Last week at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) meeting in Indianapolis, on a few occasions, it felt like I was living through the lyrics of the song by the English punk rock band The Clash, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” In conversations with pastors and messengers at the SBC, the question I heard most often regarding their churches and affiliation with the convention was, “Should we stay or should we go?” It was a question of whether to stay in the SBC or leave the denomination entirely.
Read More
CBC family, as our church calendar slows for the next few weeks, here are a few suggestions.
Read More
There is a great cloud of witnesses that surrounds me, indeed all of us, in living for Christ in a post-Christian age. Yet, the truth is our present challenges pale in comparison with saints of the past and even with many saints of the present. Our comfortable estate has weakened our knees in the face of suggestions of opposition. We are hypocritically guilty of the accusations we so indulgently lob at the younger generations— of being coddled, spoiled, and insufficiently prepared for the hardships of life. What would those burned at the stake or forced into re-education camps say about our fears of being labeled homophobic, sexist, or racist?
Read More
Often times when praying for others, our first instinct is to pray for the circumstances in which they find themselves. We pray for physical healing, a change in the current season, a relief from the pain they may be experiencing. But Paul’s prayer for the saints in Ephesus (vs17-19) gives us a model that focuses on the growth of their faith and eternal joy.
Read More
As we pray for God’s glory on the earth, we’ll begin to pray for that glory in conversion, evangelism, and global missions. Our prayers receive a new center of gravity. A desire for individual converts and visible churches translates into frequent and fervent prayers for missions. Our hearts begin to break for the lost.
Read More