Graduation

Last night Andrew graduated from high school! It is difficult for me to believe that he is old enough to do that. The event was held on the campus of TCU. I wonder just when graduation ceremonies became a rock concernt? It was a bit embarassing to hear all the hoots and hollers during the presentation of the colors, and the blow horns were annoying to say the least. But those are small criticisms compared to the absolute joy of seeing our son walk across the stage during this important milestone in his life. Congratulations son!

Memorial Day

I hope today is more to you than just a day off and an opportunity to fire up the grill. Today is the day you and I must take at least a moment and thank God for the men and women who have paid the ultimate price for freedom. My grandfathers were in WWII, and my uncles served in Vietnam. I currently have a first cousin in the military. I thank God for their service as well.

Freedom is not free, and we'd better not forget that.

Executive Committee--CP

The Executive Committee of the SBC is set to recommend several ways that the Cooperative Program can be strengthened during the convention next month. It seems now that the committee may weaken two of the recommendations: one that church's give at least 10% to the CP and that the convention consider electing leaders whose churches give at least 10%.

What is going on here? It seems the Executive Committee is watering down its recommendations in light of the presidential election. Much has been made of Ronnie Floyd's nomination and the fact his church gives a small percentage through the CP. A statement from the committee reads in part that the original recommendations were never intended to create controversy. Perhaps that is so, but this move, if it is approved by the whole committee, will appear to some to be politically motivated--either to help Floyd's election or at the very least make Southern Baptist's appear to be consistent in their thinking. Should Floyd be elected president and CP recommendations which included percentages also be approved, the inconsistency will confuse the churches.

The full committee will vote on these changes in the CP recommendations just prior to the convention in Greensboro.

For more on the Executive Committee's actions:

http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/5985.article

Page

More on Dr. Frank Page, candidate for SBC president at:

http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23353

There are several other articles posted on the South Carolina Baptist paper's website [The Baptist Courier].

http://www.baptistcourier.com/

I would agree with those who say that his candidacy is a longshot, but Southern Baptist's who want their president to be more supportive of the Cooperative Program certainly have a choice. The more I read about Dr. Page, the more I'm impressed with him. I look forward to visiting his church next month.

6/6/06 Kids

I was reading yesterday about some parents who are worried about their kids being born on June 6----6/6/06. The "0" in there should cause no anxiety for Mom and Dad. The ones who should be worried are the parents born 6/6/66!!

Last Sermon

Well the last sermons were preached yesterday at Riverside. I had blogged earlier that I always struggle with knowing just what to preach on last Sundays. The Lord led me to Ephesians 4:1-16. I challenged the church to "walk worthy of the calling." That calling, of course, is God's call of salvation, explained by Paul in chapters 1-3 of Ephesians.

Basically, the message has two major thoughts. First, walk worthy by keeping the unity of the church [vv. 2-6]. That is done by living right in relation to one another [vv. 2-3]. Unity is important because it is a portrait to the world of the unity of the Trinity [vv. 4-6]. Second, walk worthy by contributing to church growth [vv. 7-16]. God has provided for the growth of the church by giving spiritual gifts to all believers and to the church corporately. The goal of growth is that we all become like Jesus [v. 13]. The result of growth is a mature church that is doctrinally stable [vv. 14-16].

When a pastor leaves, the church is usually challenged in the above two ways--unity and spiritual growth. This message, I believe, is the one God wanted our church to hear on my last day.

I didn't know it until I looked more deeply into my files, but I preached vv. 1-6 of this passage on my last day at Heckscher Drive Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL ten years ago. This must be an appropriate passage for this occasion.

DaVinci

Well it seems "DaVinci" made about 77 million bucks over the weekend. That's more than my 50-million prediction. What is the attraction? Why would people buy into lies and reject the truth. Here it is my friends. Are you ready? It is simply because if Jesus can be made into mere mortal then human kind does not have to deal with its major problem--sin. If Jesus is not who the Bible claims Him to be, then God holds no sway over us; we ultimately are not accountable to Him.

What is the church's response? Just keep preaching the old old story. The Gospel has overcome all such challenges for two-thousand years. It will overcome this challenge as well.

SC Candidate & Move

I read in Baptist Press that Dr. Frank Page, pastor of FBC Taylors in South Carolina is throwing his hat into the ring for the SBC presidency. I read this with interest because I am going to be moving just a few miles from his church and am planning to visit it as part of our "find a church" process beginning in June. I suppose now he'll be a bit busy the first weekend we're in SC; that's the week of the convention in Greensboro. Dr. Page is a Southwestern man--that's a plus! For those looking for a church giving at least 10% to the CP, his does.

For more on Dr. Page: http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23284.


By the way, I plan to blog on our "find a church" experience as we go. It's been a long time since I've just been a "regular Baptist" looking for a church home. In 1993 we joined Travis Avenue in Ft. Worth after moving to seminary from Florida. We visited three or four churches before joining Travis. When we moved back to Texas in 1999, we just automatically went back to Travis. So it has been 13 years since we looked for a church. It will be fun. FBC Taylors is on our list as is Fairview in Greer. When we visited the area, we noticed Baptist churches everywhere. A good church won't be a problem. Our main criterion, I think, is a good youth group for our 16 year old daughter to blend in with. We want to join a church as soon as the Lord allows so she can get to know some other kids before school starts in August. Enough blog blabbering; I'll keep you informed of our progress once we get to SC.

Reading the GNT

For many years now I have been reading a passage from the Greek New Testament during my devotion time, and I've urged my students to do the same. A few months ago I determined I would read the NT in canonical order [Matthew-Revelation] in Greek. This morning I finished the last four chapters of Revelation. This has been a wonderful spiritual experience, and I plan to begin again tomorrow morning in Matthew 1.

I decided I wanted to be able to pick up my Greek New Testament and read from it very early in my academic career. In my first New Testament survey class at Florida Baptist Theological College [now the Baptist College of Florida], Dr. Jerry Corley would read from the GNT at the beginning of each class period. That amazed me! He encouraged us to get into Greek, and if we did we could do the same thing. I started during my Elementary Greek days to take a couple of sentences from the GNT each day and work through it during my devotion time. I used the UBS text along with Kubo's Reader's Lexicon. It was slow and sometimes frustrating, but it was a blessing and worth all the effort. I will always be grateful to Dr. Corley for his example. I have followed his example and begin each of my classes the same way.

I can't wait for tomorrow morning, about 5:30am as I start in Matthew 1!

A Cooperating Baptist

I'm concerned that we are continuing to expand what it means to be a cooperating Southern Baptist. Does it mean to embrace the latest edition of the Baptist Faith & Message? Does it mean to give 10% of your church's undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program? Does it mean that a trustee decision is embraced even if it is a bad decision? Will it later mean that we must baptize a certain number? Will it later mean I must embrace some theological system like Calvinism or the like?

Just some musings from a country preacher concerned for his beloved SBC.

Modesty in Weddings

Al Mohler has an interesting post today dealing with modest dress in weddings.

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=653

Women in Ministry

There is a good article in the Baptist Standard concerning women in ministry. In it, the idea of women serving particularly as pastors of Baptist churches is explored. What is interesting in the article is that women who are now studying in some Texas schools [Truett and Logsdon are mentioned] are wondering if they will ever be accepted by the churches.

One statistic in the article is worth sharing: "Of nearly 5700 Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated churches, four are led by female senior pastors." That is a telling stat. Conservatives have been criticized by moderates forever on this question, but moderate churches seem to be no more willing to call a woman as pastor than conservative churches. According to the article's author, John Hall, "They [women] like the rhetoric about women being accepted into ministry but do not see any action." If moderates are going to be "true" to their rhetoric, they are going to have to improve on the above statistic. I think they may slightly, but I don't think they will overwhelmingly.

According to Paul Powell, Dean of Truett Seminary, "I don't want to discourage them in any way, but I want them to be realistic that their ministry may not include being the pastor or a church."

Conservative Baptists believe a woman can serve in any position [I'm speaking of staff], but the Bible exempts her from serving as senior pastor; thus a woman cannot be called to that ministry. Moderates believe women can serve as senior pastor but don't call them to their churches. At least conservatives are true to their convictions. When will the moderates be true to theirs?

The article mentioned above is found at:

http://www.baptiststandard.com/postnuke/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=4874

SBC Presidency Debate

I'm glad there is a healthy debate in the SBC concerning the upcoming presidential election at the Greensboro convention in June. I've been concerned for many years about the lack of good ol' fashioned Baptist debate for the convention's top spot. I think there should always be a choice. Baptists, I believe, will make the right choice.

What about the issues that have been brought up about Ronnie Floyd. The primary one seems to be the lack of Cooperative Program giving by his church. I do not believe that should be an issue. A certain percentage of CP giving [10% or otherwise] should never be a litmus test for cooperation. Plus there is a question of just how much FBC Springdale gives. The church's percentage giving is low, according to reports, but administrative staff indicate giving to overall missions and SBC causes is much higher. I believe in the CP, but it should NEVER be used to determine whether or not a man is qualified as a cooperating Southern Baptist. Each local church should determine CP giving for itself. The SBC must not infringe upon the autonomy of the local church in this matter.

Paige Patterson has also been criticized for recently endorsing Floyd. Although Dr. Patterson is president of an SBC entity [Southwestern Seminary], he himself is a past president of the convention and an individual Southern Baptist. Since when did an individual Southern Baptist not be allowed to voice his opinion [oh, I forgot, if you are a member of the IMB Board of Trustees! That's another opinion for another day]. I believe Dr. Patterson or any other Southern Baptist has the right to state his/her opinion and endorse any candidate. That's the Baptist way.

I'm gratified that there is debate. For many years the presidential election at the SBC has been a yawner. I'm sorry I'm teaching that week and won't be there to see and hear it all in person. I will be in prayer for the decision.

For more read: http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23243

General Epistles/Revelation Commentaries

Here are my recommended commentaries for the General Epistles and Revelation. Remember, these are my recs, having the busy pastor in mind.

Hebrews
Bruce, F. F. Hebrews. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965.

Guthrie, George. Hebrews. NIVAC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.

James
Davids, Peter H. The Epistle of James. NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

Moo, Douglas J. The Letter of James. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapid: Eerdmans, 2000.

1 & 2 Peter & Jude
Davids, Peter H. The First Epistle of Peter. NICNT Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.

Green, Michael. The Second Epistle General of Peter and the General Epistle of Jude.
TNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Moo, Douglas J. 2 Peter and Jude. NIVAC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Selwyn, E. G. The First Epistle of St. Peter. 2nd ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1964.

Johannine Epistles
Akin, Daniel L. 1, 2, 3 John. NAC. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2001.

Stott, John. The Letters of John. TNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.

Revelation
Osborne, Grant R. Revelation. BEC. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.

Witherington, Ben. Revelation. NCBC. Cambridge: Press, 2003.

It is difficult to recommend commentaries of Revelation--each one has his/her own view on this book. The above commentaries, however, do a good job of getting at the issues. For a overview of different options in interpreting Revelation see: Pate, C. Marvin, ed. Four Views on the Book of Revelaton. Counterpoints. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.

Floyd

Reports are circulating that Ronnie Floyd, pastor of FBC Springdale, AR, will be nominated to serve as SBC president at the annual convention in North Carolina in June. Another mega-church pastor serving as SBC president. This is no surprise and just a matter of time. I had thought earlier that Johnny Hunt of FBC Woodstock, GA, would be the next president, but he withdrew from consideration and is planning to nominate Floyd.

I'm not at all against this nomination, although it would be refreshing to see a medium or even large-church pastor be nominated and elected. The mega-church rules, however, and will for the foreseeable future.

Last Sermons

My last sermons at Riverside are coming next Sunday. It is always a bit difficult to determine what your final words to a congregation ought to be. I've always suffered over them a bit. My ministry here has been six-and-a-half years. What can I say that I haven't said? What ought to be said? Perhaps my grandfather was right. When I told him that I was called to ministry 20+ years ago, he gave my good advice. He said to always preach Jesus and Him crucified. You can never go wrong with that subject! I'll let you know later what I've decided on this matter. I've also decided that the subject of final sermons would be a good subject for further investigation. Perhaps something has been written already, but as you know, that never keeps one from killing more trees on the same subject!

A Devoted Church

My sermon yesterday dealt with "A Devoted Church." No matter where a church is; no matter what ostacles a church faces; a devoted church is a church God will bless. From Acts note what practices the church must be devoted to.

• A Devoted Church Is Devoted to Prayer--Prayer brought unity [1:14]; boldness in bearing witness [4:24-31]; God's miraculous work [12:5]; and confirmation of His will [13:3].
• A Devoted Church Is Devoted to Preaching--Other than the Day of Pentecost, you see preaching at the forefront at critical times in Acts [8:4; 11:20; 21:28]. There are two words for preaching that are primarily used in Acts. The first means "to herald." The church is to spread the message of the King far and wide. The second means "to tell good news." The message that Jesus died, rose again, and is exalted is good news. Also, the church must without apology call people to repentance.
• A Devoted Church Is Devoted to Discipleship--"Nothing builds up the church like truth" [John Stott]. You see discipleship throughout Acts [2:42; 4:2; 5:25; 14:22; 15:41; 18:23]. The church must teach theology [what am I to believe?] and ethics [how am I to live?]
• A Devoted Church Is Devoted to Missions--Acts 1:8. Missions must begin at home but also must reach to the end of the earth. When the church is truly on mission, it is closer to the heart of God than at any other time.

The church is to be devoted to the same things God is devoted to. When it is, the gates of hell will not prevail against it!

Mothers

In honor of Mother's Day:

Susannah Wesley was married at age 19 to Samuel Wesley, a minister, and had nineteen children. Samuel was often gone for church meetings and revivals, so she assumed the primary load in raising the children. Two of her sons are well-known to us today: John and Charles Wesley. John launched the Methodist movement and Charles was a celebrated composer and hymn-writer; you would recognize some of his music like "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing."

Susannah Wesley spent time each day praying for her 19 children. She also took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters. She also expected each child to be able to read the Book of Genesis by the time he or she was six years child.

Here are her famous 16 rules of raising children:

1. Eating between meals not allowed.
2. As children they are to be in bed by 8 p.m.
3. They are required to take medicine without complaining.
4. Subdue self-will in a child, and those working together with God to save the child's soul.
5. To teach a child to pray as soon as he can speak.
6. Require all to be still during Family Worship.
7. Give them nothing that they cry for, and only that when asked for politely.
8. To prevent lying, punish no fault which is first confessed and repented of.
9. Never allow a sinful act to go unpunished.
10. Never punish a child twice for a single offense.
11. Comment and reward good behavior.
12. Any attempt to please, even if poorly performed, should be commended.
13. Preserve property rights, even in smallest matters.
14. Strictly observe all promises.
15. Require no daughter to work before she can read well.
16. Teach children to fear the rod.

(from Victor Yap; list from http://www.familyofdestiny.com/article_16rules.htm)

Pauline Commentaries Part 2

I'm continuing my recommendations on Pauline commentaries. Remember these are personal choices, geared primarily toward the busy pastor.

Ephesians
Bruce. F. F. The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.

Stott, John R. W. The Message of Ephesians. BST. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1979.

Colossians
See Bruce above.

Melick, Richard R. Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. NAC. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1991.

Philippians
See Melick above.

Fee, Gordon. Paul's Letter to the Philippians. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

Philemon
See Bruce and Melick.

Wright, N. T. The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and Philemon. TNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.

1 & 2 Thessalonians
Green, Gene L. The Letters to the Thessalonians. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

Holmes, Michael W. 1 and 2 Thessalonians. NIVAC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.

The Pastorals
Fee, Gordon D. 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus. NIBC. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1988.

Lea, Thomas D. and Hayne P. Griffin. 1, 2 Timothy, Titus. NAC. Nashville: Broadman and
Holman, 1992.

Mounce, William D. Pastoral Epistles. WBC. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000.

New Book

The Evangelical Textual Criticism blog reports that a new book entitled: Reinventing Jesus is coming soon. Among the authors is Dan Wallace, who mentioned the book during his recent paper presentation at the ETS regional meeting at Southwestern. The book is a rebuttal to Ehrman, DaVinci, etc.

http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/

I'm looking forward to this one!

Pauline Commentaries Part 1

Due to space considerations, I'm going to list the top two Pauline commentaries for each letter [my opinion, of course].

Romans
Moo, Douglas J. The Epistle to the Romans. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.

Stott, John. Romans: God's Good News for the World. Downers Grove: InterVasity, 1994. Good resource for preaching Romans.

1 Corinthians
Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.
Highly Recommended.

Garland, David E. 1 Corinthians. BECT. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003.

Vaughan, Curtis and Thomas D. Lea. 1 Corinthians. Founders Study Guide Commentary. Reprint. Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2003. [This is a reprint of the BSC from Zondervan, 1983]. Highly recommended—short and to the point!

I know I listed three here, but it is hard to narrow the choices.

2 Corinthians
Garland, David E. Second Corinthians. NAC. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999.

Hughes, Philip E. Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961. This has been updated, but it still is the BEST in my opinion.

Galatians
Fung, Ronald Y. K. The Epistle to the Galatians. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.

George, Timothy. Galatians. NAC. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1994.

More coming later!

Memphis Declaration

A group of SBC pastors met in Memphis and have written a so-called "Memphis Declaration." I find it interesting; perhaps you will too.

http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23180

What does it say about a group when it intends to repent for the rest of us?

Gospel of Judas

There is an entertaining article on the Gospel of Judas to be found at:

http://www.theamericanview.com/index.php?id=601&AMVIEWUSER=6530dc036f91c8957b18f0e3e11671df

Commentaries-Acts

On April 13, I recommended a few commentaries on the Gospels. Let's move on to Acts.

Bruce, F. F. The Book of Acts. 2nd ed. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988. You can't beat Bruce in Acts.

Green, Michael. Thirty Years that Changed the World: The Book of Acts for Today. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004.

Longenecker, Richard N. "Acts." In EBC, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapid: Zondervan, 1995. Longenecker's insights are second only to those of Bruce.

Marshall, I. Howard. Acts. TNTC. Downers Grove: IVP, 1989. As usual, the TNTC always helps busy pastors get to the bottom line. High recommended.

Parsons, Mikeal C. and Martin M. Culy. Acts: A Handbook on the Greek Text. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2003. This is very helpful for those who know Greek. Makes syntactical observations that others do not.

Polhill, John B. Acts. NAC. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1992. Polhill does an outstanding job, although I think Bruce is still #1.

Stagg, Frank. The Book of Acts. Nashville: Broadman, 1955. This is old and out of print, but it still has several great insights, especially Stagg's emphasis on the theme of Acts.

Stott, John R. W. The Spirit, the Church, and the World: The Message of Acts. BST. Downers Grove: IVP, 1990. Stott does an outstanding job—great work for the exegete and preacher.

Vaughan, Curtis. Acts. BSC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974. For the busy pastor.

Witherington, Ben III. The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Gran Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998. This may be Witherington's best.

Southwestern

I presided over my last class at Southwestern Seminary last night, giving a final exam in Elementary Greek. I've appreicated the opportunity over the last five years to serve as an adjunct instructor at the "greatest" seminary in the world. I owe Southwestern a great deal. I did both my MDiv. and Ph.D. work there. I was taught by the best Southern Baptists have to offer. I've been thankful that the seminary has allowed me to hang around and minister there myself. I've been blessed by the students who have been in my various classes. My prayers are with the seminary and its future impact on God's kingdom.

Robinson Interview

Dave Black has posted his two-part interview with Maruice Robinson. If you are at all interested in text criticism, particularly Byzantine priority, you'll need to read this. Thanks Dave!

www.daveblackonline.com