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Norm Miller, opportunists, and a whole lotta chokin goin on

Norm Miller serves as Director of Communications at Truett-McConnell College (TMC) in Cleveland, GA. Before going to TMC, Miller served for a number of years as a denominational journalist. He was writer and editor in the public relations department of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, staff writer for the IMB, and in 1998 was named news and information director for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary under Al Mohler (//link). Words—written words—have been the giftedness God gave to Norm and, as his journey in Southern Baptist life attests, many have seen this gift and desired his gift to be used for God’s glory in their respective fields of harvest. I'm glad to call Norm Miller my friend.

"Vines left speechless by book in his honor" says a Southwestern seminary news release

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary posted a news release entitled "Vines left speechless by book in his honor." The article states:

New Release by Free Church Press! The Secrets of a Great Church by Jerry Vines

Just in time for The John 3:16 Conference, The Secrets of a Great Church by Jerry Vines will be given free of charge to all registered participants. In addition, through the generosity of friends of Free Church Press and Jerry Vines Ministries, a complimentary copy will be available to messengers who drop by the booth at the 2013 Southern Baptist Convention in Houston, TX.

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference is almost here

  In November, 2008, the First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia hosted an insightful conference called The John 3:16 Conference, an event promising a scholarly evaluation of the recent Calvinist Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention   >>>

Jerry Vines on "The Baptist Way"

In June 1987, a long, lanky southern preacher strolled across the platform to the clear lectern during the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference and preached a sermon for which he will ever remain known. "A Baptist and his Bible" has become as definitive of Dr. Jerry Vines' preaching as "Payday Someday" has been the defining preaching core of the legendary R.G. Lee. In fact, it's not too much to say, that Vines' sermon in many ways proleptically sealed the case for the Conservative Resurgence cause and effectively nailed the coffin shut as far as hope for a Moderate turn-around was concerned.

What it means to grow spiritually by Peter Lumpkins

I intend to explore this subject a bit this Lord's Day morning. My chief texts will be 1 Peter 1:3, 2:2, and 2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV) which respectfully read:

James White critiques Ronnie Rogers' book, “Reflections of a Disenchanted Calvinist” by Peter Lumpkins

  

UPDATE: As expected, James White responded to this piece on his follow-up "Radio Free Geneva" podcast. Well, let me be clear: it really wasn't a response to this piece so much as an acknowledgment of it.  During the first few minutes, he talks about "almost forgetting" about old "Petey" (And, we want to assure James White we've not forgotten about him, either!) Then, he and Rich Pierce ridiculed the video I put up because of the number of views, etc. comparing my traffic to his. What a hoot! Like giddy, junior high boys giggling, poking fun, and wrestling around over the floor, White & Pierce give us a little show as if the video itself did not bother them. However, what they fail to note is, within minutes of my video being posted on youtube, Rich Pierce, Vice President of Alpha & Omega Ministries, logged on and demanded (or shall we say, "politely asked") I take the video down since it breached copyright law!⁹ Well, views or not, James White appears really sensitive when his views are openly criticized.

Check out my notice from youtube¹⁰

In addition, White states the collection I put together was ripped from each snippet's respective context suggesting the words on my video skewed his meaning. As I said in the post below, I gave the link to the entire podcast so anyone may check to see if I did skew the context. One tires of this cheap response (which is really no response unless one can show how the context is skewed). 

Consider one change when listening to White's second mention of Rogers' "anti-Calvinism book" on his "Radio Free Geneva": White's tone, attitude, and commentary on the second podcast reveal an undeniably marked difference compared to his first one. Observe his unemotional, straight-forward presentation when he mentions Rogers' book. He neither ridicules nor scorns as he did in the first podcast. And, yes, I do believe he changed his approach due, at least in part, to the criticism below contra persistent claims otherwise.

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Below is my response to James White's hour-long "Radio Free Geneva" review of Ronnie Rogers' newest book, Reflections Of A Disenchanted Calvinist: The Disquieting Realities of Calvinism.  It's long. It's necessarily long. For that, I apologize in advance. By the way, note also SBC Today is presently running a series of posts on Rogers' book beginning with an author interview.  In addition, the current post is the second of four installemnts which will eventually constitute the entire 16th chapter (part I).

Now, on to James White's book "review"  >>>

How to Stay Fresh Serving God by Peter Lumpkins

I'm preaching this morning from Matthew's Gospel. Below is a brief summary:

The Beauty of Holiness by Peter Lumpkins

I'm preaching a sermon today from the Old Testament entitled "Hungering for Holiness." One particular corpus of Scripture which I find especially moving today includes the following (embolden added):  >>>

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*

Roy Hargrave: not all Calvinists are cut from the same young, restless, and reformed pattern by Peter Lumpkins

Dr. Roy Hargrave is the Senior Pastor of the Riverbend Community Church in Ormond Beach, Florida. I profiled him and the Riverbend church last summer. Below is proof positive that not all strong, convinced Calvinists are cut from the same mold. Listen to the excerpt as Dr. Hargrave preaches on "Serious Business"  >>>

More toady tributes toward Mark Driscoll from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary by Peter Lumpkins

I've only met Dr. Danny Akin once to my recall (in a ono-to-one encounter when we shook hands) but nonetheless harbor authentic respect for him. Though not a full-starred general during the Conservative Resurgence (CR), he undeniably played out some key roles in making it happen which, of course, is one reason he sits as president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  After all, the CR leaders... >>>

New Blog at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary by Peter Lumpkins

Just to show you how 'out of it' I've been for the last several weeks so far as keeping up with SBC affairs, I missed the launch of Southwestern seminary's blog--Theological Matters--theological insights from Southwestern >>>

Just in case you missed it by Peter Lumpkins

 

 

 

Below are some links you may have missed from this past week:

The SBC Today Blog: Off to a Great Jump-Start by Peter Lumpkins

After lying dormant for perhaps a year or more, SBC Today is up and running strongly again. And, while Dr. Steve Lemke, Provost and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics at The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (proudly my own alma mater) seems to be the predominant writer on the blog, there exists a wide range of contributors--both academic and cleric--who offer solid commentary on a plethora of issues relevant to Southern Baptists >>>