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Al Mohler on the necessity of denominational transparency by Peter Lumpkins

Howell Scott, my friend and co-belligerent in many issues facing the Southern Baptist Convention raises some important questions concerning an article in SBC Life, a publication sponsored by the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention  >>>

A brand new day @ Liberty University by Peter Lumpkins

Today, history happens. Mark Driscoll will speak at Liberty. And, I predict, he will receive a standing ovation when he is introduced. For the student body  >>>

Former attorney and New Mexico pastor asks riveting questions concerning Liberty University and Mark Driscoll by Peter Lumpkins

Cool, hip extremism is extremism just the same: 'snake handling vs 'seeing things' by Peter Lumpkins

Below are two videos. Both are nutty. Both are extreme. Both miserably represent the Christian faith. Both display Scripture abuse. Both claim biblical authority. Both reveal perversion. Both have representatives in evangelicalism. There is at least one difference. One is rejected as extreme nuttiness by virtually every sector of the Christian church. The other is accepted by a large portion of evangelicalism--including many Southern Baptists--as hip, cool, and doing a great work for God. Guess who is hip and cool and who are considered nuts  >>>

Ramblings on being a non-Calvinist by Peter Lumpkins

I first posted this piece in June, 2007, about a year after I first started blogging. Since it tells some of my own journey through the doctrines of grace, I'm reposting it for my newer readers¹  >>>

Al Mohler says to state editors: you must cover Calvinism (part II) by Peter Lumpkins

Following "Al Mohler says to state editors: you must cover Calvinism (part I)" is the final section below (not included here is the Q/A session). As before, while the words summarize sections from his address to Southern Baptist editors, the words are his own words (no commentary is added other than an occasional implied subject in brackets for clarity). I've sought to be true to the context. However, the reader may be pleased to know a transcription of his entire speech is available  >>>

Al Mohler says to state editors: you must cover Calvinism (part I) by Peter Lumpkins

On February 13-16, 2012, editors of denominational papers across the Southern Baptist Convention met in Phoenix, Arizona at the Chaparral Suites Hotel for their annual meeting. One of the keynote speakers was Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president, Al Mohler. For those who want to know what Dr. Mohler thinks about the role of Calvinism in Southern Baptist life now and the future, he does not disappoint  >>> 

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  >>>

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  >>>

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:   >>>

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  >>>

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

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

On Thursday, February 9, The Christian Index, denominational paper for Georgia Southern Baptists, published an editorial opinion by its chief editor, J. Gerald Harris. Entitled, “The Calvinists are here” SBC Tomorrow had sought permission to post the editorial as a guest contribution to our site and permission was granted. One stipulation was, SBC Tomorrow could not post the editorial essay until it was posted online. Agreed. Our posting would be a day later than The Index’s  >>>