EDITOR’S NOTE: Alan Branch serves as professor of Christian Ethics at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. To learn more about Resolution 4, “On Use of Products of Fetal Tissue Research,” see https://mbcpathway.mobaptist.org/2020/11/05/messengers-sweat-the-details-in-pro-life-resolutions-wording/. KANSAS CITY – Though I am a member of a Missouri Baptist Church, I was not at the recent annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention. Had I been there, I would have spoken … [Read more...]
Uncertainty: ‘It sounds a whole lot like 2020’
Uncertainty – “Epistemic situations involving imperfect or unknown information. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown.” In other words, uncertainty is not knowing what will happen or not being sure what you think you do is really so. It sounds a whole lot like 2020, doesn’t it? I always thought there was going to be toilet paper at Wal-Mart, for instance. (One meme I saw had a grandpa telling his grandchildren that … [Read more...]
Christ’s deity in the New Testament
This is the 20th in a series of articles, excerpted from “What Every Christian Should Know About the Trinity,” available through Amazon and other booksellers. While the Old Testament offers glimpses of a second Yahweh figure – a visible manifestation of the one true God – the New Testament presents a more complete picture of the second person of the Godhead. Let’s begin with Jesus Himself. Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and atheists often argue, “Jesus never claimed to be God.” They assert … [Read more...]
Christmas grace
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) A good definition of grace is “unmerited favor”. In other words, it is favor that we don’t deserve. It seems that many are more than willing to accept God’s grace, but unwilling to show grace to others. We’ve probably all, at some time or another, received a gift at Christmas that deep down inside we really didn’t like. At … [Read more...]
Impacting lives: A Christmastime update from The Baptist Home
Christmas at The Baptist Home is a special time for residents and caregivers alike. Festive decorations enlighten each hall and resident room, while nativity scenes serve as a reminder of the true reason for the season. In years past, church members would fill their cars and trucks with food and supplies and bring them to The Home each Christmas. Appreciative staff and residents accepted those gifts as from the Lord, as they often sustained the ministry in those early days. Although state … [Read more...]
‘Joy to the World’ a work of genius
What is the most often sung Christmas hymn in North America? Here’s a hint: it was never meant to be a Christmas song. Well, if you said “Joy to the World” you are correct. But even a casual glance at this favorite reveals much more of a Second Coming theme than it does a Christmas theme. Yet it is one of the world’s favorite Christmas songs of all time. If the question is “what makes it so great?” the answer may be found in two genius craftsmen: Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason. “Joy to the … [Read more...]
Christmas feels, Christmas fills
That Christmas feeling. All year long. Because Christmas movies. All. Year. Long. I have a high threshold for these things. I watch them all. So when Christmas rolls around for real, I get excited. Christmas movies—at Christmas! I’ve seen enough of them to know that to experience the season well, you have to fill it with the proper Christmas components. Christmas cookie-baking (spoiler alert: the secret ingredient is love), decorating the tree while singing loud carols (possibly falling … [Read more...]
A Statistical Analysis of Growth in SBC Congregations by Race and Ethnicity from 1990-2018
Last spring, I commissioned our Great Commissions Relations and Mobilization Team to discover where we were in our SBC congregations by race and ethnicity from 1990-2018. The team consists of Julio Arriola, Peter Yanes, Charles Grant, Ashley Clayton, and team leader, Willie McLaurin. Our Asian American Executive Director, Peter Yanes, was asked to lead this study and secured the needed assistance to accomplish the project. This fall, one of the most informative and encouraging sessions … [Read more...]
Strike the flag to half-mast
Joining thousands in prayer for the International Mission Board’s recognition of its 175-year history has been a joy in 2020. For seventeen and a half decades, Southern Baptists have maintained an uninterrupted witness among the nations, in spite of famine, plagues, domestic and world-wide wars, presidential elections, economic downturns, depressions, recessions, inflation, and civil unrest. This commitment has not come without sacrifice. Strike the flag to half-mast! During the course of … [Read more...]
Christmas at the Hinkle home remembered with gratitude
I left home, in Nashville, Tenn., for the Air Force when I was 23. Other than for two brief years working as a business reporter for The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, I have been gone from my homeland for the entire time. That would be 43 years (now I have given away my age!). When one lives far from home, it is rare to get home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mom has always insisted on Christmas. So I have made it home for Christmas every year, but one since I left home. Santa … [Read more...]
Staying on the inside track
I already felt a little uneasy about the day. Then I heard myself say to a family member, “Oh, that train wreck has already left the station,” and I realized it might be worse than I thought. It was early so I figured the angsty, disconnected feeling might be because it was still not-enough-coffee o’clock. The fix? Iced coffee! It’s like the polar plunge of beverages. Me: Hey, freezer door dispenser. Could I have four ice cubes, please? Door dispenser: Sure. HOW ABOUT 8,000? The ice … [Read more...]
Will Southern Baptists practice biblical conservatism or acceptable progressivism?
In my reading over this past Thanksgiving weekend, one of the articles that really caught my attention reported how a mainline denomination may soon cease to exist. Over the years, this same denomination has captured media headlines because they have popularized a very progressive theological direction relating to the cultural issues of today. Yet, our Southern Baptist Convention remains a convention of churches that deeply and unashamedly believes in the authority and infallibility of … [Read more...]
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