Russell Moore on NPR's "Here & Now"

On Wednesday, NPR's "Here & Now" interviewed Dr. Russell Moore, the new president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and talked with him about specific issues and the current state of the church. 

To read highlights of the interview or to listen to the sixteen minute conversation, click here.

Reflections from the 2013 SBC

Below are links to encouraging and hopeful reflections from this year's annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.  The first is from J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church, and the other two are from Nathan Finn, professor of church history at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

• J.D. Greear's Reflections on the 2013 SBC

• Nathan Finn's Reflections on the 2013 SBC, Part 1  

• Nathan Finn's Reflection on the 2013 SBC, Part 2

A Hopeful Future for the Southern Baptist Convention

The Baptist & Reflector, our state Baptist paper, was kind enough to run an article I recently wrote on "Signs of a Hopeful Future for the SBC." 

To read it, click here.

There will be another one next week on "Signs of a Hopeful Future for the TBC." 

Mohler's Reflections on the 2012 SBC in New Orleans

Al Mohler offers his reflections on last week's Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans, organized around eight areas of importance:

1. The importance of meeting in New Orleans
2. The importance of electing Fred Luter as President
3. The importance of leadership
4. The importance of our name
5. The importance of doctrine
6. The importance of our mission
7. The importance of the total event
8. The importance of getting to work

To read the details and see his reflections in their entirety, click here.

Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism

Trevin Wax did a little live-blogging during the conference last week at Union University. Below are the links to his posts, which give a summary, a brief outline, and some memorable quotes from each address. For those of you wanting a helpful wrap-up and overview of the conference, this would be the place to begin.

For audio of all the addresses, click here.

1. Ed Stetzer: “Denominationalism – Is There a Future?”
2. Jim Patterson: “Reflections on 400 Years of Baptist Movement”
3. Hal Poe: “The Gospel and Its Meaning”
4. Timothy George: “The Faith, My Faith, The Church’s Faith”
5. Duane Litfin: “The Future of American Evangelicalism”
6. Ray Van Neste: “Pastoral Ministry in SBC Life”
7. Robert Smith: “The Church’s One Foundation”
8. Mark DeVine: “Emergent or Emerging”
9. Danny Akin: “The Future of the SBC”
10. Michael Lindsay: “Denominationalism in a Changing America”
11. Jerry Tidwell: “Missions and Evangelism”
12. David Dockery: “So Many Denominations…”
13. Panel Discussion
14. Nathan Finn: “Passing On the Faith”
15. Albert Mohler: “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism”

Dockery on the Call for a Great Commission Resurgence

Dr. David Dockery, the president of my alma mater (Union University), has written an excellent, balanced, and helpful article on "Examining the Call for a Great Commission Resurgence." If you are a Southern Baptist (or interested in Southern Baptist life), you would do well to read this article. It will help you understand where we have been and (hopefully) where we are going.

And I've mentioned it before on this blog, but I would remind you of the upcoming conference in October at Union University on "Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism."

Here is the schedule.

And here are the speakers.

Conventional Thinking Blog

Al Mohler has restarted the Conventional Thinking blog - a blog dedicated to the issues of importance for the Southern Baptist Convention and its churches.

Here is the post that contains the video of his recent address, "The Future of the Southern Baptist Convention."

And here is a post on the news story that Baptist Press ran about that address.

For those of you who are Southern Baptists (and for those who aren't but still find interest in the goings on of the SBC), this will be a good site to check from time to time.

Thankful for Southern Baptist Controversy

It is difficult to think about the current state of the Southern Baptist Convention without the word controversy coming to mind. For good or ill, it is part of what defines us. But sometimes, controversy can produce a good and desired effect. Such was the case with the conservative resurgence and the discussions over the Bible that took place within our denomination during the last few decades. I am reminded of what B.B. Warfield said in the midst of his own controversy over the authority of Scripture: "But fierce controversies can rage only where strong convictions burn."

I, for one, am thankful for the strong convictions that burned in the hearts of men and women who stood for truth (sometimes having to stand alone). We are all the better for it, and we should be grateful for the fierce controversy that they endured. Though they did not desire it or choose it (or even enjoy it), they were willing to face the difficulty of those days because their convictions about the truthfulness and accuracy of God's Word were strong and courageous.

Let us pray that God would raise up a new generation of courageous leaders - men and women not eager or desirous of controversy but men and women whose convictions burn strongly enough to endure it if the appropriate need arises.

New Publications on Baptists

There are several new books on or about Baptists that have recently been published, a few of them I'd like to highlight here.

• The first is a history of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary by Greg Wills that tells the story of the seminary's 150 year history, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1859-2009).

• The second is a book edited by David Dockery (with contributions from Al Mohler, Timothy George, Russell Moore, Ed Stetzer, and other leaders within the SBC) and is titled Southern Baptist Identity: An Evangelical Denomination Faces the Future. Justin Taylor recently interviewed Dockery regarding this new work, which can be read here.
  

• The third is a new biography of James Boyce by Tom Nettles (the most recent in P&R's American Reformed Biographies series), James Petigru Boyce: A Southern Baptist Statesmen.

• And then there are the collections of writings from both James Petigru Boyce and Basil Manley, Sr. & Basil Manley, Jr.

The History of Baptists

Since the annual Southern Baptist Convention (of which I am a part) is meeting this week in Louisville and since Baptists will celebrate our 400th anniversary next month, I thought I would give some attention over the next few days to Baptist history, distinctives, figures, etc.

Today, we begin with an article from a 1985 issue of Christian History by Roger Hayden on the history of Baptists. It is a great sketch of the first century of Baptist life (which occurred primarily in England). You can read it here.

Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism

Union University just announced this week that they will be hosting what looks to be a very promising and considerably interesting conference in October - "Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism." The conference will feature Duane Litfin, Michael Lindsay, Timothy George, Al Mohler, Danny Akin, David Dockery, Ed Stetzer, Robert Smith, Steve Harmon, Mark Devine, Ray Van Neste, Hal Poe, Jim Patterson, and Jerry Tidwell.

For more details, click here.