I stepped off a plane on Tuesday and heard the news Derrick Chauvin was convicted on all counts in the death of George Floyd. Like many others, I had been thinking about some observations I could offer that might contribute to moving all of us forward in positive ways once the verdict was...
Classrooms at Gateway are more than conduits for information-dissemination. They are a leader-shaping laboratory. During a recent presentation on ecclesiology, students poured out their discouragement and frustration over the state of their churches. The professor set aside his notes and...
Thomas Jefferson Bowen was the first Southern Baptist missionary to both Nigeria and Brazil. His largely forgotten, but captivating story, is told in the new book Unthinkable: The Triumph and Tragedy of Forgotten American Hero T. J. Bowen by my friend Jim Hardwicke. The Nigerian and Brazilian...
As Americans, even as American Christians, we think too much of ourselves and too much about ourselves and the problems in our culture. We are part of a global/eternal movement and maintaining a global/eternal perspective is essential to our spiritual well-being, as well as for the good of our...
A few weeks ago, I began this five-part series on changing the channel of our denominational conversation. We are pre-occupied with so many pressing issues—political, social, moral, ethical, and denominational—that demand attention. It’s hard to ignore the clamor and focus on goals related to...
One of the pressing challenges for Christian leaders is staying focused on our core mission of making disciples. Doing this requires evangelizing the lost, stabilizing new converts, developing stronger believers, and ultimately producing new leaders for our movement. There are so many other...
Christian leaders face a significant challenge of staying focused on our core mission of making disciples. Doing this requires evangelizing the lost, stabilizing new converts, developing stronger believers, and ultimately producing new leaders for our movement. There are so many other...
One of the most challenging aspects of Christian leadership today is staying focused on our core mission—the Great Commission—and devoting our efforts to fulfilling strategic goals toward that end. Competing agendas constantly shout for our attention. Focusing our attention on what really...
One of the most challenging aspects of Christian leadership today is staying focused on our core mission—the Great Commission—and devoting our efforts to fulfilling strategic goals toward that end. There are so many seemingly pressing issues politically, socially, morally, ethically, and...
When two people or groups have a disagreement, it’s called a conflict. When multiple conflicts break out, with people and groups changing sides depending on the issue, that’s called chaos. In the past, conflict has been considered a normal part of life—but not chaos. That seems to have changed...