Denominational Name in Church Name?

Charles Haddon Spurgeon's church was called the Metropolitan Tabernacle. For whatever reason, the name Baptist was not in the name, even though it was a Baptist church. The same is true of our church. And to date, we have reached probably 10-12 families, that I know of, who would not have walked through our doors had we put Baptist in our name.

Here's the perspective of an IMB missionary David Rogers on this issue:

Here in Spain...the majority of evangelical churches of all denominations use the same logo and sign on the front of their church building, which says simply Iglesia Evangélica (Evangelical Church). It is felt that this helps to build a better image in Spanish society, lessening the confusion in people’s minds between Evangelicals and various cult groups. When you throw the name "Baptist" into the mix as well, it can confuse the issue even more, as many people don’t understand there are different denominations of Protestantes or Evangélicos, or why...

...Even in the middle of the Bible belt, in suburban Memphis, Tennessee, since the time of my father’s ministry, my home church has intentionally linked its public image to the name "Bellevue", opting to play down the official name, "Bellevue Baptist Church". Ed Stetzer, of NAMB, in his book Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, goes as far as to affirm: "Most new churches being planted today do not identify their denominations in their names."...

...Am I saying that I believe Baptists are therefore wrong to call their churches "Baptist" churches? Not at all, especially if that name helps you in your quest to reach people for Christ. But please don’t tell those who hold to biblical and even "baptistic" convictions that they are compromising their faith, and are ashamed of the Gospel, when they choose to call themselves something other than "Baptist".

Well said. You can read his full article here.

Next Jordan?

For years, hoops fans have been speculating about who will be the next Jordan: Ron Harper, Vince Carter, and more recently, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. While King James has a game that could possibly exceed Jordan, he is more a power player than the finesse player like Mike. If you want to see someone who is developing into a very Jordanesque player, consider this guy.

Dr. Death, Dying, Rethinks His Past Actions...

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, aka Dr. Death, is dying. He's also having second thoughts about his past actions. Go figure. Don't want someone to force death on you, Doc?

Food Friday #3 - Best Mexican

Growing up in the Midwest, about the only Mexican food I was exposed to was an occasional taco served up by Mom at home.

Then Taco Bell came to Carbondale and my Mexican food experience expanded slightly.

THEN I move to West Texas...Odessa to be specific. Mexican food quickly became a regular part of my diet and a wonderful addition.

Restuarants in Odessa that I liked were La Bodega, Casa Ole, and Rosa's Cafe.

Later, living in Fort Worth, my favorites were La Fiesta, Joe T Garcia's (pictured above), and Mercado Juarez.

Now, locally, the best I've found is La Nopalera.

But Texas had the most choices and the best of all the places I've lived.

Welcome Amanda and Ansley!

My brother-in-law and his wife had twin girls born today at 5:50. Welcome to the family!

So, on Lacey's side, there are now 7 grandkids...all under 4 yrs. old!

Exactly 71 Years Ago...

...the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Cincy's Crosley Field in the first night game in Major League Baseball.

It was a dark day for baseball...I have always preferred day games!

MLB Locker Assignments

Interested in the pecking order of Major League Baseball locker roooms? Then you'll find this article in USA Today interesting.

Guess who gets the most space? Hint: He also has the largest ego.

Fruits and Vegetables...

What's the difference between fruits and vegetables? Give me your opinion (please don't google it and give me some scientific definition).

World Health Leader Dies at 61...

Does anyone else find it ironic that the head of the United Nations' World Health Organization has died at only 61 years of age?

Happy Birthday!

To my Twins!

Burleson Willing to be Nominated UNLESS...

Wade Burleson is willing to be nominated for President of the Southern Baptist Convention UNLESS "a candidate arises that is willing to address the issues that I, and others, have articulated these last few months." Read about it at his blog.

Playing Around With New Names

I'm considering a name change for this blog. Two of my latest ideas are from the Mars Hill account in Acts 17: "Acts 17.21" or "Athenian Diversions" Latin is just tough for some folks to spell, etc. Hence the change.

So in the next week or so, don't be surprised to see a few different titles at the top of this blog. Just testing stuff.

What do you think?

Da Vinci Code Ridiculed by Critics at Cannes

Many Christians are worked up about the upcoming release of the Da Vinci Code. Meanwhile, critics are describing it as melodramatic, and are jeering it, laughing at it, and booing it. One critic compares it to the Energizer Bunny, saying it drags on way too long. Surely this is not the kind of initial reviews Ron Howard, Dan Brown, and Tom Hanks were hoping for.

No Second Candidate Yet...

Wade Burleson has posted today that the person who he thought might become a candidate for president of the SBC has decided not to do so. Wade said last week that he would not be accept a nomination if this man decided accept a nomination. Wade promises that there will be another candidate. The question, of course, is will it be him?

Summarize 1st Corinthians

If you could summarize the book of 1st Corinthians in one sentence, what would you say?

The Clever Cab Drivers of London

Go over to the right of this screen and click on "Between Two Worlds" and then check out the post titled "A Case of Mistaken Identity." You won't be disappointed.

The Road to Greensboro, pt. 2 - Will There Be a Race for the Presidency?

Greensboro is approaching fast and someone in Georgia is (supposedly) considering throwing his name in the hat this week for the Presidency of the SBC Convention. The only current candidate, Ronnie Floyd, is under much scrutiny for leading a church that only gave 0.27% to the Cooperative Program last year.

How significant is this issue of level of CP giving? I think it is fairly signficant.

Several years ago, similar concerns were expressed about conservative candidates for the SBC presidency. The reason I heard then for weak CP giving was that there were still too many liberals drawing paychecks from CP dollars and once the denomination was cleaned up, the dollars would start pouring in.

Well, as far as I can tell, the clean-up job has been finished for some time now. That excuse is moot...unless some still think more cleaning up is needed by booting the Charismatics, Calvinists, and Contemporaries out of the Convention.

So far, on the blogosphere, I have observed two arguments attempting to nullify the impact of the low cooperative program giving. The first argument is that FBC Springdale may only give 0.27% to the cooperative program, but their total missions giving is 22%. I believe someone even pointed out that if all SBC churches were as mission-minded as Ronnie's church, we wouldn't have to cooperate to get missions done! Now there's a Biblical reason! Yikes! Now that's an awful thought: cooperating for the sake of the Gospel! With that mindset, we'll guickly be back to pre-1925 days, with our missionaries spending 40-60% of their time raising funds, rather than focusing on the mission.

The second argument I've come across is 10% to the Cooperative Program has never been a litmus test for leadership in the SBC. I'm just curious if the people who buy into this line of thinking apply the same principle to their local church. I suppose when it comes to elevating people to vital positions of leadership in their church, it doesn't matter a bit if they just tip God when it comes to giving to their local church, even if they are giving very generously to "other" Christian causes.

How will our missionaries feel about a President who says, "We love and care for you, our dear missionaries," when he leads his megachurch to invest in other mission causes, while the CP giving is miniscule? What message is he sending?

I do not know Ronnie Floyd personally. I have never met him. This is not an attack on Ronnie Floyd. He pastors an autonomous Baptist church that has every right to give as much money to whatever missions causes they feel led to support. I have no reason to believe that he is not a wonderful husband, father, and pastor. In fact, I suspect he is a very godly man who I would love to get to know. It seems he has been a very effective pastor of a very dynamic church.

I just think that the next President of the SBC should be a man who leads a church that is more generous in financially supporting the very organization he is desiring to represent.

Gatlin Sets New World Record in the 100

Dohu, Qatar - American Justin Gatlin broke the world record in the 100 today, posting a 9.76 time. He shaved 1/100th of a second off the record that was set by Jamaica's Asafa Powell last summer in Athens, Greece.

Book Review of THE TEAMMATES by David Halberstam

I've just posted a review of David Halberstam's book The Teammates: Portrait of a Friendship.

Smith Retires

Jacksonville Jaguar great Jimmy Smith (wr) will announce his retirement today.

According to NFL.com, Smith "...ranks seventh in NFL history with 862 receptions and 11th in receiving yards. He has more receptions than every receiver in the Hall of Fame, and only Marvin Harrison has more catches and yards receiving than Smith since 1996."

And part of his story is so appropriate for this Mother's Day weekend: " The third receiver selected in the 1992 draft behind Desmond Howard and Carl Pickens, Smith broke his leg and missed most of his rookie season. In 1993, he needed an emergency appendectomy and suffered through infection and stomach problems. He missed the entire year. He didn't play in 1994, either, after getting cut by Dallas and Philadelphia.

In 1995, he caught on with the expansion Jaguars after his mother sent coach Tom Coughlin a binder of press clippings to help him earn a tryout."

Really Weird Flashback...

Gunter Glieben Glauchen Globen...

Which I always thought was:

Glootin Gleetin Gloutin Globen.

Mr. Foreword: J. I. Packer

Has anyone written more forewords in the evangelical world than J.I. Packer?

Marc over at Purgatorio has a a great post that made me laugh. He has that effect on me quite often. For good evangelical humor, it's a great site.

1 Corinthians Commentaries - Your Recommendations?

I am going to be preaching through 1st Corinthians soon and I am collecting useful commentaries. What would you recommend?

I already have MacArthur, Bruce, Morgan, Morris, Barclay, Ellsworth, Mare, Kistemaker, and Hodge.

I am planning on getting Blomberg, Fee, and Barrett.

What do you recommend? Which commentaries have you found most helpful for this epistle?

Bible-Believing Churches?

I'm sadly convinced that most evangelical churches today are Bible-believing in theory but not in practice and this can be observed by the use (or lack of use) of the Bible in the worship services, and even in the sermons.

Here are some interesting exercises:

- Start paying attention to how much or how little Scripture is read publicly at a church or at your church. Is there a special time set aside for reading Scripture? If so, how much Scripture is read?

- How often does the worship pastor/music director/song leader (whatever your church calls him/her) tie the song to the Bible in his comments?

- Start noticing how often people are actually looking down at their Bibles to see the text. A faithful expositor of God's Word keeps pointing his hearers to the text.

- Take a watch or stopwatch to church with you and see how long the pastor takes at the start of his message before he reads from the Bible or quotes the Bible. If you are willing to put forth the effort, record how long he spends between each reading or quoting of a Bible text. Do this also with radio preachers by looking at the clock on your dashboard.

- Is the overall message/tone/feel of the service to bring you to Christ through his Word or something else?

Can you think of some other ways to diagnose how well a church is at keeping the Word front and center?

FREE BOOK... Title My Next Sermon Series

I'm about to start a series through the book of 1 Corinthians. I love Pastor Mark Driscoll's title for his series throught the same book: "Christians Gone Wild". If you could title a series of sermons through this book, what would it be?

Winner gets bragging rights and... a surprise.

Hint: the surprise is a book.

Yes, I'll mail the winner a book.

Should We Send Out Tongues Speakers?

The pressing question going into this year's SBC is the recent actions of the trustees of the IMB, and their decision to exclude tongues speakers as missionaries of the SBC, which is very interesting in light of the fact that the IMB is led by a man who speaks in tongues.

What do you think? Should the SBC be willing to send out charismatics from our Baptist churches?

What I'm Currently Reading...

I'm finishing John Piper's latest historical book, titled Contending For Our All, which is a study of the lives and impact of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen.

Prior to this book, I read Arnold Dallimore's Spurgeon biography and George Marsden's Edwards biography.

Next on the list? Probably re-read Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle.

What have you been reading lately?

Los Angeles to Get an NFL Team?

The NFL is working to try to return to the nation's 2nd largest TV market. Los Angeles metro area has been without an NFL team for over a decade, with the Rams moving to LA and the Raiders returning to Oakland.

Frankly, I've not missed LA in the NFL. Have you?

No Comment!

I had a good run for a while on this blog, with at least 1-2 comments on every post. That all changed when I went a couple of weeks with very few posts. Now I've had nothing but big ZEROs staring me down at the end of every post. Where has my following gone? Where are the devoted SR fans?

Lesson: Don't slow down the blogging. Blog-readers lose interest fast. They are a fickle group. I know. I is one.

Summer Movies

What upcoming summer movies are you planning on seeing? As the father of 3 preschoolers, the question for me is what summer movie will I rent this coming autumn?

The hot releases are supposed to be the DaVinci Code, Superman Returns, Mission Impossible III, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I have no interest in the DaVinci Code. I'm intrigued by the new Superman. But I look forward most to the Pirates of the Caribbean sequal.

Interesting that of the five most highly anticipated upcoming flicks, four are essentially follow-ups on previous successful offerings.

Jaguars Draft Grade - A

I was pleased with the Jaguars choices in the draft.

This is one of those drafts that we will all look forward to see how it plays out, especially for the Texans, Saints, and Titans.

Who is your team and how do you think they did?