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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Greear ‘drops’ gavel for racist links, but silent about slave owner’s ties to seminary

By Will Hall, Baptist Message Executive Editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The president of the Southern Baptist Convention has announced his plans to drop the use of a gavel with links to a racist seminary founder whose predeterministic beliefs, like those of many in the South, perpetuated his supportive views on slavery. J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, announced just days prior to the end of his second term as SBC president, his intentions to “retire” the Broadus gavel, a little known artifact except to the few men who use it to bring to order or to end a session of the annual meeting of Southern Baptists. Greear took the position because of the ties to slave owner John A. Broadus, one of four slave owners who founded the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. BACKGROUND Broadus presented “a mallet for the use of the President” during the 17th annual meeting of the SBC, according to the 1872 SBC Annual which recorded the proceedings. It was something “which he had brought from Jerusalem for that purpose.” The entry describes the gavel’s handle as being “made of the balsam tree which grows by the river Jordan forming a large part of that beautiful fringe of green trees which has … [Read more...]

SBC war of words escalated by Maryland leader’s ‘can’t-preach white-boys’ statement

By Will Hall, Baptist Message Executive Editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – At a time of already heightened black-white tensions in the country, the executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland-Delaware has ratcheted up the rhetoric, using racist language on Twitter, June 14, in his defense of the push for women preachers in Southern Baptist pulpits. In supporting an innocuous social media post by Beth Moore -- the best-selling Bible study author for LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, and, someone who in recent years has been strident in her comments about those who oppose women preachers -- Kevin Smith, who is black, wrote, “I see why can’t-preach white-boys oppose her … she has [fire], they have talks, posing as sermons.” Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who once advocated for the ordination of women, is one of several prominent Southern Baptist leaders who has strongly opposed the call for women preachers. Citing 1 Timothy 2:12 (“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence,” NKJV), Mohler argued in a podcast last year that it is a matter of “biblical authority.” “Did the Holy … [Read more...]

Chuck Kelley on the state of the SBC (Revival Needed)

By Chuck Kelley In 1938, prominent Methodist pastor and scholar W. E. Sangster published a small book entitled Methodism Can Be Born Again. For two hundred years, Methodists were among the most evangelistic and missional of all Protestant denominations, and at the time, they were the largest family of churches in the nation and around the world in most categories. To suggest they needed to be born again as a denomination shocked many. Sangster felt duty-bound to share an unpopular message with his Methodist brethren because he saw the growing statistical evidence of decline in Methodist life. Eight decades ago Sangster wrote: “Recent statistics are as dismally impressive as past statistics were startling in their triumphs. One turns over the sad record of recent years and finds a fearful wastage at work.” “So the decline goes on and no sober observer expects a swift reversal. A child can easily foresee the ultimate outcome of all this unless it is stopped.” “God can do something with the faithful, beaten to their knees, but who can manage a man who denies that anything is wrong, and thinks that all is well with Methodism because things are not too bad in his corner.” “A general recognition of the gravity of the hour, and a … [Read more...]

Chuck Kelley on the state of the SBC (Where We Are Now)

By Chuck Kelley The numbers are the numbers. Southern Baptists may be reluctant to accept the reality of the pervasive presence of decline and the loss of a vibrant evangelistic culture in SBC churches, but the official statistics of the Southern Baptist Convention paint a compelling portrait of churches struggling mightily to reach new converts and to hold on to people already in the fold. In spite of multiple efforts by a variety of people to stimulate growth, the SBC continues to decline. Doctors check the vital signs of temperature, weight, and blood pressure at every visit looking for indicators of how healthy we are. The chart below reviews the vital signs of Great Commission health for the SBC from 2010 through 2018, the most recent year for official SBC statistics. Complete statistics for 2019 are expected within the next two weeks. Both charts will be updated as soon as those numbers are made public. Statistical Snapshots of the SBC (2007-2018) This chart does not include two other sobering indicators of Great Commission health. LifeWay Research reports that from 20011-2018, the SBC lost an average of 1,144 churches a year who gave up their SBC ID number. Also, in 2000 the average number of baptisms … [Read more...]

Chuck Kelley on the state of the SBC (Evangelism Task Force)

By Chuck Kelley In 2017, SBC President Steve Gaines appointed an Evangelism Task Force, chaired by Paige Patterson, to investigate how Southern Baptists could be more effective in personal soul-winning and evangelistic preaching. Unlike earlier initiatives which received significant Convention attention, this Task Force made its final report to a distracted SBC President and largely uninterested messengers during the SBC meeting in Dallas in 2018. Evangelism and concerns about decline were completely overshadowed by other issues. The report was merely read into the record and formally approved by the Convention with little comment. However, while it is much too early to assess its impact, initial indications are that the recommendations of this Task Force may eventually make a measurable difference in SBC baptism numbers. The Evangelism Task Force (2018) The Evangelism Task Force can be distinguished from others in several ways. Clearly and publicly, the Task Force was instructed by the Convention to focus on direct evangelism. Clearly and publicly, members were told to suggest how churches could act effectively on the evangelism mandate. More importantly, the Task Force created an expectation for the North American Mission … [Read more...]