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Brad Cooper, NewSpring Church, and heaven's eternal kegger by Peter Lumpkins

Unlike Mark Driscoll, Perry Noble serves an affiliate church of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). NewSpring Church's main campus is in Anderson, South Carolina and has experienced phenomenal growth over the past decade, expanding to several campuses in several cities with a combined Sunday attendance of approximately 14,000. But like Mark Driscoll, Noble's influence among the younger generation of Southern Baptist pastors remains impressive¹   >>>

A Conversation on Gluttony: Part II: If you’re not a glutton why are you fat? by Mary England

Everywhere you look people are packing on the pounds.  It’s become epidemic. We live in a nation full of people who are “pleasingly plump.”  Are Americans really all just gouging day in and day out on Whoppers and fried Twinkies? Or is it maybe a little more complicated than that?  >>>

A Conversation on Gluttony: Part I by Mary England

So here we are at your (fill in state name) convention and as sure as the sun sets in the west someone is going to really show deem ol persnickety teatotelers a thing or two about a thing or two!  They are going to go the floor and present a motion on gluttony.  Take that you old dudes, you! “If we can’t have our alcohol you can’t have your Golden Corral!”  They are gonna pull out the scales and the measuring tapes to show just who the real sinners are in this here room.  They can tell by lookin’ at ya, don’t ya know.  You had better hit your knees in repentance while handing over the keys to these new young leaders so they can take over your positions and offices with their ipods, torn jeans and space age frappachino machines  >>>

SBC Tomorrow welcomes Mary England as Guest Contributor* 

The International Mission Board and Uninspired Missions Giving by Peter Lumpkins

UPDATE: Kentucky pastor, Jared Moore, has put up a piece responding to this post; or, in his words, a "calling out." I do not mind sincere critics. Critics assist us to be better authors and better researchers, and even hone our own critical skills. I try to be accurate and careful in my assertions and/or inferences I make from the data at my disposal. I also make links available or offer proper citations for the data from which I draw my conclusions. Hence, if I overreach in my conclusions, the public has the sources I cite to evaluate for themselves. I can and have made wrong inferences from the data available, and when it is shown I have, the only thing to do is admit it and learn from it and move on  >>>

John MacArthur takes on evangelical boozers in his latest blog post by Peter Lumpkins

   Dr. John MacArthur is not known for literary vagaries or indecisive language. He sports few, if any, words which meet the characteristics of what some dub "weasel words"—slippery little fellows which suck the significance out of a word leaving but an empty hull behind. MacArthur's latest online contribution entitled "Beer, Bohemianism, and True Christian Liberty" does not disappoint >>> 

Reviewing Alcohol Today: What constitutes a helpful review?

Since my book, Alcohol Today: abstinence in an age of indulgence (AT) debuted in 2009, I've appreciated many of the reviews that's been posted, reviews both pro and con. I determined early on not to engage those who reviewed my book for the simple reason I did not want anyone who took the time to review my work, and subsequently posting their thoughts about my work, to wonder if the author was going to show up and give them "what for" in misunderstanding his "perfect" literary masterpiece. Truth be told, I've fairly-well kept my self-imposed restriction. And, while AT has not been a runaway "best-seller," I've been pleased with its modest success >>>

Acts 29 Network, Mark Driscoll and the Southern Baptist Convention: a Compilation of Articles by Peter Lumpkins

As we are packing bags for Phoenix, I thought it would benefit readers at SBC Tomorrow just how prominent Acts 29 Network, Mark Driscoll, and his church planting movement have become among the elites of the Southern Baptist Convention. Below are several of the more colorful issues we've discussed. With no chronological order intended, check out some of the following pieces I've written >>>

Acts 29, Alcohol, and the Southern Baptist Convention by David Brumbelow

Today, SBC Tomorrow welcomes Texas pastor,  David Brumbelow as guest contributor. His article entitled "Acts 29, Alcohol, and the Southern Baptist Convention was first published on his site and posted at SBC Tomorrow by permission.. Thanks to Pastor Brumbelow for allowing us to post his timely article >>>

Tim Rogers on Throwing in the Towel by Peter Lumpkins

   North Carolina pastor, Tim Rogers, writes a stirring lament on "giving up" in his state in North Carolina.  All concerned Southern Baptists need to consider his piece.  In a post entitled, "Is it Time: Part 1, Rogers writes>>>

Bob Allen & the Associated Baptist Press on "Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence" by Peter Lumpkins

    Senior writer for the Associated Baptist Press, Bob Allen, profiles my book in his present piece entitled, "Baptists Debate Social Drinking." Offering commentary on the recent action of the North Carolina Baptist Convention to pursue a policy for social drink (North Carolina Pastor, Tim Rogers, presented a motion which prompted such action), Allen follows it up with a brief analysis including several quotes from my book, Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence. In addition, he records, in part, a few of my responses to his follow-up questions raised in light of his reading my book.

Jesus and Gin: Evangelicalism, The Roaring Twenties, and Today’s Culture Wars by Barry Hankins: A Brief Booklook by Peter Lumpkins

      Dr. Barry Hankins is Professor of History and Church-State Studies and Director of Graduate Studies at Baylor University. His latest book entitled, Jesus and Gin: Evangelicals, the Roaring Twenties, and Today's Culture Wars (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, $26.00) focuses on a single decade of the American experiment, the turbulent 1920s.  Or, as the brief period is usually dubbed, “The Roaring 20s.” Quite candidly, I had no idea what to expect when I began reading; before I was finished with chapter one, however, I knew Hankins’ book (heretofore identified as Jesus and Gin) to be a shiny little historical jewel  >>>

Yoga: A Fatal Flaw for Theological Triage by Peter Lumpkins

 Five years ago, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president, Al Mohler, put up a short piece on his blog entitled “A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity,” a piece he probably did not realize at the time would become a hermeneutical shibboleth for some in Southern Baptist circles >>>

Thanking the Lord for the Impact of Alcohol Today by Peter Lumpkins

  A couple of months ago at a pastor's conference, a man approached me and said, "You're Peter Lumpkins aren't you."  Affirming I was he told me he'd worn my book out teaching many parts of it to his congregation on the significance of abstinence.  In addition, he mentioned he used numerous arguments from the book trying to keep "liquor by the drink" out of his county.  "It worked," he said.  He mentioned his church was the only church who took a stand on the issue and the referendum was defeated at the polls.

Fat Studies and the Southern Baptist Convention by Peter Lumpkins

Yale University senior, Eve Binder, in an interesting article entitled “Fat Studies Goes to College” writes, “A handful of colleges now offer classes entirely devoted to the overweight and obese.”  George Washington University, University of California, Oregon State, and Rutgers are among schools getting in on America’s obesity problem by offering students academic opportunities to study the world’s largest population of fatsos >>>

On J.D. Greear's View of Alcohol: Inadequate, Naive, Relativistic, Unbiblical Balderdash: And That's Putting it Mildly by Peter Lumpkins

After getting over my initial “Oh my” upon reading North Carolina pastor and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Adjunct Professor, J.D. Greear’s recent swab on imbibing intoxicating beverages, I thought it would be helpful to look at Greear’s argumentation since he’s apparently been dealing with this issue for years. “A common issue that I have had to address over the years is the question of whether Christians should drink alcohol,” reveals Greear.