01-18T08:49:33.311-05:00Really, another, new, non-church church in my county?My fair county has a population of about 70,000. It has several cities, the largest is about 15,000. It is mostly rural, blue collar, and ex-urban. It is decidedly un-avant guarde, traditional, uncool.
There are plenty of churches in my county. If I turn left out of my driveway on Sunday, withing three miles (I live in the country) I have three Baptist churches to choose from without making a William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-90274837876997066902012-01-16T07:23:00.031-05:002012-01-16T08:13:27.171-05:00Behold: A new, indigenous church in my countyI attended the church closest to my home yesterday. It's within walking distance if I cared to hike a couple of hundred yards through the woods in my Sunday best which consists of my normal Sunday attire - dressy sans tie. I haven't worn a tie since my last Sunday preaching.
This church is informal, somewhat south of loose and casual. It is (gasp!) a new but traditional church. They have a William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-91578324410543561662012-01-15T09:08:00.000-05:002012-01-15T09:08:41.109-05:00From on high: Evangelical leaders meet to find a candidateWhen the so called evangelical leadership of America meets, should ordinary workaday folks like us (a) ignore them, (b) be wary of them, or (c) thank God we finally have a word from on high about how to conduct ourselves in the remaining 2012 Republican primaries?
Plodder quickly makes a critical executive decision to cast his ballot for (a).
In a reminder that Paul Pressler was a secular William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-36906525326022903902012-01-13T07:25:00.004-05:002012-01-13T09:03:28.162-05:00Why not have a RE-baptism service?OK, OK. Baptisms are down, back to the level of the 1950s. We're all chagrined, embarassed, and upset about it.
How about we stop the hand wringing and finger pointing and do something about it.
The photo is an actual church sign near me.
That's it. Have a rebaptism service. Think of the possibilities.
You would have a new target audience, everyone in your church who has already been William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-82522360842020584672012-01-11T07:38:00.000-05:002012-01-11T07:38:00.829-05:00Younger pastors are more likely young earthersEVOLUTION: Pastors unconvinced, LifeWay survey shows, but they're split on earth's age
Sorting through LifeWay's survey of Protestant pastors about evolution and creation, I was intrigued by the differential between younger (18-44) and not-so-younger (45+) pastors on their belief in the age of the earth.
Here's BP's paragraph:
The only statistically significant difference was that younger William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-14187686918008623322012-01-09T11:06:00.000-05:002012-01-09T11:06:45.617-05:00Plodder goes to church, off the reservationThat would be not only off the Southern Baptist reservation (already done that at an independent Baptist a few weeks ago) but off the Baptist reservation.
We attended a Presbyterian church yesterday where a friend of mine is pastoring. I'm thinking that it has been many decades since I attended Sunday morning worship in a non-Baptist church. My wife, perhaps never. So far, I have not noticed anyWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-33095043160633419352012-01-08T09:47:00.000-05:002012-01-08T09:47:54.798-05:00I want to like Rick Perry...
...but he is such a disappointment.
On being Commander In Chief, Perry continually, incessantly, reminds us that he has been C-in-C of the 20,000 strong armed forces of Texas. Last night he added that these troops were deployed in several "theaters of operation."
Huh?
Yep. The theater of Brownsville, El Paso, perhaps Dallas and San Antonio (gotta keep the Alamo safe, I suppose). All the hot William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-24425616203257705342012-01-06T08:22:00.003-05:002012-01-06T11:06:32.007-05:00Egalitarianism/Complementarianism - our two favorite 50 cent wordsNot a lot of deep thinking or tricky exegesis here, just some observations and questions:
Egalitarianism and complementarianism are sterile terms that fail to convey much for either position. They dehumanize women in the same manner that antebellum vocabularly dehumanized a considerable segment of the American populace.
There is no good manner by which Baptist groups (associations, state William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-22553866335884847452012-01-05T08:00:00.000-05:002012-01-05T08:00:46.717-05:00Antique Romans Commentary: Sanday and Headlam
The International Critical Commentary has been around for a long time. The original Romans volume was authored by Sanday and Headlam. It was later replaced.
I have a copy of the original. Its the Fourth Edition, 1900, T&T Clark publishers.
This is a $17 book....but wait...if you pay shipping ($4) I'll throw in a copy of the 1928 printing of "A Harmony of the Synoptic Gospels in Greek" by William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-67602339655065133642012-01-04T09:03:00.000-05:002012-01-04T09:03:37.282-05:00Plodder assesses presidential candidates...Happy to be of help.
I would have caucused for Rick Santorum, were I a frigid Iowan last evening. Instead I worked down my wood pile and stayed warm at home in the basement. It went down to 20 degrees last night here.
Santorum: Sure, I told him to drop out back on October 22nd which should have been a hint about the worth of my political savvy. I admit that the more I listened to him, the William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-56787239585334320692012-01-03T13:45:00.000-05:002012-01-03T13:45:25.375-05:00Antique Broadus book
This is a book of John A. Broadus, "Sermons and Addresses" published 1889, Fourth Edition.
I'm selling it. It belonged to my great-aunt's husband and is inscribed by him "Henry A. Lowrance 1892". He was a Civil War vet and a leader at Athens Baptist Church. The book is not rare but is rather scarce.
Broadus is, of course, one of the outstanding SB leaders. He was Southern Baptist Theological William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-17371800796241456632012-01-02T07:29:00.008-05:002012-01-02T08:44:30.539-05:002012 PredictionsMy understanding is that Harold Camping, having endured the fate of every other person who predicted the return of Jesus, is pouting for the year 2012 and that the Mayan end-of-time prediction isn't until December, so I'm going ahead and make some 2012 predictions.
_____________________
North American Mission Board: In spite of many changes that left a good number of SBCers disenchanted, William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-25003766426842002052011-12-29T07:39:00.002-05:002011-12-29T08:04:00.736-05:00Notable SBC quotes from 2011Folks in the SBC are always good for some quotable quotes although I wouldn't say that they are always helpful for the Convention. Here are some that I picked up from 2011:
Goebbelesque quote of the year: Restoration to doctrinal purity and a renewed sense of unity in the churches of our Association were our goals. This from the official communication of Surry Baptist Association, NC.
So, whatWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-31204095368297027422011-12-27T07:54:00.000-05:002011-12-27T07:54:00.037-05:00Top ten SBC stories of 2011I recognize that most SBCers think that if it doesn't involve the SBC it's not worth thinking about, so here's my list of top SBC stories for 2011. The rest of Christendom can have their list, but none of that counts here (however, if the world had ended as Harold Camping said it would a couple of times in 2011, I would have been happy to include that non-SBC story in the list).
_______________William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-54059742886864084522011-12-26T08:51:00.001-05:002011-12-26T11:15:19.879-05:00Plodder goes to church, formerly his ownOne of things that always interests pastors is their relationship with their predecessors and successors in the pulpit. Unless a pastor starts a new church or closes down an established one, he has predecessors and successors, probably a bunch of them.
I'm pleased to say that, so far as I know, I have always had good relationships with the my predecessors and successors. I even had a cordial William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-67095896956179007932011-12-24T09:51:00.000-05:002011-12-24T09:51:31.868-05:00Stressless Christmas
This evening my wonderful wife and I will attend a Christmas Eve Lord's Supper service, one which I will not be leading. While I always enjoyed this service, and while the short, quiet, reverent time involved no preaching but rather almost all music and the service of the Lord's Supper, it involved a certain amount of stress.
'Sure,' the musicians would say, 'stress for us, not you.'
Maybe.
William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-30791755640042601492011-12-22T07:20:00.002-05:002011-12-22T09:22:34.775-05:00What major SBC meeting was held in Nashville this week?Er, ah...LifeWay had a Christmas sale? Frank Page played Santa Claus for the Executive Committee's office party?
Nope.
What happened was that several upper echelon SBC leaders met with several Baptist World Alliance reps.
You'll find this news, not at Baptist Press, but at Associated Baptist Press:
BWA, SBC leaders meet for first time since 2004.
From ABP:
Initiated by BWA General William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-32658634331423231552011-12-20T07:45:00.001-05:002011-12-20T07:45:01.853-05:00Feet to the fire: Plodder's 2011 PredictionsLast December, I made some predictions for 2011: Plodders predictions, er, conjectures for 2011
I am hereby holding myself accountable for the rash things I offered then. Here's a look at them one year later.
1. International Mission Board. I predicted that trustees would settle on "a known SBC figure rather than an obscure missions-driven person" to be CEO. I further specified that the William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-58635005753261492332011-12-19T07:37:00.022-05:002011-12-19T09:20:55.433-05:00Plodder goes to church, not his own, Part 2I wouldn't claim to be morally superior or more spiritual than my dear readers...but I did attend not one but two churches yesterday morning, and that within five minutes of each other. Sort of like scoring two touchdowns seconds apart, eh? How many did you attend?
There'a a small, SBC church down the road. We entered about 10:55 and sat down. We were the 39th and 40th person in attendance. No William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-83666475702557267572011-12-16T07:31:00.004-05:002011-12-16T08:05:26.993-05:00Friday commentary on the human condition...it's all around us.
Stealing a page from the National Hockey League, where the old cliche ('we went to a fight and a hockey game broke out') has been retired, two college basketball teams had an unholy brawl recently. Scholar athletes cum thugs spoke of being 'disrespected' and bragged about being 'gangstas,' the former a killing offense in some circles and the latter a virtue. Many thanks toWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-25433583838418538802011-12-15T08:40:00.001-05:002011-12-15T08:42:52.341-05:00Lottie Moon, SBC's most heroic figure
Because of the offering in her name, Charlotte Digges Moon, Lottie Moon to all of us, is the SBC's most heroic figure.
If SBCers would take an excursion away from the usual Christmastime abstract of her life found in International Mission Board materials and repeated in church Lottie Moon Christmas Offering promotional stuff and read her biography, they would probably join me in my assessment.William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-62993262066111717882011-12-14T10:03:00.001-05:002011-12-14T10:06:38.308-05:00Ah...Lottie MoonThis is a quite pedestrian article about the SBC's most important organization and offering.
Year........Goal........Received
2004 150,000,000 133,886,222
2005 150,000,000 137,939,678
2006 150,000,000 150,178,098
2007 165,000,000 150,409,654
2008 170,000,000 141,315,110
2009 175,000,000 148,984,819
2010 175,000,000 145,662,925
2011 175,000,000
William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-51022941981073973192011-12-13T07:32:00.005-05:002011-12-13T08:21:08.919-05:00Lottie Moon or Global Mission Offering?No. Plodder has not gone moderate.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Lottie Moon knockoff is called "Offering for Global Missions" although I've often seen it promoted as "Global Mission Offering." I don't know if any of the phrases are trademarked as are Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong.
The blog title comes from the church I attended Sunday which was in the midst of promoting what they William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-55561051363146886842011-12-12T07:34:00.002-05:002011-12-12T08:52:35.856-05:00Why silence from SBCers about clergy sex abusers is especially troublesomeOne of the more troublesome cases of an SBC minister sexually abusing children, many of them over a decades long period, is that of David Pierce, former music minister in Benton, Arkansas. He was convicted in 2009 and has been in prison for a couple of years of his ten year sentence. The matter is news now because he is up for parole. A hearing has been postponed until next year on that.
At his William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-81982052161410687142011-12-12T07:31:00.000-05:002011-12-11T17:28:17.556-05:00Name change committee sez we can continue to be 'Baptists'Well...good. I was wondering if I could ever be comfortable saying that I was a proud non-southern, non-baptist, generic something-or-other.
SBC name change task force reaches decision
That's a real tickler of a headline by Baptist Press.
What decision?
Well, we're not exactly told but it (them?) was unanimous.
Jimmy Draper did say, ...the task force understands its charge is limited to William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-62176007038544980172011-12-10T09:02:00.000-05:002011-12-10T09:02:03.938-05:00Plodder goes to church, not his own, Part 1OK, I'm deep into retirement, about three weeks worth, and having resigned the church where I was pastor for 14 years, I'm wide open to attend other churches on Sunday. I've always wanted to visit around on Sunday but the churches I've served have expected me to show up in my own every Sunday. Now I'm free to, that's right, church shop!
So, how's it going? Well, not so bad.
So far, the pastor William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-52977687797986342382011-12-08T07:39:00.029-05:002011-12-08T07:39:00.911-05:00I'm finished lionizing athlete ChristiansThis isn’t personal.
I like Tim Tebow et al and am glad for their being followers of Christ. But one has to admit that in the minds of spectators these people are athletes first and Christians second, a point not even worth arguing, since we wouldn’t have heard the name Tebow if not for his athletic prowess.
I lionized my last athlete Christian a long time ago. I didn't mark the day but maybe William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-14904623990782566412011-12-07T08:47:00.000-05:002011-12-07T08:47:11.991-05:00The date which will live in infamy......December 7, 1941, was seventy years ago today. That sunny, Sunday morning found my wife's father, William L. Stovall, in Pearl Harbor on a destroyer in a slip across from Ford Island where all the big battleships were neatly lined up.
You know the story. "This is no drill..." Indeed it wasn't.
The image is from Bill's diary. Sometime later in the day after his ship had gone out to sea from William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-91872839373277584692011-12-05T07:27:00.035-05:002011-12-05T07:27:00.307-05:00Christmas on Sunday - This is just crazyIn 2005, the last time Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, a few churches made news by cancelling their Sunday services. How is it looking six years later? Well, let's see.
In 2005 the New York Times story was entitled When Christmas Falls on Sunday, Megachurches Take the Day Off. This year the story by some (this is Ed Stetzer's) is Pastors Plan to Host Christmas Services Despite Busyness of William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-62399804819197635722011-12-02T08:21:00.002-05:002011-12-02T08:28:16.363-05:00Catholics flummoxed, Tebow touted, but why so much sadness in Louisville?Roman Catholics are Confused by Mass Changes, as in changes to their Mass rather than a great number of changes. Seems that the prescribed english wording has added the term "consubstantial" to the litany. I recommend that my Catholic friends do what we SBCers have done when mass changes have been made in our churches, namely moving from hymns with real meanings and substantial words to chorus William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-20165698607376738282011-11-30T09:37:00.001-05:002011-11-30T09:39:44.592-05:00Great deals on commentaries and other booksThis is a crass commercial blog, Occupy Wall Street protesters who are surfing the net on expensive laptops while being served free, gourmet meals at their protest sites should immediately go elsewhere.
I almost rescinded my retirement when I looked at how much stuff I had in my church office, mainly books, and looked at the available space at my home. My wife told me to work it out anyway, so William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-84519950077751687012011-11-29T08:06:00.000-05:002011-11-29T08:06:12.653-05:00Getting serious about missions: SC Bapt Conv directly funds IMBThe many state conventions held their annual meetings, most last month, and Baptist Press reported on their actions. Following the Great Commission Resugence process and report, many of the states took action to increase their support of International Missions but I don't recall reading of any state convention that took the action the South Carolina Baptist Convention took.
S.C. Baptists to sendWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-83182521382010678152011-11-28T08:30:00.000-05:002011-11-28T08:30:11.376-05:00Nepotism, church, church schools, and sex abuseTeacher Fired For Reporting Sexual Allegations At Hilltop Baptist
Sexual abuse of children in churches and by church staff is old news. Lately, only a prominent name (Joe Paterno, Penn State, Jerry Sandusky) connected to child sex abuse puts an incident on the front page but I would ask folks to read this case above which is about a teacher in a church school in Colorado.
Actually, the story William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-1659245941218914552011-11-22T11:22:00.000-05:002011-11-22T11:22:08.516-05:00Ah (or Oh!) RetirementBeing old enough to get a check from Obama and having been at my present church long enough, I joined the ranks of the retired effective about 9 pm this past Sunday. This means that for the first time in three decades, I do not have any regular preaching responsibilities nor any group of people for whom I have pastoral responsibilities.
While this may change down the road a bit, it does feel aWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-31706190755586686232011-11-17T09:53:00.000-05:002011-11-17T09:55:10.450-05:00Put down the Bible, pick up the phone, call the copsLooks like I erred last week when I wrote conerning child sex abuse, Pick up the Phone, Call the Cops.
This Associated Baptist Press story is an opinion piece by Baptist General Convention of Texas, "Theologian-In-Residence" Jim Denison. It conflates the Penn State sex abuse scandal and the Herman Cain sexual harrassment stories and offers what he says God feels and what scripture says about William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-22230883940468112812011-11-17T07:34:00.010-05:002011-11-17T07:34:00.399-05:00Ah, fun and frivolity at the GBC meeting...These Baptist gatherings are always interesting. You just have to know how to handle them. Some vignettes from the Georgia Baptist Convention meeting:
Excellent! GuideStone (at GBC Church Financial Services desk) giving out toothbrushes. That's a first.
Disappearing: Toupees. Used to abound at these things but now scarce. I saw only one and it wasn't much to behold.
Puzzling: Speaker assertedWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-275242142881357162011-11-16T09:52:00.001-05:002011-11-16T09:56:14.427-05:00Georgia Baptist Convention surprisesA pleasant surprise
John Waters was elected GBC president with about 53% of the votes. I had the feeling that he was the underdog. Waters' opponent, Fred Evers, had some very heavy hitters backing him, including the host pastor. He also had by reason of his position a prominent place on the convention program and platform.
My guess is that Waters gained votes as a result of his extraordinary William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-16441063628491895542011-11-15T07:37:00.014-05:002011-11-15T08:03:24.949-05:00The GBC presidency - Will it make any difference?I've been a pastor in Georgia for almost 15 years. It's home. I like the Georgia Baptist Convention. I like my fellow pastors. I like the GBC staff that I know and have worked with. The ones I don't know are probably great folks. I have no big complaint about things here.
We have two outstanding GBC pastors, Fred Evers and John Waters, campaigning furiously for the presidency this year, and William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-58149296175206289992011-11-14T07:30:00.027-05:002011-11-14T07:30:02.033-05:00Georgia Baptist 'insider' blog goes kaputI didn't think it could happen but after about two months of anonymous blogging on the Georgia Baptist Convention, the possibly spuriously named GBCInsider blog has managed to give even anonymous blogging a bad name.
The blog started badly, stumbled often, and ended up an embarrassment. A few interesting points about GBC matters were offered along with a generous helping of out-of-date William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-56923729697664764212011-11-11T11:08:00.001-05:002011-11-11T11:09:50.993-05:00Random Friday stuff: Paterno/Mohler, Perry/Cain,Paterno is out, his final chapter, an ugly one, being written for him. It didn't have to end this way.
Al Mohler steps up to say more elegantly what I said earlier, and plainer: Pick up the phone. Call the cops.
But the problem for Southern Baptists is more complicated. The PSU crimes are years in the past. What happens today when SBC churches or clergy are accused or involved in crimes a William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-742044182648450772011-11-10T08:47:00.000-05:002011-11-10T08:47:03.397-05:00A sweet deal from NAMBMost pastors, like ordinary Americans, are acutely attuned to health care costs and especially to the premiums they pay or their church pays for comprehensive health care coverage. The holy grail of healthcare for Southern Baptists is be employed by or have an arrangment with some SBC entity whereby they pay your health insurance premiums. We hacker and plodder pastors who go individually to William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-62979994121714749382011-11-09T09:21:00.000-05:002011-11-09T09:21:50.009-05:00Alcohol opposition in Georgia: Not with a bang but a whimperThe state of Georgia held elections yesterday. On the ballot in many counties and municipalities was a referendum on approving Sunday sales of alcohol. I think one can safely conclude that religious opposition to Sunday alcohol sales in my state died a quiet death yesterday. Nary a whimper.
In my area thirty-nine cities and counties had this on the ballot. In thirty-eight of them the voters William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-65077905401773484632011-11-08T07:53:00.001-05:002011-11-08T10:57:45.938-05:00The extraordinary actions of John Waters, GBC presidential nomineeI wrote last Thursday that I intended to vote for John Waters for president of the Georgia Baptist Convention. Two good men are campaigning energetically for the top elected position in the GBC. I happen to like Waters in part because of his extraordinary commitment
...I will not personally support any At Large appointment of a person who has recently served.While GBC committees and appointments William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-14564720751113888532011-11-07T07:42:00.001-05:002011-11-07T15:23:52.996-05:00Pick up the phone. Call the cops.Some time ago in a deacons' meeting, I was speaking on the subject of sexual abuse of children in churches and our church's policies on the same. The sordid subject was in the news as a result of the Roman Catholic scandals and not a few cases of SBC churches and clergy involved in such things.
While we have adopted policies in our church, nothing made the matter more clear to the deacons than William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-38889964182390824312011-11-04T08:15:00.001-04:002011-11-04T08:18:32.783-04:00A tale of two Baptist schools in GeorgiaThe two schools:
Mercer University is a top tier private school in Macon, Georgia. It had a long history of affiliation with the Georgia Baptist Convention but is no longer connected to or funded by the GBC.
Shorter University is a Georgia Baptist school, closely held and controlled by the GBC, and that after a failed attempt by earlier trustees to sever ties with the GBC and transfer the William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-43391340093931507302011-11-03T07:31:00.063-04:002011-11-03T07:56:11.296-04:00The red hot Georgia Baptist Convention politicsI am an outsider in the Georgia Baptist Convention and haven't spent a lot of time hobnobbing with the Georgia Baptist bourgeoisie preferring my natural element, the Baptist hoi polloi.
When I moved back to my native state in 1997, the state convention was already solidly conservative and has been since. .
This year it has been interesting to watch a hotly contested GBC presidential election William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-25407624513261520362011-11-01T08:17:00.004-04:002011-11-03T08:04:56.275-04:00Another strange silence from Baptist PressUpdated 11/3/11: LifeWay has added a Q & A page on Sammy Nuckolls. The page answers questions about LifeWay's relationship with Nuckolls, their policy concerning speakers, and directs any Fuge attendees who think they might have been victimized to call the police who are investigating. Nothing yet from Baptist Press.
______________________
I don't expect Baptist Press to jump on every bit of William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-16899294045503139042011-10-31T07:20:00.010-04:002011-10-31T07:35:23.310-04:00Why SBC churches eschew evangelists: NAMB?Most SBC pastors and churches do not use vocational evanglelists. Less SBC churches use vocational evangelists than did ten years ago, twenty years ago. It is one of the longrunnng trends in SBC life.
How come? One might ask.
Let's ask Jerry Drace, one of the SBC's most distinguished vocational evangelists. Last month he offered an interesting column in The Christian Index entitled, "The SBC William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-17112782230129814262011-10-27T09:36:00.000-04:002011-10-27T09:36:17.878-04:00Kick the Calvinist church out?Alternate title: Associations Gone Wild!
More accurately, 'Should this Calvinist church be denied membership in the local association?'
Tom Ascol called attention to the recent case of a Calvinist church in Kentucky being denied membership in the local Baptist association for being too Calvinistic.
The Kentucky paper, Western Recorder, reports the story (though you have to get to p. 3 to William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-21236917258289550582011-10-26T07:42:00.002-04:002011-10-26T09:28:58.140-04:00Feel better about NAMB?Our North American Mission Board has been the closest thing to a completely dysfunctional agency that Southern Baptists have ever had. Well, let's go ahead and say that NAMB has absolutely been dysfunctional for most of the 21st century. Informed SBCers, even those who love to argue anything and everything, will likely not argue that point.
Along came the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-67685206286475510882011-10-25T06:58:00.001-04:002011-10-25T07:37:26.910-04:00What Many SBC Pastors Cannot SayEd Stetzer puts his finger on it in his blog, Why I Have No Difficulty Helping "Issue Christians" to Move On.
What most pastors cannot say is that sentence that burns a bridge with a prospective or present church member:
Our church probably isn't the place for you.
Stetzer describes a visitor to his church who started talking prophecy and Israel on his way through the receiving line after William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-24280894698753833392011-10-24T07:26:00.003-04:002011-10-24T08:29:01.759-04:00Time for another term besides "cult" for LDS?Americans regularly are exposed to cults, cultic behavior, and cult suicides with the poster boy for the same being Jim Jones whose descent into insanity and depravity gave us the sad phrase "drinking the Kool Aid" as a metaphor for unquestioning acceptance of ideology or unhesitant following of some leader. Sad, because this phrase is tossed around in political circles with little remembrance William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-79114682374400470002011-10-22T08:36:00.000-04:002011-10-22T08:36:07.897-04:00Plodder advises presidential candidates......and, no, they didn't ask so I will not charge for the advice.
Herman Cain: Hummon, stop winging it, bro. Running for president isn't like doing your radio talk show. Next opportunity, thank all the other candidates for talking exclusively about your 9-9-9 plan (or, 9-0-9 plan). Keep up the good sense of humor which makes a nice contrast with several snit-infused other candidates.
Mitt RomneyWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-38276692008668264602011-10-20T09:47:00.001-04:002011-10-20T10:05:07.553-04:00I have about 100 commentaries I would like to sellPerhaps you would like to add to your library. I'm downsizing. Email me at sbcobserver1@gmail.com with whatever you are interested in and I'll price them. I'll match the equivalent Amazon price for same condition books and do better than their shipping price.
Thanks...and sure...I'd love to give them away but need some fishbait money.
New American Commentaries:Old Testament
Leviticus
Joshua
William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-33624642475949368732011-10-19T07:40:00.002-04:002011-10-19T07:40:00.704-04:00Greatest SBC Challenge? How about Calvinism?The SBC Today blog did an interview with our Number One Southern Baptist, the titular head of the SBC in the 363 days the convention is not in session - Frank Page, chairman of the SBC's Executive Committee.
The first question asked Page what he thought were the greatest challenges facing the SBC. The first challenge named by Page in his response was...Calvinism.
Here is the relevant part of William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-11801689078914297082011-10-18T06:47:00.013-04:002011-10-18T06:47:00.851-04:00Fast and furious Georgia Baptist politicsThe highly charged political atmosphere here in Georgia has two candidates for GBC president offering websites, marshalling supporters, making multiple campaign stops around the state and delcaring their superior value to Georgia Baptists.
Why?
Both are heavy Cooperative program supporters. Both have a gaggle of GBC pastors behind them. Both are conservative. Both are substantial men. Both William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-21668930268808274302011-10-17T09:55:00.000-04:002011-10-17T09:55:28.735-04:00Old fashioned Baptist politics is alive and well in Georgia, for good or ill.In less than a month the Georgia Baptist Convention will have their annual meeting and elect a president. In thirty years as a pastor I have never seen as vigorously contested an election as this one.
There are two candidates, Fred Evers and John Waters. Both are good men. Both give heavily to the Cooperative Program. Both are outstanding pastors.
Fred Evers has a website.
John Waters has a William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-11100844563583374422011-10-12T05:51:00.010-04:002011-10-12T05:51:00.822-04:00Searching for these......a far more important task than blogging.William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-33093315338165352382011-10-11T22:11:00.000-04:002011-10-11T22:11:26.147-04:00Best show in Prime TimeThe Republican debates are the most entertaining show in prime time:
Bachmann: Sorry, 999/666 is just bizarre...game over Michelle.
Cain: The guy is confident, communicates well.
Gingrich: When he speaks, something worthwhile always comes out.
Huntsman: Come on, gov, stop looking so pained.
Paul: Are you always mad about something, Ron?
Perry: The incredible shrinking candidate...needs William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-55037791403391104652011-10-11T08:17:00.000-04:002011-10-11T08:17:33.008-04:00Some suggestions for GBCInsiderDear anonymous gaggle of Georgia Baptist colleagues who have started a blog that takes a critical look at matters that are of concern to the Georgia Baptist Convention:
May I suggest some things?
DO reconsider identifying yourselves, or some of yourselves. That would add credibility, integrity, and seriousness to your blog. There is a bit of untoward spectacle inherent in guys taking public William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-4137662056160091892011-10-10T07:42:00.037-04:002011-10-10T09:44:17.739-04:00You could see it coming: Anonymous State Convention critic blogHere is Georgia there is a hotly contested Georgia Baptist Convention election coming up in November when the GBC meets in annual session. There are two candidates, both outstanding men and heavy Cooperative Program supporters, but I'll blog on that and them later.
Somehow you knew it was coming. Sure enough, some clever fellows have started an anonymous blog, sort of a GBC Information and William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-5099311573535892222011-10-06T08:25:00.000-04:002011-10-06T08:25:06.995-04:00I'm downsizing my library...selling commentaries, etc.I am downsizing my library and selling some books. Some are old friends I hate to part with; some are books that have hardly been touched. Most all are books your average pastor would find useful, mostly commentaries and reference works.
If you or anyone you know are interested in any of them, I would sell below Amazon's lowest price for the same condition used book.
I will not list all of William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-73142987784855989022011-10-05T08:26:00.000-04:002011-10-05T08:26:05.044-04:00What will make the Cooperative Program more attractive?If the CP has some flawed DNA that makes it virtually impossible to ever change substantially, is there anything that will make it more attractive to SBC pastors and churches?
Asked another way, since churches have consistently, relentlessly chosen to support the CP less and less, and that for decades, what might arrest that trend?
I think that there are three possibilities for making the CP William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-22959484717491526062011-10-04T07:42:00.043-04:002011-10-04T07:42:00.302-04:00The inherent flaw in the Cooperative ProgramAs noted yesterday, the percentage of church offering plate receipts given to our primary denominational funding mechanism, the venerable and emminently sensible Cooperative Program, has been dropping consistently, relentlessly, and depressingly for decades - from the the dizzying level above 11% in 1978 to less than 6% in 2009.
If Coca-Cola lost about half of its market share, shareholders William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-14247461516128077352011-10-03T08:02:00.002-04:002011-10-03T08:05:43.427-04:00The Cooperative Program's most important statisticThis is Cooperative Program Month and Baptist Press is busy with a collection of stories on our august although somewhat beleagured giving plan. The articles emphasize the historical, (In '25, CP was the 'beginning of a new day') or the latest CP increase program (1% Challenge: Pastor already was on board), and all feature testimonials from people like Johnny Hunt and others.
But what the William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-60962141832868437722011-09-30T07:51:00.013-04:002011-09-30T07:51:00.441-04:00Some genius will have to find a nameI suppose that there are genii in the SBC, though in short supply and we may need some fresh, new thinking if an acceptable name is to be found (or is already found, registered, and lying dormant for just the right moment when the Illustrious Informal Name Committee will bestow it upon a convention of sleepless, hand wringing, nail biting followers who just haven't had any epiphanies of William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-83740100153869112432011-09-29T09:35:00.000-04:002011-09-29T09:35:37.241-04:00How much should we fund specialty ministries and missionaries?The Southern Baptist Convention through both mission boards, through many if not all of the state conventions have a penchant for funding specialty mission endeavors. We will take Cooperative Program or other money from the churches and pay for salaries, travel expenses, and other associated costs so that we can have a presence at major events and locations.
Here’s a partial list: The Olympics, William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-4674548182697195082011-09-27T17:08:00.000-04:002011-09-27T17:08:27.702-04:00Appointment of SBC name change committee 'unprecedented'? Uh, no.The argument that Bryant Wright’s action on the name change committee is unprecedented is factually incorrect.
Ed Young was first elected SBC president in June of 1992. That September he appointed not one but nine study groups to look in-depth at many SBC matters including theology, Cooperative Program, and many others.
Baptist Press, September 24, 1992
Facts are our friends, I’ve been told.William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-54699454358379774262011-09-27T08:21:00.002-04:002011-09-27T11:40:08.881-04:00SBC Name Change DesignerSouthern (this part is out, done, toast, gone)
Baptist (this part is the third rail, untouchable)
Convention (Convention/schmonvention, whatever, who cares?)
Any made up, fake words would be unacceptable, e.g., LifeWay, GuideStone, LeaderCare.
Need I say that meaningless terms (e.g. "Cru") would not be acceptable.
This leaves small minds like mine with a fairly limited set of options. So, use William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-86717993120007731322011-09-26T07:49:00.000-04:002011-09-26T07:49:35.070-04:00New SBC Name...Already Selected?I'm doing what bloggers do best: speculate openly about matter about which we have no evidence. Why not?
I would not attribute to Bryant Wright the slightest amount of guile in his appointing of an informal committee to study and advise him on a possible SBC name change...but...the committee and the SBC has some very savvy people.
My question is this: Has someone already registered a new name, William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-45034755069190324162011-09-22T08:29:00.001-04:002011-09-22T08:30:03.092-04:00Frank Page's One Percent SolutionLost in the highly increased internet SBC talk on a possibility of a potential unnamed name change for the Southern Baptist Convention is another action taken by our Executive Committee.
Baptist Press reports on XComm President Frank Page's challenge to churches to give another 1% to the Cooperative Program.
The recommendation from the EC's Cooperative Program subcommittee asked executive William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-660237925928473142011-09-21T08:10:00.000-04:002011-09-21T08:10:04.539-04:00SBC - DOASure, I’ll weigh in on the name change now being studied by the blue ribbon, select, committee of SBC men and a couple of wives of men .
“Baptist” is the third rail in SBC denominational life. Touch it and you die. If there is any thought, any hint of a thought, any whisper of a hint of a thought to jettison the term “Baptist” from Southern Baptist Convention the thing is stone blasted cold - William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-73342052884020738972011-09-20T09:48:00.002-04:002011-09-20T10:10:30.829-04:00Your Friendly SBC Calvinist and Elder RuleConsider the case of FBC Micanopy, Florida, a sad tale of a true elder ruled church.
Associated Baptist Press reports on the case:
Court refuses to intervene in church dispute over elder rule
The local paper wrote up the original conflict back in 2008:
Micanopy Baptist church splits in two
According to Wayne Harvey, director of missions for the Santa Fe River Baptist Association, the debate William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-21417847404374940502011-09-19T07:27:00.000-04:002011-09-19T07:27:00.473-04:00We knew it was coming: Housing Allowance challenged, again.Suit challenges tax break for clergy
Somehow you knew this was coming, groups suing to eliminate the minister’s housing allowance, the tax break that lets us exclude a sizable chunk of our church income for income tax purposes. As a pastor of average sized SBC churches, I rarely paid income tax in those years when I had several dependants and have the minister’s housing allowance tax break to William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-61886281219095020822011-09-16T14:02:00.000-04:002011-09-16T14:02:29.752-04:00A man may always look with pride...
...upon his woodpile.
Here's mine.
Every stick in it I have personally handled at least twice so far and will do so again at least once, twice if you count disposing of the ashes after I burn it.
I split every piece that has been split and did so the old fashioned way with a only a maul, sledgehammer, and wedges.
There's some degree of pride in taking a big stick and, with a single mighty William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-75781160700622369452011-09-14T16:35:00.002-04:002011-09-15T08:33:43.185-04:00The New NAMB: Plant churches or 'Good bye!'Like the new North American Mission Board of not, it is substantially different in significant ways.
Last year’s NAMB news was about emptying their Alpharetta, GA headquarters of considerable numbers of personnel to free up money for the job of church planting.
This year’s NAMB news may be in the sharper focus on church planting of personnel outside HQ. Back in June, Baptist Press reported (a William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-33705372455288911752011-09-13T09:02:00.000-04:002011-09-13T09:02:45.745-04:00Nobel Prize for SBC CP Economics goes to......Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of FBC West Palm Beach for talking about the crisis in CP giving in terms of “opportunity cost.”
This is the first time I have heard any SBCer use a cold, hard economic phrase in relation to the CP. Scroggins did this on a B21 panel back at the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix.
Opportunity cost is a simple, powerful concept. My church has a thousand dollars. We can William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-19927324173269257442011-09-12T08:28:00.009-04:002011-09-12T08:28:00.306-04:00Commentary on the human condition: NCAA footballPlodder had a chance to attend a major college contest Saturday, University of Georgia and University of South Carolina, in nearby Athens. My wonderful brother-in-law called with tickets and sideline passes. B-in-laws are good for something after all.
Sideline pass before the game. Oh yeah...hobnobbing with the hoi polloi, the recruits, their families, other coaches as we stand within feet of William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-71300250561515482662011-09-09T09:29:00.006-04:002011-09-09T09:29:00.278-04:00Love One Another? College Football. Jammie Days.They will know us by our love for one another: Here in Georgia two Christian schools played football last Friday. Loganville Christian Academy was ahead of Northside Christian Academy 33-0 in the first half when one of the players on the losing team ripped off the helmet of his opponent and began bashing him over the head with it. Criminal charges could be filed. The game was stopped at that William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-15181239652726652032011-09-07T10:58:00.003-04:002011-09-07T13:28:10.007-04:00Pastor, quit whining about forced terminationThom Ranier, LifeWay head, makes some observations about church staff. Among them are two that deal with pastor and staff terminations (emphasis mine):
...we are watching a recent trend that shows about four percent of church staff are terminated each year, a number much higher than that of senior pastors (see below).
Get that statistic? Church staff members in the SBC are terminated at a rate William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-59776904862361016162011-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:002011-09-06T09:00:47.772-04:00I shouldn't have to choose between my calling and my lifePostSecret describes itself as "an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." I check the site occasionally because I can find stark honesty from people. One caveat - the postcards are sometimes crude.
Recently found on PostSecret:
I shouldn’t have to choose between my calling and my life. I’m afraid the church won’t William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-25979839693396876422011-09-02T13:06:00.000-04:002011-09-02T13:06:31.096-04:00SBC megas, Lottie, fishing, church bloggersI blogged the other day about the 177 megachurches in the SBC where about 10% of SBCers are found on a given Sunday. Who will be the clever blogger to analyze the SBC Executive Committee, IMB, NAMB, and seminaries to see what percentage of their trustees worship with the 10% or the other 90%?
I'm looking for a reaction, an official one, from our International Mission Board and Women's MissionaryWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-36117905321678765002011-08-31T08:45:00.002-04:002011-08-31T08:49:18.430-04:00SBC Megachurches......love them, hate them, or be ambivalent about them. According to Thom Ranier, head of LifeWay there are 177 of them in the SBC. That is, 177 churches that report on the Annual Church Profile an average primary worship attendance of at least 2,000 weekly and who give something to the Cooperative Program. Not all churches reported, so there's probably a few missing from this list. Some that are William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-59166030170147563042011-08-29T09:23:00.008-04:002011-08-29T15:22:36.557-04:00Join the SBC Ministry and Get Rich?You bet! Tax breaks, clergy discounts, free condo use; people can’t wait to press bills in your palm, give you free suits, tires, food, vacations. What a life!
Well, not exactly.
Here’s an average Rev. Joe, SBC pastor:
He preached yesterday at an average sized SBC church and saw 125 folks in his 11 am primary worship service. When he gets paid, he receives a salary of $46,000. This includes William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-13601783998267128882011-08-27T08:05:00.000-04:002011-08-27T08:05:34.725-04:00Elders, meltdowns, and a new wrinkle on tithingNew Wrinkle on Tithing? Rev. Markel Hutchins is suing an Atlanta family for $490,000, ten percent of the $4.9 million settlement the family got when a family member was killed in a botched police raid. Hutchins said that he “served as the family and estate's spokesperson, strategist, advisor and consultant” and that he and his staff “holistically managed the public and private efforts that made William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-72310525310253836662011-08-25T14:57:00.000-04:002011-08-25T14:57:19.457-04:00Some Not-Too-Shabby Baptist Blogs and BloggersAs a group, bloggers certainly score high on the scale of self-importance. I suppose it probably is so internalized that no blogger ever asks him/herself, “Why wouldn’t the whole galaxy want to know what I think about stuff, seeing that I am such a witty, insightful, and provocative guy?” Bloggers instead presume that the world awaits their next display of brilliance.
Indeed.
Plodder admits to William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-58728040467712716912011-08-24T10:29:00.000-04:002011-08-24T10:29:07.662-04:00You can have my Housing Allowance when you pry my cold, dead hands off of it……or when lawmakers get fed up with the abuse of the minister’s housing allowance by rich ministries, religious racketeers, and greedy pastors who have a second home and put much of their income in a housing allowance for that home, every dollar of it completely free from any income tax at all.
Someone make the case that Joe Sixpack has to pay taxes on his income and doesn’t get any exclusion forWilliam Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-33994170422964440452011-08-23T10:15:00.027-04:002011-08-23T10:15:01.265-04:00NAMB and restoring lost trustLottie Moon and Annie Armstrong have always been one-two in special offerings for the churches I have pastored over the last three decades. We didn't have to pray about it, think about it, decide about it; come December and March it was Lottie and Annie and that was that.
Then NAMB's head took a private jet to a movie in London, at our expense, and Spending God's Money came along, more William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-47725695634191178262011-08-22T12:21:00.000-04:002011-08-22T12:21:01.222-04:00Asking the church for money: How much is too much?How many offerings does your church take up?
Secondary question: How many is too many?
Here’s a list of offerings we do or have done in my church:
1. Regular budget offerings, every Sunday, without fail. It's part of worship, of course.
2. Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions; runs roughly for the entire months of December and January. Our largest and most important 'William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-45809637289386915892011-08-19T08:37:00.000-04:002011-08-19T08:37:05.589-04:00WMU on the new Lottie Moon book
I asked the WMU in Birmingham a couple of questions about the new Lottie Moon book by Regina Sullivan, you know, the book that labels Lottie's death story a "myth".
On the picture of LM above. The WMU archivist dates it at 1877. I had some question about its authenticity but I'm satisfied with that. So, how about we archive the jut-jawed, Lottie Moon schoolgirl photo shown below in favor of William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-9048396802240995092011-08-17T16:21:00.000-04:002011-08-17T16:21:22.711-04:00Still searching for that political messiahOne would think that the lesson of the apostles would be sufficient to cure the followers of Christ from hungering and thirsting for a political messiah. But no, it seems to be an endless search at least for American evangelical Christians.
Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann are the latest incarnations. I'm getting emails touting the fervor of the faith of Perry, as if one should go ahead and William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294170801673753291.post-76905046583530790272011-08-15T09:58:00.002-04:002011-08-15T10:01:48.793-04:00Bachmann, submission, and credibilityI like Michelle Bachmann. I haven't seen her titanium spine but she has a penetrating gaze, a smooth and unflappable demeanor, and expresses her convictions well.
But I am intrigued by her foray into wifely submission. Here's the exchange from the GOP debate of the other evening:
Journalist Byron York: In 2006, when you were running for Congress, you described a moment in your life when your William Thorntonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12502242710436994507noreply@blogger.com5