What is the greatest threat facing the Southern Baptist Convention

Jared Moore recently asked me to address this big question. I'm sure my answer will surprise some and anger others. But I'm also hopeful that my thoughts will resonate with many. Here is part of what I said.

I think the SBC is facing an identity crisis that, if not resolved with a humble, biblical understanding of and clarified commitment to the gospel and the church (and the relationship between the two), will cause it's relevance to diminish with an increasing number of churches.

We can no longer assume that just because a church is Southern Baptist it therefore genuinely understands the gospel and knows how it works to save sinners. Commensurate with this is the preaching of Christ. There is a difference between preaching about Christ and preaching Christ, just as there is a difference in preaching from the Word and preaching the Word. In some respects preaching about Christ from the Word is a more serious error than preaching rank heresy in the same way that being almost right can be worse than being completely wrong. A slight miscalculation is harder to detect but can prevent a space shuttle from reaching the moon just as surely as a blatant mathematical mistake.

You can read the whole interview here.

Pleasant Valley Community Church on mission

Pleasant Valley Community Church of Owensboro, Kentucky has not let a local Baptist Association's and Director of Mission's rejection of them to knock them off course. They have been and remain on mission in planning and working to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to an unreached people group in Asia. The International Mission Board recently highlighted their efforts in an informative and challenging story that is worth reading.

May the Lord raise up more and more churches to accept the challenge of going to hard places with the gospel.

Tom Nettles: Ministry By His Grace and For His Glory

Scripture says to give honor to whom honor is due (Romans 13:7). Today I have one the greatest privileges of my life in recognizing and paying honor to one of the Lord's most useful servants in our generation, Dr. Tom Nettles. If all goes as planned then during today's chapel service on the campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, I will present Dr. Nettles with a festschrift that has been written and compiled by a number of his friends, students and colleagues who have been influenced by him over the thirty-five years of his teaching ministry.

Ministry By His Grace And For His Glory: Essays in Honor of Thomas J. Nettles, edited by Thomas Ascol and Nathan Finn, has been a labor of love. Of all the men whom the Lord has used in my life to help me understand the grace of God in the gospel, none has been more influential than Tom Nettles. When I was a college student who was contemplating walking away from a call to gospel ministry, Tom cared enough to give me time (though I was a stranger to him) and to challenge me lovingly to reexamine both the Scriptures and my own heart. As his student I continued to benefit from his patient yet uncompromising counsel, both inside and outside the classroom. From the earliest years of my marriage he and Margaret have modeled for Donna and me the love and humility that should characterize a Christ-honoring marriage. As a friend, he has never failed to offer me the benefits of his wisdom and experience, even when doing so crossed my thinking and exposed my own folly.

Tom does not need me to highlight his usefulness in the kingdom of his Savior. His record is on high and many of his works are readily available on earth. But, the Scripture does command us to give honor to whom honor is owed. This is an admittedly difficult command to obey because all honor, praise and glory belong ultimately to God and God alone. I know of no one who understands this more clearly nor defends our Lord’s honor more passionately than Tom Nettles.

Consequently, I know he would have been extremely uncomfortable with this project and most likely would have contended against it--had he known about it. That is precisely why we did not ask his permission and have kept this whole project as a secret, hoping to surprise him today. I can think of few positions less desirable than standing against Tom Nettles when he is convinced God’s honor is at stake! I am banking on his humble submission to divine providence to prevent such a debate now that the book is published.

Nathan Finn has been an outstanding co-laborer in this project and there is no doubt in my mind that it would not have been completed without his yeoman's work. I am blessed to call him friend. We are delighted to offer this book of essays in honor of our professor, mentor and friend, and pray that it will in some way help advance the cause of the gospel that Tom Nettles loves and has proclaimed throughout his ministry.

More information about the book, including a special introductory offer, is available through Founders Press.

More Anti-Calvinism in the SBC

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.... That must be the way that Pastor Jamus Edwards and the members of the Pleasant Valley Community Church (SBC) felt when the Davies-McLean Baptist Association (DMBA) in Kentucky refused to allow them to join last week. This recommendation to reject was made by the credentials committee and overwhelmingly accepted by the messengers at their recent annual meeting according to a report in the Western Recorder (see p. 3).

Why the rejection? Ostensibly, the credentials committee reported to the association that the reasons for rejection stem from concerns Pleasant Valley Community Church would not be "sympathetic with the purpose and work of the body of the DMBA" due to a perceived "overall lack of the key elements of cooperation found in patience, humility, kindness, compassion and gentleness."

Because I know Pastor Edwards and some of the other leaders in that church, I find the committee's judgment hard to believe. Because I have a copy of the official report of the credentials committee--the one requested by and sent to Pleasant Valley Community Church--I find that language duplicitous and disingenuous. There are 14 numbered "findings" in the official report.

• Number 9 states, "We believe the teaching of Pleasant Valley Community Church to be sound in their doctrine."
• Number 10 states, "We believe the practice and constitution of Pleasant Valley Community Church to be orderly."

What is blatantly missing in the official report is any suggestion that the church is lacking in basic Christian attitudes such as "patience, humility, kindness, compassion and gentleness."

Pleasant Valley is a faithful member of the Southern Baptist Convention and Kentucky Baptist Convention. I wonder if the those two bodies know that they have a church in their midst that has been judged to be so devoid of Christian character ("patience, humility, kindness, compassion and gentleness") that a local association denied it membership? I think it would be appropriate for those bodies of churches to respond to slanderous accusations of the DMBA and make their own public judgments about Pleasant Valley.

In reality, as the Western Recorder rightly surmises, the real issue is about Calvinism or, more accurately, anti-Calvinism. According to Pastor Edwards, the Director of Missions (DOM) for the DMBA made it clear from the outset that Pleasant Valley was not welcome in the DMBA because of their theological convictions. The credential committee's report admits concern over the fact that Pleasant Valley's "confessional statement is one that (is) Calvinistic in nature. It affirms the doctrine of election and grace." This is not only anti-Calvinism, it's anti-Baptist Faith and Message. Article 5 of that confession, adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925, 1963 & 2000, is entitled "God's Purpose of Grace" and states,

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

Sounds like the "doctrine of election and grace" to me.

I don't want to be misunderstood. The DMBA is an autonomous body and can accept and reject whomever it chooses. They are perfectly free to hire and retain an anti-Calvinist DOM to lead them. That is simply the Baptist way. It's also the Baptist way to tell the truth and trust the people. The truth is that Pleasant Valley is a wonderful Southern Baptist church that has been rejected by the DMBA because of that body's fear and rejection and misunderstanding of doctrinal beliefs that are embedded in the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message.

That is tragic. Furthermore, it is not the way forward for the body of churches known as the Southern Baptist Convention. I hope that the kind of attitude displayed in this action by the DMBA will be increasingly deplored by all Southern Baptists (including those who are less Calvinistic as well as those who are more so) who are fully committed to the Word of God and willing to fellowship and cooperate around the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remembering 9/11

Ten years ago, on September 11, I was in my study, like most Tuesday mornings, working on my sermon for the next Sunday morning. The first notice I received of the attack on our nation was from a phone call from my brother. He asked if I was near a TV. I wasn't, but I turned on a radio and began listening to the reports. When the second plane hit the World Trade Center the commentators began using the terminology of "terrorist attack" and "war."

I remember speaking to my secretary, then interrupting a ladies' Bible study to inform them. After that, I went home to be with my family. With the exception of the youngest ones, we were riveted to the television screen for most of the rest of the day. We called for a special church prayer meeting that night. Strangers mingled with our people in solemn silence. Some struggled as we prayed not only for the injured and the families of those killed but also for the murderers who commandeered the planes, planned and financed the attack. We also prayed for six Muslim young men from Central Asia to whom we had been ministering for months.

That Sunday evening we once again spent much time in prayer for the great needs of our nation. At the close of the service, after I had dismissed the congregation, one of our young Muslim friends, JB, bounded up to the pulpit and asked to speak. I stood with him as he apologized, in behalf of Muslims, for the attack on our nation. He explained that not all Muslims shared the views of those radicals behind the attacks and with great emotion, expressed his deep sorrow. I took the opportunity to explain to him, once again, the gospel of Jesus Christ. For fifteen minutes, with my arm around his shoulder, I reasoned with him from Scripture and pleaded with him to trust Christ. Most of our folks were standing, having begun their exit before JB asked to speak. It was a touching scene, and a reminder to all of us that both the attackers and the attacked need the grace of God in the gospel.

The next Sunday I encouraged our church to consider nine realities as we were still processing what had happened to our nation. When reviewing them this week, I found them still relevant ten years later, as we remember the events on that horrific day.

1. The worst of human nature is on display

• The depravity of humanity has been highlighted by the terrorists

• Romans 3:10-20

2. The best of human nature is on display

• God created us imago Dei; the rescue workers; heroes on United flight 93; responses across the land; Red Cross turning people away, etc.

• Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 8

3. This is a time to mourn

• Some of you are bothered by the fact that you find yourself weeping over the course of a day, and you can’t stop. I haves something to say to you: WEEP! It is right to "weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). Eccles. 3:4, "A time to weep, [as well as] a time to laugh; A time to mourn, [as well as] a time to dance."

4. This is a time to pray

• You may not always know what to say or do, or IF you should say or do anything, but you can always be sure that it is right to pray! Pray for those families who have lost moms & dads and sons & daughters. Pray for justice; for President Bush and our other leaders. Pray, as Jesus taught us, for our enemies.

• Philippians 4:6-7

5. This is a time to acknowledge the reality and power of evil

• Satan is real and powerful and he conspires with our own sin and the world to destroy people.

• Job 1:2; 1 Peter 5:8-9

6. This is a time to remember the Supremacy of God

• The Bible teaches us that God is sovereign over every creation. There is not a random atom anywhere in His universe. It also teaches us that He is infinitely wise and eternally good. Though we don’t have pat answers to all the questions which this attack raises in our minds, we can and we must rest in the greatness and goodness of God. He reigns supreme even over this cruel evil.

• Daniel 4:35; Job 42:2; Acts 2:22-24

7. This is a time to be humbled

• Our billion dollar monuments to power and wealth have been reduced to rubble. Feelings of superiority and invincibility have been shattered. We are forced to see how small we are before God.

• Job 38-41

8. This is a time to be hopeful

• Seriousness across our land, and indeed the world; cancellations of sports, etc.

• Interest in prayer—among God’s people and others (No ACLU complaints)

• Longing for justice; the evident hope that there is a God

• Psalm 42 (esp. v. 5)

9. This is a time to listen

• By that I mean a time to think. To reflect. To ask, "God, what are you saying to our world? Our nation? To me?" God speaks in providence. There are countless examples of this throughout the Old Testament in the way that God dealt with Judah and Israel. In Amos 4, for instance, God criticizes Israel for failing to listen to His voice when He spoke to them in circumstances:

• Famine and draught (Amos 4:6-8)

• Crop failure (9)

• Disease (10a)

• Military invasion from enemies (10b-11)

All this, "Yet," God says, "You still have not returned to Me."

The Preacher's Difficult Work

John Venn (1759-1813) became rector of Clapham Church in South London in 1792 and served there until his death. He was the son of the better known, Henry Venn, also a minister in the Church of England, and a friend of William Wilberforce and Charles Simeon. He also served as chaplain to the Clapham Sect. After his death, a collection of his sermons was published by his son. The first message in the first volume is "The Importance and Difficulties of the Christian Ministry" based on 1 Corinthians 2:3. The whole message is worth reading. The following excerpt is taken from that sermon.

 It is a difficult service in its own nature. Were the work of a preacher indeed confined to the delivery of a moral discourse, this would not be an arduous task. But a Minister of the Gospel has much more to do. He will endeavour, under Divine Grace, to bring every individual in his congregation to live no longer to himself, but unto Him who died for us. But here the passions, prejudices, and perhaps the temporal interests of men combine to oppose his success. It is not easy to obtain any influence over the mind of another; but to obtain such an influence as to direct it contrary to the natural current of its desires and passions, is a work of the highest difficulty. Yet such is the work of a Minister. He has to arrest the sinner in his course of sin; to shake his strong hold of  security; to make the stout-hearted tremble under the denunciation of God's judgment; to lead him to deny himself, as to sacrifice the inclinations most dear to him--to repent, and become a new creature. Neither is the work of the Ministry less arduous in respect to those whoa re not open and profligate sinners. Self-love, the most powerful passion of the human breast, will render it equally difficult to convince the formalist of the unsoundness of his religion, the pharisee of the pride of his heart, and the mere moralist of his deficiency in the sight of God. In all these cases, we have to convey unpleasant tidings; to persuade to what is disagreeable; to effect not only a reformation in the conduct of men, and a regulation of their passions, but, what is of still higher difficulty, a change in their good opinion of themselves.  Nay, further we have not merely to “wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” “Who is sufficient for these things?” For this office the Christian Minister may in himself “have no resources above those of any of his congregation,” their weaknesses are his weaknesses, he must therefore undertake his work in weakness, fear and much trembling, but knowing that it may yet be effectual, for it is in weakness that Christ’s strength is always made perfect.

Every pastor needs some Gandalf in him

Through the power of film Peter Jackson has made J.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy famous and accessible to a generation who may have never have heard of the literary classic. One of the most endearing characters in the story is a wizard named Gandalf. He is the leader of the fellowship of the ring and pledges himself to see that Frodo Baggins endures the treacherous journey to the fires of Mount Doom.

Because of unforeseen difficulties Gandalf must lead his band of pilgrims through the mines of Moria where they successfully fight violent goblins and trolls. But before they make it through, a wicked, powerful balrog pursues them. This wicked creature makes even the goblins tremble and is Tolkien's depiction of demonic beings.

In one of the most dramatic scenes of the first movie, Peter Jackson vividly portrays the resolve and courage of Gandalf to stand against the onslaught of the balrog. On the bridge of Khazadum, Gandalf turns to face their attacker and, taking his stand, declares, "You shall not pass!"

It is, to my mind, a powerful illustration of what God calls pastors to do in those seasons of intense spiritual warfare in the life of a church. Such "evil days" do come. And when they do, God's people are called to "stand" (Ephesians 6:13; cf. 6:10-12).

We are to be mindful of the devil, aware that he regularly looks for ways to destroy God's people, and we are to resist him, knowing that as we do so, he will flee (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9). Pastors--those whom God gives to His church to shepherd His flock--must lead the way in this effort.

When demonic forces seem to be unleashing their fury against the Lord's work among His people, pastors must protect the flocks they serve by standing firm and saying, "Enough! We will not yield one more step to our enemies. By God's grace, we will stand!"

Shai Linne raps Spurgeon

This has been out for a while, but I just watched it. Shai Linne tells Spurgeon's story lyrically. Well done, Shai.



HT: Nathan Finn

Catechize your children

One of the best ways that you can help your children become familiar with the message of the Bible is by catechizing them. That historically proven method of instruction encourages not only children but also adults gain a helpful, systematic understanding of what the Bible principally teaches.

How soon should you start? Sooner than you think! Under normal circumstances, even very young children can memorize the answer to basic questions about the Christian faith. I have heard "God made me" echo from the walls of toddler classrooms in churches. I've also had the privilege of hearing my own children--from very young ages--recite plain answers to simple, important questions from God's Word. I've also listened to adults who were well-catechized as children reason biblically using the doctrinal framework they learned decades earlier.

Recently Pastor Robert Owen of Holly Ridge Baptist Church in Blacksburg, SC sent me an audio clip of his son, Jonathan, singing the answer to the 3rd question of the Baptist Catechism, "How may we know there is a God?"



Jonathan is 2 years old. He is singing a tune from the Jim Orrick's CD, The Baptist Catechism Set to Music. Dr. Orrick has taken all 114 questions and answers of the catechism and made them singable. The two CD set contains an hour and 48 minutes of memorable tunes.

Another resource that can help parents in the work of catechizing as well as encouraging children to memorize Scripture are the Truth and Grace Memory Books. There are 3 books in the set, each arranged around a different catechism and selected Scriptures and songs to be memorized. The books may also be purchased separately.

If you are a parent with young children in your home, don't miss the opportunity to teach them God's Word systematically through a good catechism. If you are a pastor, encourage your parents to take up this challenge. Ten minutes a day will be time well-invested and can help provide a foundation for a lifetime for young ones.

John Piper interviews Rick Warren

The long-awaited interview between John Piper and Rick Warren is now available on the Desiring God blog. It is worth watching the whole 98 minutes. The value of this interview exceeds the information that it provides. We get a glimpse into the heart of 2 of the most influential Christian pastors of this generation.

Piper models a humility and love that those who rally behind his theology need desperately to understand and emulate. We need to understand it because his attitude extends from his theology. Should not those of us who love doctrines of grace exude more of the grace of those doctrines? Piper demonstrates exactly that both in the care with which he has read Warren and questions him and in the way that he seeks to understand what Warren genuinely believes rather than settling for the predominant caricatures of him that too often live in Reformed circles.

Warren models love for people who have souls that will never die and a genuine commitment to the core teachings of the gospel of God's grace that those who rally behind his methodology should take to heart. Doctrine matters to him though he may not express it in the same way Piper does. He has not severed his practice from doctrinal foundations. His willingness to be questioned and critiqued is an example to everyone who wants to grow in grace and faith.

The spirit demonstrated between these two brothers is what I aspire to in my own life and relationships with fellow believers. I believe it exemplifies what lies behind the call for a Great Commission Resurgence within the SBC. May it spread throughout all of our churches who love Christ and want to make Him known.

Watch the interview. Listen carefully to Piper's final exhortation and prayer. And join me in praying for these two influential pastors, as we pray for ourselves, that God will grow them in humility and usefulness for the glory of His Son.