peterlumpkins.com

Alcohol Today, Alcohol Tomorrow: Are Southern Baptists any closer to agreement?

Six weeks ago, Nicole Kalil wrote an article for the Florida Baptist Witness entitled "Tallahassee pastor tolerant when it comes to alcohol." Kalil profiled Tallahassee's City Church lead pastor, Dean Inserra, concerning his views on alcohol consumption. Kalil framed Inserra's view as him deciding to not make "moderate consumption of alcohol a big deal" leading him to reportedly affirm the Convention's position as unnecessary. "We lose credibility when we force culture issues as absolutes," Inserra reportedly concluded. Since moderately imbibing intoxicating beverages constitutes a "gray area of Scripture," Inserra desires... Read more →

Bullseye: Perceptive Reflections on a Collapsing Culture: Free Church Press New Release

Click on image to enlarge Free Church Press is excited to announce a new title by William F. Harrell: Bullseye: Perceptive Reflections on a Collapsing Culture. Dr. Harrell is Pastor Emeritus of the historic Abilene Baptist Church, Martinez, Georgia. Bullseye is Harrell's second book. In Bullseye, Dr. Harrell aims his bead for cultural issues facing the church today. Those who purchased Harrell's first volume--Straight Shooting: Pastoral Reflections for Today's Church--will note in Bullseye the very same folksy literary style Dr. Harrell commands. Below are a few of the targets onto... Read more →

Must we define Mormonism as a cult? A Brief Response to Bart Barber

Dr. Bart Barber’s latest piece states the following proposition in its title: “Why Mormonism Is a Cult and Should be Called One.” Bart begins his piece by stating his principled disagreement with three Southern Baptists over the issue of whether “cult” is a proper and useful category in which to place Mormonism. He states >>> “I find myself today disagreeing with Richard Land, Ed Stetzer, and Peter Lumpkins… Mormonism is a cult, and if I read and understand these gentlemen correctly, they all agree with me on that point. Where... Read more →

Rick Warren's absurd call for Al Mohler to apologize by Peter Lumpkins

Al Mohler's recent post entitled "Is the Megachurch the New Liberalism?" raised questions not only concerning megachurch pastor, Andy Stanley, and his all-but implicit acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, but Mohler also drew fire from unsuspecting critics1 >>> Legendary Saddleback pastor, Rick Warren, did not just take issue with Al Mohler's piece; rather the father of the purpose-driven movement called for the seminary president to apologize for unduly offending thousands of churches for the lone reason the church happened to be big. Reportedly, Warren tweeted to Mohler: @albertmohler Would a... Read more →

Al Mohler, Homosexuality, and the "New Liberalism" by Peter Lumpkins

Last week, I raised the question concerning Andy Stanley’s perplexing story about a gay couple in his church. I wrote: Stanley tells the story of a couple who divorced while members of his church. The issue was, the husband had fallen in love with another man... The problem is, not once in the entire story did Stanley question the homosexual relationship the two men experienced. Instead he questioned whether or not the men could serve in their Buckhead branch since one of the men was still married... Stanley questioned the... Read more →

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" >>> Now we apparently find out that Hinch may have misunderstood Warren and the "Kings Way" theological documents which apparently was the basis for the... Read more →

Contextualization, Syncretism and Global Witness: Raising Concerns by Peter Lumpkins

An interesting exchange took place last week between an anonymous missionary (non-SBC) presently serving in a Muslim country and a theologian at Liberty Theological Seminary. A post entitled "My Pilgrimage" is hosted at SBCImpact and written by an anonymous missionary who calls himself/herself "From the Middle East" (a regular contributor for SBCImpact, by the way). The pilgrimage described is in story form, self-designed by the missionary, "not so much as a full doctrinal statement"; instead, it is offered to indigenous Muslims to gauge whether they are "interested in hearing the... Read more →