Recently, the tattered, torn cloth of easy believism was draped once again over the shoulders of Southern Baptists by one of the young new lights shining among evangelicals—David Platt. He said in a “talk” excerpt at Verge 2012:
Continue reading "I was saved through a sinner's prayer 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 >>>
| | |
| | |
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 >>>
Continue reading "Update on Rick Warren's bridge to Mecca by Peter Lumpkins" »
| | |
| | |
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.
=======================
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*
Continue reading "The Calvinists are here: a guest editorial by Gerald Harris" »
| | |
| | |
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" >>>
| | |
| | |
The Rev. Pat Robertson's recent bungling of a question pertaining to divorcing a spouse with severe dementia has been thoroughly discussed on Christian blogs. A few examples of dealing with Robertson's words by blogdom's biggest names include, Al Mohler, Denny Burk, Scott McKnight, Ed Stetzer, and Russell Moore >>>
| | |
| | |
We now learn Dr. Mike Licona is apparently not a member of the ETS. Does Dr. Geisler's argument still have merit?
Certainly something to think about.
With that, I am...
Peter
| | |
| | |
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 >>>
Continue reading "The SBC Today Blog: Off to a Great Jump-Start by Peter Lumpkins" »
| | |
| | |
I finally finished my copy of Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person who Ever Lived by Rob Bell (hereafter, Love Wins, HarperOne 2011, $22.99). Some wondered why I have not already written a review. Others questioned my motives for posting a Reformed scholar’s review, while one blogger even strangely implicated me in surfing the internet looking for positive reviews of Bell’s book to post. Two quick points: a) I did not sense the urgency in critiquing Bell’s position before I actually read Bell’s position as did The Gospel Coalition bloggers (along with a few Southern Baptist bloggers); b) I do not schedule blogs to be posted based on others’ curiosities or desires. I have a limited amount of time to dedicate to this site. In short, I can only do so much>>>
Continue reading "Love Wins by Rob Bell: A Book Note by Peter Lumpkins" »
| | |
| | |
Recently, Baptist theologian Malcolm Yarnell put up a brief review of Fullerism as Opposed to Calvinism: A Historical and Theological Comparison of the Missiology of Andrew Fuller and John Calvin (hereafter “Fullerism”) by A. Chadwick Mauldin ($12.80 Wipf & Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR, 130 pages). With a Foreword written by Michael A.G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mauldin offers an invigorating proposal to contemporary Baptists—perhaps especially to those Baptists among us who insist on making Calvinism proper the theological benchmark for orthodoxy within our specific theological heritage…>>>
Continue reading "Fullerism or Calvinism? by Peter Lumpkins" »
| | |
| | |
It remains strange how many Calvinists seem to suggest that Calvinism is such a natural hermeneutic when it comes to interpreting Scripture. Sometimes one gets the impression from strict Calvinists that the classic five points are so clear, so basic, and so incontrovertibly biblical that to question any single petal of the TULIP is to question Scripture itself...the gospel itself...>>>
Continue reading "John Calvin on Limited Atonement by Peter Lumpkins" »
| | |
| | |
Theologian, Malcolm Yarnell, offers a great piece to consider for new generation believers. Entitled "Top Ten Theological Truths Every Young Christian Should Know," Dr. Yarnell's piece is a condensed version of a summary of doctrine created for the Youth Ministry Lab at its 2011 meeting. He includes succinct but helpful theological statements on The Trinity, The Holy Spirit, and Humanity and Sin, and Creation and Providence among others. For example, Yarnell writes of Creation and Providence:
"On the basis of His love, the triune God created all things, visible and invisible, out of nothing, sustains all things providentially, and will bring all things to their proper end for His glory"
Benefit from Dr. Yarnell's clear and worthy presentation by reading his entire piece.
With that, I am...
Peter
| | |
| | |
A few years ago, I preached a message entitled “Judgment is no Joke” based upon perhaps the most provocative words the Lord Jesus ever spoke; so provocative, in fact, some scholars deny the Lord of Glory spoke them. In part Jesus said>>>
| | |
| | |
Give Vance Pitman credit: he’s certainly put together a spunky platform for the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference in Phoenix, AZ. Aspire is this year’s theme. Though one is unsure the meaning Pitman wants to communicate from the term, “aspire” has origins from the Latin aspīrāre which means "to breathe upon.” Perhaps the term means to convey the idea of the Holy Spirit breathing upon the assemblies as they meet together. If so, this is not an unworthy goal to be sure. In that sense, aspire becomes a moving petition to the God of glory to breathe life into what once was an exceedingly great army but tragically has become a valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37).
There is a slight problem, however>>>
| | |
| | |
Beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century, evangelicals rode their white horses to religious stardom. As Liberal and mainline denominational colleges and seminaries shrunk, evangelical student bodies swelled fat and prosperous. Fame was short-lived, however. While Newsweek proclaimed 1976 as “the year of the evangelical,” church historian Martin E. Marty predicted rough days ahead for evangelicals as early as 1989. Indeed, some theologians now question whether the term “evangelical” has not expended itself completely. For example, >>>
| | |
| | |
