In the latest When Heaven and Earth Collide podcast interview, Ed Stetzer and I talk about the changing ethnic landscape of America with the presence of immigrants and refugees and how the church can respond to what is happening demographically – but more importantly, respond to what God is doing in all of this and to… Continue Reading
The next When Heaven and Earth Collide interview is up with Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Akin and I have a wide-ranging conversation about how immigrants coming to America relates to Scriptural commands involving the Great Commission and loving our neighbor. Dr. Akin calls upon Christians to engage immigrants with… Continue Reading
This Spring/Summer, the Montgomery Baptist Association (MBA) has been working to kick off an association-wide MultiHousing Ministry. The idea behind MultiHousing Ministry (MHM) is that local churches would identify apartment complexes and trailer parks where individuals and families dwell together in close proximity and they would engage those areas in prayer, service, acts of love… Continue Reading
Southern Baptists and other Evangelicals are beginning to recognize the incredible opportunity and responsibility set before us. As the above infographic from www.ethnecity.com demonstrates, the nations have come to us en masse. Between 41 and 47 million foreign born peoples (by latest estimate) now live in the United States (13.2 million in the South). Many… Continue Reading
(The Featured Image advertises the upcoming Reaching the Nations Next Door Conference in the Nashville area in August). “For You Were Sojourners In the Land of Egypt” Acts 17:16-31 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in… Continue Reading
Rod Dreher is a fellow Louisianian, a conservative writer/journalist on the issues of faith, culture, and politics, and promoter of an approach to the secularization of the West for Christians called The Benedict Option. I have been reading Rod regularly for the last several years and had the privilege of meeting him for coffee in… Continue Reading
[Excuse the grainy picture taken with my iPhone from a distance in the dark] Over the past two days, I have attended the Move Conference at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marrietta, Georgia. This has been one of the best church-based missions conferences that I have ever been too and I highly recommend attending… Continue Reading
This past Sunday marked the beginning of Advent in the church calendar, the season before Christmastide (12 Days of Christmas), which begins December 25. Advent was always one of my favorite times to preach as a pastor because of focus on Christ's work in His Coming the first time and the anticipation of His Coming… Continue Reading
Christian groups like the ERLC and the Kainos Movement are moving toward hosting discussions on racism in America and in the church in the 21st century, which is a good thing. But, if we are not careful, we will miss the deeper issues that animate the entire problem. I sought to explore those deeper issues… Continue Reading
The 2014 Alabama Baptist State Convention will take place in Birmingham, AL on November 11-12. I am submitting the following resolution to the convention. It calls for holistic gospel ministry to immigrants in our state by Alabama Baptists. The resolution also encourages our elected officials to work together to agree upon equitable immigration reform. Alabama… Continue Reading