Opinion Column

JEFF IORG IS RESTORING THE EC’S CREDIBILITY

Jeff Iorg is the man for the job. He might have been the only man for the job. He is certainly the right man at the right time, and he arrived on the scene just in the nick of time. Iorg, of course, is the president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Executive Committee (EC). He was hired one year ago and has been a stabilizing

Read More...

CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION: IS IT REAL?

A recent sermon series through the Beatitudes struck a personal chord with me that I hope echoes throughout our congregation for months into the future.  Speaking about life in the family of God, Jesus offers eight specific blessings for His followers that are admittedly counterintuitive. Perhaps the strangest of them all was His final promise, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is

Read More...

WELLNESS ISN’T JUST THE ABSENCE OF SICKNESS; IT GOES DEEPER

“Everything rises and falls on leadership,” according to leadership guru John Maxwell. From personal experience and observation, I would agree that the health of a minister directly impacts the health of the church he leads. When a pastor is healthy, the church has the potential for health. When a pastor is struggling in vital areas of his life, the church will feel the effects and may struggle to find health.

Read More...

BUILDING TOGETHER: THE POWER OF MULTIPLYING LEADERS

Jerusalem lay in ruins. The walls, once strong, were broken. Stones toppled, gates burned. The people were defenseless. Enemies laughed. The city of God was a joke. The men had returned from exile, but they had no leader, no plan. Fear settled in. The task was too big, too much. Then Nehemiah came. He saw the wreckage and felt the weight. He didn’t talk much. Instead, he prayed, he planned,

Read More...

LET’S COLLABORATE, NOT COMPETE

Ron Howard’s 1995 film expertly depicts the harrowing events of the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. One of my favorite scenes in the movie describes the life-or-death issue of keeping the oxygen level at the right concentration for the astronauts to survive in the lunar landing module.  The NASA engineers were tasked with making “a square filter fit in a round hole.” That scene is an excellent example of collaboration.

Read More...

CHRISTIANS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

I recently saw a diagram listing dozens of artificial intelligence (AI) agents. It looked like the multicolored Wheel of Fortune wheel. I knew there had to be more AIs than that, so I asked an AI application I use how many AI agents existed. “Estimating the total number of AI agents is quite challenging due to rapid development and deployment,” its response began. “However, as of recent estimates, there could

Read More...

LESSONS FROM THE HARDWOOD

For as long as I can remember, I would always trade the pigskin for a round ball without hesitation. Maybe it’s my Kentucky roots. Perhaps it stems from growing up during the Michael Jordan era. Whatever the reason, though, I fell in love with basketball as a boy, partly because I did not need anyone else to play. I lost count how many times I won the Final Four and

Read More...

MY LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH BOOK OF JOB

This morning as I opened up my Bible Study, I noticed I was yet again back in the book of Job! I’ve had a love-hate relationship with this book for a long time. It seems as if every time I find myself in this epic story of suffering, I’m also in a tough circumstance. I had to remind myself that I don’t believe in superstition or any mysticism. Hear me

Read More...

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: LET SCHOOLS DISPLAY THEM

Tennessee State legislators have put forth commensurate bills (House Bill 47/Senate Bill 303) that would allow for the public display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. This is a good idea. Why? First, the historical and cultural significance of the Ten Commandments is reason enough to display them. Western legal and moral traditions have been based on the Decalogue, and they are often viewed as the foundation of the

Read More...

CONGREGATIONAL FELLOWSHIP IS KEY

Several years ago, I heard friends speak of a small southern Baptist church that was still fighting the Civil War. Although the War ended in 1865, the wounds were still as fresh now as they were over 150 years ago. The congregation was split between the North and South as some of their ancestors had fought on opposing sides. Those whose forefathers supported the North, sat on the right side

Read More...