At the Southern Baptist Convention in Birmingham this week, Southern Baptists are focusing on three cultural issues – leadership diversity, women in ministry, and preventing sexual abuse. Gateway has been a forerunner on all these issues. We have been – for more than 30 years &ndash...
A new church staff role has emerged at Vision Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Let’s hope it’s not the start of a trend. If it is, Gateway will have to sit this one out. Rev. Lakara Foster has joined the ministerial staff of Vision Church as their new medium. In her role, she communicates with the dead.
When we rebranded as Gateway Seminary, we knew it would take a while for the new name to become better known than our old one. We chose a generic name we could use anywhere/anytime, replacing being identified with one of the ten most famous landmarks in the world (which shall remain unnamed to...
Early in my tenure, I spied a seminary maintenance supervisor coming through the doors at graduation. I was surprised to see him in a coat and tie at a more formal event and asked, “Do you have a student-friend who is graduating?” When he told me “No,” I said, “Oh, I was just surprised to see...
My recent blogs on our confusion about declaring and defending the gospel prompted one supporter to write me back. While he applauded my overall point, he opined some Christians – even pastors - seem to be confused about the simplicity of the gospel. He referenced a recent memorial service, led...
From time to time, we hear people lament the shortage of and issue a call for more statesmen-like leadership in our denomination. We recently lost a person who modeled that kind of leadership which motivated me to think about what makes a person a statesman or stateswoman.
For the past two weeks, the issues of the intent and object of our gospel message have been on my mind. The premise of those blogs has been the American church (particularly Southern Baptist) is preoccupied with declaring the gospel to itself and defending the gospel in the public square.
Last week, my blog struck a chord with some of you. Let me reiterate my premise and comment on it further this week and next. The American church is preoccupied with declaring the gospel to itself and defending the gospel in the public square.
American churches, particularly in our Southern Baptist family, seem more intent these days on defending the gospel rather than declaring it. Several recent experiences reinforce this observation. Here’s an example.
A theme in my preaching ministry over the past few months has been the power of forgiveness. My messages have considered two aspects of this subject – we need God’s forgiveness and we must forgive others. The best one-word description of the response is “intense.” Dozens of people have lined up...