peterlumpkins.com

Mark Driscoll, Liberty University, Mitt Romney, Richard Land, Lifeway, Andy Stanley: a bit of potpourri by Peter Lumpkins

Since the Liberty University fiasco with Mark Driscoll began a few weeks ago, a lot of interesting things grabbed my attention but I just couldn't let go LU's disastrous invitation to the controversial pastor  >>>

"Truth is unkillable"... 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  >>>

Update on Rick Warren's bridge to Mecca by Peter Lumpkins

On March 1st, I posted a piece entitled "Rick Warren's bridge to Mecca" tenatively concluding that if  Jim Hinch, journalist with the Orange County Register,  characterized Warren correctly, "perhaps it's time to officially end any left-over love affairs with Saddleback"¹  >>>

Lifeway responds to Christian Index editorial on "encroachment of Calvinism" by Peter Lumpkins

Update: especially note footnote #2 since I failed to account for a third public response from Marty King in the critique below   

In light of Al Mohler's recent encouragement to Southern Baptist editors to "cover Calvinism," I find it interesting that when Gerald Harris, editor of The Christian Index, placed his view in print, he was side-swiped by other entity-heads and leaders for describing an "encroaching Calvinism"  >>>

Ed Stetzer, watchblogging, and Rick Warren's relationship with Muslims by Peter Lumpkins

Yesterday, I posted a short piece entitled "Rick Warren's bridge to Mecca" wherein I quoted a reputable news outlet in Orange County, California. A piece written by journalist, Jim Hinch, entitled "Rick Warren builds a bridge to Muslims" concluded Rick Warren and Saddleback church were apparently building a bridge far too close to Mecca's theological borders "acknowledging that Christians and Muslims worship the same God"   >>>

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  >>>

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  >>>

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  >>>

Gerald Harris: WANTED: DEAD or ALIVE (mostly dead) by Peter Lumpkins

Last Thursday, The Christian Index editor, Gerald Harris became a hunted man. His literary crime was posting his personal opinion concerning what he perceives as an unusual rise of Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention and to do so--gulp, gulp--in his personal opinion editorial column of The Christian Index  >>>

The Calvinists are here: a guest editorial by Gerald Harris

UPDATE: the word is LifeWay is preparing a detailed response to Gerald Harris' essay and is scheduled to post this evening on Baptist Press. I'm anticipating precisely what facts in the essay LifeWay intends to dispute.

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Below is the current editorial in The Christian Index, the Georiga Baptist Convention's state paper. Dr. Gerald Harris has served as editor of The Christian Index since May 2003. We happily publish by permission Dr. Harris' latest editoral, "The Calvinists are here"  >>>

SBC Tomorrow welcomes Gerald Harris as guest contributor*

Tom Ascol on Gerald Harris by Peter Lumpkins

I called to get permission to post Gerald Harris' latest editorial on SBC Tomorrow. The Christian Index graciously gave me permission to do so. It was scheduled to publish at 5:15 A.M on Friday. The reason for permission is two-fold: a) plain, old-fashioned courtesy; b) at the bottom of the editorial page there is a clear indicator I needed to get the permission. It reads:

When Calvinists and their Calvinism becomes destructive to local churches by Peter Lumpkins

I'm often intrigued when the question is raised concerning the destructive results untold churches have experienced when Calvinism is both introduced and imposed upon a local congregation--a congregation whose theological heritage is not Calvinism or Reformed  >>>