peterlumpkins.com

Al Mohler vindicates Brad Whitt: "there is a creeping Presbyterianism amongst us" by Peter Lumpkins

Just about a year ago, Dr. Brad Whitt fired a shot heard in most sectors of the Southern Baptist Convention. Being a young South Carolina, Southern Baptist pastor, he just didn’t fit the mold of the young, restless, and reformed travelling around the country by the tens of thousands (literally) to hear all the cool, calm, Calvinist speakers at the latest Passion, T4G, TGC, SGM, YRR conferences  >>>

Al Mohler: "Calvinism is the shape of our future" by Peter Lumpkins

Recently, Dr. Al Mohler spoke to the annual meeting of Baptist state convention editors and made this plain but provocative remark concerning the theological future of Southern Baptists   >>>

SBC name change: it's good...it's bad...it's ugly (part III) by Peter Lumpkins

UPDATE: Texas pastor, Dwight McKissic, Sr. offered an interesting response to this piece entitled "The SBC Identity Crisis: a Response to Peter Lumpkins." Many times my brother Dwight and I have differing opinions on denominational politics. However, we agree fully on this particular point concerning the name change issue though we begin with contrary premises.  It's worthy of your time, I assure...    

UPDATE: please pay careful attention to the two footnotes

In Part I, I showed how Bryant Wright's task force recommendations concerning name change for the Southern Baptist Convention had both good and bad aspects to it. While "Great Commission Baptists" captures well the church's own missional terminology about herself to herself (and other gospel-initiated believers), the proposed name change (i.e. "tag-line") possesses no more explanatory power to the culture at large about who Southern Baptists are and what we're about than our present name, "Southern Baptists."¹ Why missional strategists like Ed Stetzer, who normally takes the initiative to correct Southern Baptists for their hesitancy to relate well to the larger culture, failed to criticize the name "Great Commission Baptists" for its navel-gazing aura² can hardly be explained since he climbed aboard early in riding the task force's name change bus  >>>

 

SBC name change: it's good...it's bad...it's ugly (part II) by Peter Lumpkins

Summarizing Part I, I explained the good, the bad, and some of the ugly stemming from this last attempt to change our name spawned by SBC president, Bryant Wright's appointing  of a "task force" to study the name change last September (2011). As for the good, "Great Commission Baptists" (GCB) surely captures the ideal of what and whom Southern Baptists have been throughout their history. From the moment of our beginnings in 1845, Southern Baptists have been, at their best moments, about carrying out the Great Commission of our Lord. Few, if any, imagined arguments could usurp this proposition  >>>

On the Doctrines and Practices of Baptists (1857) by Peter Lumpkins

We often hear how settled the question was pertaining to the "doctrines of grace" amongst the 19th Baptists. Indeed, as Professor Tom Nettles suggests, to deny the almost universal strict Calvinism (i.e. 5 point Calvinism) of our Baptist forefathers in the Southern Baptist Convention, is to embrace what he calls "theological apostacy" and what Dr. Tom Ascol indicates is a departure from "Baptist orthodoxy" (//link)  >>>

NAMB employees under new gag rule? by Peter Lumpkins

The history of "gag rules" begins in our country over the issue of slavery. Between 1836 and 1840, a series of congressional resolutions were passed which effectively tabled, without discussion, petitions regarding slavery, a congressional move obviously intended to shut down the voice of the abolitionists. More recently, the term gag rule has been applied to presidential regulations banning abortion counseling by employees of family planning clinics that received a particular type of federal funding (//link).  In most cases, the term gag rule seems to indicate an authoritative prohibition of expression effectively producing a non-negotiable order of silence  >>>

UPDATE: Please note Mike Ebert's contribution in the comment thread and my response. I'll swiftly and properly deal with this when I have more information. 

SBC name change: it's good...it's bad...it's ugly (part I) by Peter Lumpkins

Movie critics attribute to Clint Eastwood the rebranding of the American West.  With a series of rugged westerns beginning with A Fist Full of Dollars in 1964, the long, bony cowboy from nowhere and everywhere with a lightning fast draw sealed the ideal image of the loner, macho man on horseback. Surely, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) must rank as one of the best westerns of all time  >>>

On our fabulously new but entirely optional name change by Peter Lumpkins

I'm off to the hospitals early today so I have no time to bloviate on our fabulously new but entirely optional name change for the Southern Baptist Convention  >>>

Tom Nettles, Tom Ascol, and Southern Baptist orthodoxy by Peter Lumpkins

Ever curious what top representatives from the largest network of Baptist Calvinists in the Southern Baptist Convention think about those of us who are Southern Baptists but do not embrace the "doctrines of grace"?  Let's consider clear words from two prominent Calvinists in the Southern Baptist Convention network:   >>>

When you think you've got Southern Baptists all figured out--"Theologically he is a strict Calvinist..." by Peter Lumpkins

When one reaches my age and has attempted to stay relatively up-to-date about who Southern Baptists are and have been in their rich history since 1845, it wets one's juices when along comes an historical fast ball you didn't even see the pitcher throw  >>>

Does Lifeway's decision to sell the NNIV fly in the face of the SBC? by Peter Lumpkins

Marty King reported last week that Lifeway would continue selling the new New International Version of Scripture even after the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix, Az. past a resolution against it. A special task force assigned by Lifeway made the recommendation to the full board of trustees to continue selling the disputed volume¹  >>>

Just a little humor on Friday by Peter Lumpkins

No,  I'm not stealing our brother Ed Stetzer's cool and entertaining idea for posting funny church signs. But, I have to tell, you... The one below gives him a run for his money on any sign he's ever posted. Enjoy...

Gerald Harris, Al Mohler, and Baptist Press by Peter Lumpkins

Baptist Press assistant editor, Erin Roach, composed a response to Gerald Harris, editor of The Christian Index, Georgia Baptists' state paper.¹ Harris published an editorial opinion in The Index entitled, "The Calvinists are here" a piece Roach cited several times. Reactions were included in Roach's piece from various SBC leaders, including Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary >>>

Is Baptist Press a religious version of CNN? One lawyer-turned-pastor thinks it is by Peter Lumpkins

New Mexico pastor Howell Scott has a post worth your time. "Baptist Press: the CNN of the Baptist World!" is an enlightening commentary on a piece composed by Erin Roach, assistant editor of Baptist Press  >>>

William Birch on Gerald Harris: Calvinists are here and have been: a response (part II) by Peter Lumpkins

UPDATE: tragically and sadly, William Birch's blog has been removed from the internet. One may find the obvious reason here.

In part I of my response to William Birch’s rebuttal to The Christian Index editor’s editorial opinion, I focused on what I believe to be insignificant quibbling over issues not germane to Gerald Harris’ piece  >>>