Artist28174

Steve, you're absolutely right. If you're not doing "expository" preaching the way the new SBC masters define it, you're not being faithful. And, sadly, the untucked shirt is a far bigger hindrance to most of them than your theology or methods.

posted Thursday, January 14, 2010 2:04 PM | Report Abuse

uberVU - social comments

Trackback from uberVU - social comments

Social comments and analytics for this post

posted Thursday, January 14, 2010 5:12 PM | Report Abuse

topsy.com

Pingback from topsy.com

Twitter Trackbacks for

Biblical Recorder - Will GCR exclude based on methodology?
[biblicalrecorder.org]
on Topsy.com

posted Thursday, January 14, 2010 7:35 PM | Report Abuse

RJ Sauvé

Steve, your message has a familiar ring. At times through out church history when the church was ready to take great leaps forward. Those leaders who God used to spur chuhrch growth were often the least conventional in their methods. Jereamiah, John the Baptist, who also didn't tuck in his shirt by the way, and ultimately Jesus Christ Himself. Then the Twelve Apostles turned the religoius world "upside down". Then came the reformers who upset the religious establishments they tried to enlighten.
This issue is not a new one. When ever Orthadoxy impeeds the building up of the Kingdom some will respond as they are called and directed by the spirit to move and some will fail to respond insisting instead to stand on old methodologies, inspite of evidence of their ineffectiveness to draw new believers into the Kingdom.

posted Friday, January 15, 2010 2:52 AM | Report Abuse

Rob Hefner

You just keep on preaching the word, reaching folks for the Lord and quit worrying about whether or not you are going to be excluded from the SBC. Your focus must be upon your church family and the multitude in your target area, not what direction the political types are moving. Sounds like you are doing a lot of things right. By their fruit you shall know them. You have an audience of ONE to answer to. The SBC has changed a lot over the years, but if you just stick to what God desires for your ministry, those earthly type concerns will continually become less and less significant. Not many missionaries wear suits in my neck of the woods (northeastern Brazil), and we've been coloring outside of the conventional boxes for 24 years, contextualizing the evangelism and discipleship to reach each target group. Finally, you'd be amazed at how expository many life and work centered series become as you enjoin God's Word with your guidance in the bulding of that message. You may preach Matthew all the way through as well, random verse contexts at a time over many years, according to the needs of your folks at that time in their lives. Keep on keeping on, dude...Rob Hefner

posted Friday, January 15, 2010 10:04 PM | Report Abuse

JD Cope

Steve, I don't have a ton to say except I believe you are being represented at that table. My father is on the GCR. We also just started our church a few years ago. He preaches every Sunday in jeans and with his shirt untucked. He also preaches both verse-by verse, and creative message series. I personally believe that the GCR is much more focused on discipleship in our churches than on our preaching, especially the style of it...ps-keep growing that church, we need more church plants in the SBC that are growing and vibrant.

posted Friday, January 29, 2010 12:07 PM | Report Abuse

Cyrus B. Fletcher

Steve, You fears about methodology miss the point. Read the ten points very carefully and you will see that the SBC voices and powers that be are still shaping everything according to a certain theology. For instance, when was the last time you picked up an inerrant original autograph of a Bible or a Scripture portion for that matter and preached from it in order to evangelize your community and the world. Oh, you have not done that lately? Of course you have not because WE DO NOT HAVE ANY! Why go around insisting on a doctrine that impossible to follow if we are going to evangelize the world? And why exclude over half of our members from preaching the word just because they are females? The New Testament refers to women who were missionaries, prophets, deacons, etc. It is in the Book and that ought to settle it. Cy Fletcher, BAytown, TX

posted Saturday, January 30, 2010 12:06 AM | Report Abuse

Norman

Note a response by J.D. Greear to Steve's post here: betweenthetimes.com/.../ Greear is on the GCR Task Force.

posted Saturday, January 30, 2010 11:25 AM | Report Abuse

Gene Scarborough

I'm not surprised in the least. We now have a "copy cat" approach to religion using the mega-church as the supreme model!

Frankly, when we believed in Autonomy none of this made any difference as long as we were willing to participate in the great SBC mission enterprise---which no longer exists, sadly.

Right now the "powers that be" must be stroked, AND anyone not doing this is marginalized as you reflect!

Keep on keeping on as long as people are helped and souls are won to Christ---AND not to support the 3-figure income of the "king pastor."

posted Tuesday, February 02, 2010 7:16 PM | Report Abuse

Pastor Merritt Taylor

Steve, I read your "opinion" article in the BR, and at first read, I was infuriated. I gave it a couple of days of digestion, and then read it again, plus I read many of the other comments, especially from JD Greear, who was at one time my daughter and son-in-law's pastor. I value his comment since he is on the GCR Task Force. My issue with your comments are not about what you wear or even what you consider as "right-preaching." I am a fulltime working pastor in your area, and you will rarely find me in anything but bluejeans or well-worn dress pants (always with my shirt tucked-in, its a farmimg and industrial mechanic thing). I ride a motorcycle everywhere I possibly can when the weather allows, and sometimes you will even find me in leather with the CRR logo on the back. The only time I wear a suit and tie is Sunday mornings, a funeral, and weddings (if I can opt-out, I don't wear it for weddings). Paul did say clearly that "he became all things to all people in order that he might win some to Jesus," and that is why I wear the suit and tie on Sunday mornings...it fits my conregation at this time (though I usually am the only one in a suit and tie).
But...but what Paul said that I know is more important was to "Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season... for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have icthing ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers...." and as preacher/teacher/pastors, we must be careful to always preach the Word. I use a NKJV Bible because of the people in my congregation who still use the KJV, and it is easier for them to follow along than if I used the NASB, NIV, ESV, or the NLT (I have received some criticism from both sides of this issue for that). I also preach in series most of the time, sometimes verse by verse, sometimes topical, and sometimes "issue" related, but it is always Biblical exposition because if it's not based on what God's Word says, what His Word intends, then it is not preaching. As long as this is what your "right-preaching" is, keep on doing it, but don't criticize others who don't follow your "methodology" as being exclusionary. As JD Greear stated in reference to Dr. Akin's comments, preach the whole counsel of God's Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If all one ever does is "topical preaching," then there is a chance to miss some of the "whole" counsel of God's Word. The message of the Gospel and the power of God's Word will not return void, just be sure it is always God's Word.

posted Thursday, February 04, 2010 11:41 AM | Report Abuse

Dr. James Willingham

Steve, you are worrying about something that ain't gonna be, regardless of how Dr. Akin feels about the matter of expository preaching, Baptist preachers being a cantankerous and contentious lot are going to preach as they believe God leads them. There is a place for the topical preacher, the textual preacher, the expository preacher, you name it preacher, they all have a place. From my researches in Baptist History (six years intensively) and then across all the years of my being a minister (licensed in '58, ordained in '62, I have read, seen, heard about every sort of preacher there is, dressed in about evey sort of outfit imaginable. As to the topical preacher you should have heard R.G. Lee or George W. Truett. Topical preaching was their forte, especially with Truett, and I am sure Dr. Akin as well as you and me would wish we could be as good as either Truett or Lee.

We are all getting nervous as the state of our country seems to grow worse and things seem to be threatening our way of life. Things do seem ominous right now and every remark rubs the wrong way, but could it be the irritating, hot stillness before the storm of visitation, A Third Great Awakening? My prayer is that we would have an awakening which would win the whole world in one generation and then for a thousand more in order to have a fulfilment of the promises to Abraham about a seed as numeous as the stars of Heaven and the sand by the seashore along with the number of the redeemed in Heaven being a number no man can number. The irritations are merely opportunities to work on our differences acording to I Cors.13. Remember others have been as irritated as you, if not more so, due to some remark that stuck in our craws. I remember being very upset with my ordaining pastor due to his refusing one time to discuss a certain subject with me, especially his reason for not doing it. Later, I had to admit he was right, especially about that reason (I didn't know enough then). My pastor was a Ph.D. from Bob Jones, had been R.G. Lee's Associate at Bellevue. He did not go along with the conservative resurgence due to the power issues. Amazing thought. People do think - now and then, and that is our hope. Think it through.

The issue about the Bible was a course correction under full power, a tricky, slow, tedious, cumbersome operation that is painful for everybody concerned due to the errors made. Even if the action taken was right, the attending evils often prove harmful. Minimize the damage and mximize the good - as much as possible. No easy thing. Laboring under a misperception of what is the situation and the attendant results is often an eye-opening experience. We have yet to try methods of reconciliation (and we are charged to do so by that inspired Book). We have yet to try and glimpse the implications of our own theology and to the faulty nature of our perceptions of biblical truth. The Johari windows might help in such a situation. Think how many lives might have been saved, if Baptists long ago had taken the Bull by the Horns and tried to look at the short comings of their interpretations of the Bible which justified and supported slavery and led to 650,000+ deaths (North & South battlefield casualties).

The only way any one really wins is if they come to the knowledge of the truth with the help of the Spirit of God and persuasion based upon facts, proof, evidence. Body slams are not the way to win, but it takes time for anyone to realize what is the best way to win. Sometimes confrontation works with some people. Most of the time an oblique approach is the optimum way. The present situation is the usual fermentation that go on almost all the time among the freest group on earth, God's family and people with some others mixed in (trouble is you can't always tell which is which).

posted Friday, February 05, 2010 3:13 PM | Report Abuse