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Louisiana College Board met, will meet again April 30 by Kelly Boggs

We continue to express appreciation to Baptist Message editor, Kelly Boggs, for allowing us to post in full the articles concerning the crisis at Louisiana College. Below is the latest piece. Links to related stories and articles follow.

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference, Criticism, and the Calvinist Controversy in Louisiana: Part II

In Part I, I recorded the first of two examples indicative of unhelpful criticism--and in some cases, irresponsible and even slanderous criticism--some of the more rigorous Calvinists lobbed toward The 2013 John 3:16 Conference. Montana pastor, J.D. Hall, claimed Truett-McConnell College was "theologically raping" the students, while indicating one of its professors, Adam Harwood, was much to blame. And, while Hall at first defended his words when some of his Twitter followers protested, he nonetheless offered a clear word of regret and publicly apologized for his "harsh" language, conceding Trevin Wax's "rebuke was appropriate. Apologies, to everyone."

The 2013 John 3:16 Conference, Criticism, and the Calvinist Controversy in Louisiana: Part I

UPDATE: Please note our brother J.D. Hall has issued a public apology for his disparaging remarks concerning Truett-McConnell College and Adam Harwood, remarks which I critique in the post below. We thank our brother for his short but very straight-forward amends. May our Lord be pleased in all...

John MacArthur offers more skepticism on the YRR and "Flat-screen" Preachers

Yesterday I posted MacArthur's video wherein he pounded the young, restless, and reformed community for stepping over the moral threshold into a worldly lifestyle.¹ In a real sense, MacArthur's concern centers on classic antinomianism, a well-known temptation within the Reformed community.

In 2009, I wrote these words:

The Conservative Resurgence which officially began in 1979 made history by turning the theological clock backwards to its rightful, biblically authoritative moorings… Southern Baptists once again should heed the times: there is another coming crisis in our convention, just beyond the horizon. Before it was biblical belief--especially belief about the Bible itself--we stood to lose…

The coming crisis just ahead is exceedingly more subtle, wrapped in bright, colorful garments, yet no less a dangerous threat to Southern Baptists. It is not a crisis of belief per se, though undeniably connected to belief. Nor is it modernity's rationalism which, as before, stood as the doorkeeper to biblical authority with which our former crisis contended. Instead the coming crisis for Southern Baptists concerns behavior, a cataclysmic moral shift away from biblical holiness expressed in biblical Lordship, toward the relativistic, postmodern norms of American pop culture including its hedonistic obsession with fulfilling desires.

Before, the challenge concerned doctrine and the question was, "What do we believe?" The impending crisis Southern Baptists face concerns discipleship and the question is, "How will we behave?" The old prophets of Modernity imposed rationalism on the text of biblical revelation, serving to us an unholy Bible. The coming crisis threatens a relativistic ethic, shouting to us unholy behavior" (pp. 24-25, Alcohol Today: abstinence in an age of indulgence. Garland: Hannibal Books, 2009) 

 

¹my thanks to a commenter who offered the link to Part II and corrected the implication that MacArthur's words were spoken only recently 

Why all the buzz? Further thoughts on the present Calvinism conversation by Earl Blackburn

Below is the final of four entries on the purported Calvinism issue posted on March 12, 2013 in The Message, Louisiana Baptists' state paper. Editor Kelly Boggs generously sent all four articles to me so non-subscribers could access the important articles dealing with the unfortunate situation developing at Louisiana College. The three prior articles are linked at the end.

Louisiana editor Kelly Boggs responds to bloggers' criticism

Below is a response editor Kelly Boggs prepared in light of some of the unfounded criticism he received toward his editorial entitled "Situation at LC unfolds." Particularly, Joshua Breland, a Louisiana College graduate and now Caskey School of Divinity student, posted a rousing critique of Boggs' piece claiming it "misrepresents and misconstrues facts" surrounding the unfortunate turmoil taking place on the Baptist campus. Yet as I stated in a brief mention of Breland's criticism, the Caskey divinity student not only "misfires by offering not a single, legitimate complaint" against Boggs' editorial, but also demonstrates, in part, why young Calvinists like Breland remain rooted in the controversy over Calvinism in the SBC and will never become a viable part of the solution to the problem of Calvinism in the SBC unless they change both their attitude and approach toward those with whom they disagree.

Louisiana's Message republishes "The Calvinists are here" by Georgia's Christian Index editor, Gerald Harris

The Baptist Message recently posted a series of articles on the purported issue over Calvinism at Louisiana College. I received permission from The Message editor to re-post the four articles in full on my site since many Southern Baptists outside Louisiana are watching with concerned interest the fiasco taking place on the Baptist campus. Yet since so few of us outside Louisiana subscribe to The Message, we were left completely in the dark as to the content of the articles. You may find the first and second articles linked after the editorial below.

Editor Kelly Boggs implores, "Please, just the facts" concerning the controversy at Louisiana College

"Please, just the facts" is the second editorial recently posted by Louisiana's The Message dealing with the purported claim that Louisiana College is embroiled over Calvinism. Both articles are republished at SBC Tomorrow by permission of The Message. The full text follows:¹

"Situation at LC unfolds" by Kelly Boggs

Below is the first of four articles appearing in Louisiana's The Baptist Message,  articles addressing the alleged controversy over Calvinism at Louisiana College. The first article appearing March 12, 2013 is by editor Kelly Boggs and entitled "Situation at LC unfolds." The full text follows below.¹

 UPDATE: see below

Louisiana Baptists' state paper finally weighs in on the embroiled Louisiana College issue allegedly concerning Calvinism

According to Kelly Boggs, editor of Louisiana's The Baptist Message, in a piece just now posted entitled "Situation at LC unfolds,"

"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.

Truett-McConnell professor interviewed by Christian Index

Dr. Adam Harwood, Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at Truett-McConnell in Cleveland, Georgia was interviewed recently by The Christian Index. The interview appears in the latest edition. Below are answers to some of the questions¹:

What is Calvinism? everything you need to know about Calvinism...and then some by Peter Lumpkins

Well it took long enough! The truth is, I've been so busily assisting others in getting their literary stuff published, I've continued to place on the back burner something from my own bean pot. Hence, I took a few days off to cook up this little piece which I think will help church folk understand the Calvinism issue.

Born Guilty? A Southern Baptist View of Original Sin by Adam Harwood

 Free Church Press announces a new and exclusive teaching series on biblical, theological, ethical, and ecclesial themes significant for Southern Baptists. The series will target people in the pew rather than those who have a theological background. While we believe all church leaders--including pastors and other staff leaders--will benefit from the series, the goal is to educate the millions of Southern Baptists who neither have theological or biblical degrees nor desire to wade through long, technical works to gain a reasonable grip on the essence of a particular subject. Thus, "lay" leaders¹ and other church members will especially benefit from this series.