Spiritual Issues at the Heart of the Debate over Church Membership Rolls

“A church membership roll that runs two to three times the number of people actually involved is a symptom of a much-deeper problem — one that strikes at the heart of what it means to be a Baptist church and a follower of Jesus, says David Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn.” Read the article on Baptist Press HERE …

An Evangelical Manifesto

“The release of “An Evangelical Manifesto” on May 7 caught the attention of the national media, and thus it represents yet another opportunity for evangelical definition. The document, released May 7, also represents a challenge, for its framers hope to redefine the movement in the context of our unsettled times.”

Read Dr. Mohler’s two-part response:

• An Evangelical Response to “An Evangelical Manifesto”
• “An Evangelical Manifesto” — Continuing the Conversation

“Plant Rights”: Have you seen this yet?

“An ethics panel in Switzerland has decided that ‘the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong.’ Writing in the current edition of The Weekly Standard, Smith explains that the idea of ‘plant rights’ is now a matter of serious consideration among the Swiss.” Read Dr. Mohler’s reflections HERE!

How would you answer this question?

“Do you have to believe the resurrection is literally true — that Jesus came back to life in his body — to be a Christian?” Read Al Mohler’s response HERE …

What Makes a Church Missional?

“The terms missional and missional church are barely 10 years old, but already they bring up more than half a million hits on a Google search. Churches are inundated with missional books, missional websites, missional consultation groups, and missional speakers. Yet the meaning of the term remains unclear.”

This is a helpful discussion of the matter as we seek to be biblical and faithful in the way ahead. Read it HERE!

Over at Bart Ehrman’s house …

“Nearly 900 students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill listened to Southern Seminary professor Timothy Paul Jones declare during a lecture series last month that the historical reliability of New Testament accounts meets or exceeds expectations used to prove the historicity of other events.”

Of course, UNC Chapel Hill is the home of now-famous New Testament skeptic Bart Ehrman (author of Misquoting Jesus, an attack on the textual reliability of the NT documents). This is great! Read the story HERE.

For all of us “ordinary pastors”

“For pastors like myself with average gifts, Dr. Don Carson has given us a unique biography of the life and ministry of an ordinary pastor—his dad. It’s titled, Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson (Crossway, 2008). If you are like me, this book will provide you with an invaluable reminder of what is most important to pastoral ministry—faithfulness.”

See C. J. Mahaney’s review of Don Carson’s latest book HERE ….

The Call to Preach

“Has God called you to ministry? Though all Christians are called to serve the cause of Christ, God calls certain persons to serve the Church as pastors and other ministers. Writing to young Timothy, the Apostle Paul confirmed that if a man aspires to be a pastor, ‘it is a fine work he aspires to do.’ [I Timothy 3:1, NASB] Likewise, it is a high honor to be called of God into the ministry of the Church. How do you know if God is calling you?”

Check out Al Mohler’s thoughts on discerning the call to preach HERE …