Conventional Thinking: Diversity & unity
Years ago, as I was about to attend my first Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), I was advised to take notice of the various Southern accents I would hear while at the meeting. It was true. I could clearly notice the distinction between how we speak in Oklahoma, versus people in South Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas, for example. These years later, as I continue to participate in the SBC meetings, I cannot help but notice diversity of...
Conventional Thinking: Summer reading
It’s summertime, and that means extra daylight hours for fun in the sun. It also means that children and adults alike may have extra leisure time for reading. Here are a few books that have been on my reading list lately. “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom This biography tells the amazing story about how one family risked it all by hiding Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland and how God’s grace shined through even amid...
‘Jesus is enough,’ Hall says in SBC Pastors’ Conference sermon
PHOENIX, Ariz.—Oklahoma pastor Shane Hall, who has been facing a protracted battle with stomach cancer, delivered a sermon on June 12 in front of thousands of Southern Baptists at the 2017 Pastors’ Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Preaching out of Philippians 4, Hall boldly proclaimed, “Jesus is enough!” Throughout the Pastors’ Conference, which had the theme “Above Every Name,” 12 preachers each took portions of the book of...
Conventional Thinking: Transgender aftershock
After the cultural shockwaves sent from the transformation of Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn Jenner and the Obama White House transgender bathroom decree to public schools, we are now starting to assess the collateral damage from the transgender revolution. The results are not pretty. News was recently reported that “gender confirmation surgeries rose 19 percent in 2016 from the previous year, a survey of plastic surgeons said, an increase...
Conventional Thinking: Frozen
In 1978, people heard news about the world’s first “test tube baby,” Louise Joy Brown. Since that time, the number of children conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) has grown exponentially, as has the popularity of the practice, bringing with it major ethical questions. One such ethical question is “What do parents of embryos (children) created during IVF that are not implanted in the womb do with them?” The answer to that...
