Here is what is coming up this week... Lots of "SBC" in today's list. Thanks for praying for me and for the folks listed below.

Becoming a Missional Church

This Thursday, I'll be at Westmeade Baptist Church in Decatur, GA for a conference on Becoming a Missional Church. You can download the brochure here.

Thanks to the Alabama Baptist Convention for making it possible.

Speaking at the SBC (building)

On Friday, I am actually preaching to the Southern Baptist Convention. Well, sorta.

The Southern Baptist Convention only exists two days a year (most recently for two days in Louisville, KY). Between those annual meetings, the business of the convention is conducted by the Executive Committee. Technically, it acts "for the Convention ad interim in all matters not otherwise provided for."

I am guessing that I am only one of seven people to have read the history and role of the EC, but I find it helpful to understand how my denomination works. It is worth a read if you want to know how the denomination works-- lots of helpful resources in an easy to navigate site.

Also, while you are looking around at the site, let me encourage you to follow a link over to Morris Chapman's address to the SBC in 2004 called "The Fundamentals of Cooperating Conservatives." I found it a helpful call for cooperation in a (still unresolved) time of denominational conflict. I found it a great encouragement in 2004 and I am hoping people might listen today.

Here is a small part:

There's a road wrongly taken by many on our left, the road of liberalism. But there is also a road wrongly taken by many others on our right side. It may not be as treacherous as the road of liberalism, but it is just as disabling to the Convention.

What is this road? It is the road of separatism - an ecclesiastical methodology that devalues cooperation in favor of hyper independence. In the past, we have avoided this road as fervently as the road on the left. If Southern Baptists steer too sharply toward the right, we will end up on the road of separatism.

Southern Baptists have never embraced the methodologies of separatism. We can be both conservative and cooperative. It is our distinctive heritage. It is the genius of our success. It is our spiritual destiny.

Good words then. Good words now.

May the SBC have ears to hear that we can cooperate with different kinds of people who affirm they can work within our confessional framework: contemporary, rural, emerging, Calvinist, traditional Baptist, ethnic, etc.

Anyway, I will preach at the chapel of the Executive Committee that day. I look forward to it. These men and women work hard to serve our convention so it can be a tool to help our churches cooperate for the Great Commission. I have still not decided my text or topic, so please pray for me. Considering the days we are in, I will try to be on my very best behavior!

Both of these are driving distance... no airplanes this week! That makes it a good week.

And a Final Prayer Request

One final thought since I gave an SBC polity lesson: if you are SBC (and, for that matter, even if you are not), please click this link to learn about and to pray for the Great Commission Resurgence and the GCR Task Force. These are important days.

The B21 panel, presented by Baptist 21 and hosted by Sojourn Community Church went down during the Southern Baptist Convention last month. I am probably the last person to post it on his blog (considering the thousands of video views), but I need to in case you are the only person who has not yet watched it.

The panel examined reasons for young pastors to involve themselves with the Southern Baptist Convention, the place for seminaries in training up the next generation, dual involvement with the SBC and Acts 29, and more provocative topics. You can watch it in two parts below.

Of course, I was live-twittering the event, as you will see on the video. The picture I took is here.

Since my denominational annual meeting just ended, I thought I would stay up late and share what has happened the last few days. Or, perhaps more accurately, share my experiences along the way.

Let me say it was a good convention and I left encouraged. Here is a day-by-day report.

Last night, I presented data to the state convention newspaper editors of my denomination. (Over 1 million people subscribe to these papers across my denomination.) These editors are great people working hard to communicate truth in an often tumultuous denominational environment.

Thanks to some good work of our team, we put together this data and released it to them last night. LifeWay released the data this morning from our LifeWay news people. You can find the charts here.

Here is the story:

Well, this "Saturday is for Seminars" includes my SBC predictions. It's all going down June 23-24 and is sure to be a crazy party!

I'm hoping. ;-)

My friends over at the SBC Executive Committee are releasing a new resource and you can have a copy! The resources are based on a message series I did at my church earlier this year. I hope they can help you and your church people be better financial stewards with God's money.

If you are a church that loves the Word and wants to help people deal with their finances, they will send you a free copy (a gift from us to the Body of Christ). Go to the It's a New Day website and click on "contact us" to request one. (Please order only one per church, preferably from the pastor or someone who helps the church with stewardship issues.)

The SBC declined again this year in both membership and baptisms. You can read the news story here. There is some encouraging news about missions giving, but the membership and baptism declines are disturbing.

All one has to do is to look at the age of the messengers, the 50 year trend, and the current state of the convention to see things are not going well. The Conservative Resurgence restored and focused us on essential beliefs but did not deliver a Great Commission passion.

The churches of the Southern Baptist Convention have been home to me for all of my adult life. Southern Baptists are my spiritual family. I love our family. But our family is not feeling well today.

Today, LifeWay released the 2008 statistics from the Annual Church Profile. The ACP is our way of measuring how SBC churches are doing in a collective sense. We are a people who like to measure-- everything from baptisms to the collective value of congregational property. For good or bad, we have always been a people of numbers.

But today we are facing a set of numbers to which we are not accustomed. Last year, I said we "peaked" in our membership. This year, I believe that our tipping point continues to tip. Unless things change, we are about to enter a time when we grow accustomed to decline and think back to the good ol' days of growth.

On April 28, 2008, I posted a graph of our membership numbers beginning in 1950 on my blog and said, "our year-to-year growth has been in a constant trended decline, not for one year, but for decades--this is not a one year blip, this is a 50 year trend."

In that reference, I was speaking of the 2007 numbers with a "statistical warning" for us to heed. Today, I bid you an uneasy welcome to continued and ongoing trend of membership decline. Any hope for a "blip" has been crushed by reality. With fewer baptisms and a declining membership, the trends point to several years of decline in our future, save for God's intervention on our behalf.

We are a denomination in decline, at least in our membership and definitely in our evangelism and baptisms. The most rational decision now is to acknowledge its reality so we might deal with its consequences and discover solutions for our churches.

But, as we are Baptists, my fear is the proverbial witch hunt that will try to find who or what is to blame. Will straw men be erected; will new battle lines will be drawn?

I hope not. There are bigger issues and we need to face some facts: we face a culture turning its back toward us, a declining and aging membership, and young leaders who are choosing other partnerships.

Last year, some leaders tried to ignore the facts and buried their heads a bit deeper in the sand. Some skeptics of the ACP data from last year said it was simply a figment of someone's imagination. Well... that figment is looking more and more like our future.

Do these facts reflect upon our culture, churches, pastors, members, or the denomination? My check mark will have to be on "all of the above." And it reflects on me and my failures as well.

Is the culture getting worse? Sure it is. But we should be the ones giving a reason for our hope rather than hoping for a reason.

Do we have chronically dysfunctional churches in our denomination? Sure, but everyone has the one crazy uncle that comes to the family reunion.

Are pastors shirking their responsibilities? Some, but I generally believe in the trustworthiness of those in vocational ministry. They get beat up by plenty of others and I will not join the pile on.

Is it a lazy membership that is the root of the decline? The multitude who act more like spectators at a show than ambassadors of the kingdom certainly share the blame. But I genuinely love those in my own congregation and hope for the best in all believers.

So what do we do? There will be lots of answers provided in the coming days. And, it will be worth your and my time to listen and learn from others.

And, of course (and on cue), some will call for Southern Baptists to turn leftward theologically as the solution to our decline. And, I will wonder out loud-- does anyone read statistics? As I have written before, a left turn does not stem decline, it accelerates it.

So what do we do?

We cannot simply mandate how churches, pastors, and believers live. Our theological convictions of the priesthood of all believers and local autonomy of the church lead us to allow each church to heed God's will on their own. But on a denominational level, I believe we need to heed the words sounding from numerous places in the convention for a Great Commission Resurgence.

Our situation would be much worse if we did not have the Conservative Resurgence, but a Conservative Resurgence without a Great Commission Resurgence is an exercise in belief without action.

I believe this must be our wake-up call. Again. If not, there will be plenty more days like this in the coming years.

Last year, I quoted from Christ's message to the church at Sardis in Revelation 3:

I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you."

We have been lulled into evangelistic complacency and missional inaction. We fought and won a battle over the Bible but are now struggling live it out through cooperation, collaborative missions, and personal evangelism. As Chuck Kelley has explained, Southern Baptists have become the new Methodists (no offense to my Methodist readers, please).

I am grieved, but I also see opportunity if we can ignore the responses that are soon to follow explaining how it is all going fine and we just don't need to worry. Those in charge know what to do to fix it. Instead, I think we need to see this as the bad news it is but also an opportunity to change.

It is an opportunity for discovering a regenerate church membership living on mission.
It is an open door to pray for God's reviving of the church.
It is the motivation for a Great Commission Resurgence for all Christians, in the hearts of pastors, through a church planting renaissance, and in our denominational structure.

But change does not come easy for us. For that matter, it does not come easy for me. To illustrate and conclude, let me tell you something funny about myself-- I have oddly-shaped feet. They are too wide in the middle to wear normal shoes. So, years ago I found a brand of shoe that fits and it is all I wear. Because they are hard to find and replace, I will literally wear out the soles of my shoes before buying new ones. My clue is normally a cold puddle of water accidentally stepped in. But the sting of the freezing water rushing over my toes usually motivates me to buy new shoes. Finding new shoes is a pain. It costs me time and resources. And I don't like those pains in my life. I don't like the pain of change.

Here is the principle: People do not change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change. And, neither do denominations...

So let me ask you a simple question: Are we hurting enough to make the changes we need?

If you are interested, here is the post I wrote a year ago. Neither my opinion (or the situation) has changed much.

Let me encourage you to answer a question in the comments below: What is the needed change and do you have hope that change is coming?

My friend Mark Driscoll has been in the news a bunch as of late. We talked yesterday and he told me that he would be on CNN this week. He has been in the NYTimes and on ABC's Nightline as well. That is a lot of coverage in the secular press and there has also been much in the Christian media.

Some bloggers have already responded to The Tennessan article on SBC decline that I mentioned yesterday, including:

Michael Spencer (Internet Monk)

SBC Impact

Pat Hood (cited in the article)

I will add more if I see them. Feel free to link yours or suggest others below.

The Tennessean has another article about the SBC today, their second major focus this month. It has some interesting interviews and analysis.

The reporter, Bob Smietana, gathered quite an array of quotes and contacts so it is some good reading.

I found the section on "stifling innovation" to be fascinating:

The conservative resurgence also had an unintended consequence, said Roger Finke, a sociologist of religion at Penn State University. Finke said growing religious groups often share two characteristics. They have a set core of beliefs as a denomination but allow innovative practices in their local congregations.

Finke believes that the conservative resurgence stifled innovation.

"They preserved a more conservative theology," he said, "but they ended up placing controls on local congregations."

Here is what I wrote and spoke about the SBC a couple of years ago:

The first step in organizational decline is that you lose your creative people, who decide to go on to more entrepreneurial settings. We have already lost most of this number. In fact, we have actively pushed many of them out by teaching and preaching against them in many SBC contexts and venues. The next step in decline is that the most competent among us begin to leave...

We've already told a whole generation of 'Purpose-Driven' pastors that they're not really needed or wanted in today's SBC [that would be my generation]. Are we intent on communicating this same message to the next generation?...

When Jimmy Draper was planning the first national 'young leaders' meeting, he asked me for suggested speakers. I told him what we needed most was a nationally-known pastor who had credibility with young pastors and who was also still clearly connected with the denomination. His voice went up with excitement: "Exactly! Who?" With sadness I replied, 'That's my point.'

There were some insightful stats as well:

In 1978, just before the start of the resurgence, there was one baptism for every 36 members of the convention. By 2007, that ratio was one baptism to every 47 members.

"We are baptizing fewer of our own children, and fewer unchurched people," LifeWay's Rainer said.

More than 9,000 congregations, or almost a quarter of all Southern Baptist churches, reported no baptisms in 2007. And, in that year, only 8.3 percent of the churches were responsible for 49.8 percent of the convention's baptisms.

And this is particularly pointed:

In 1971, there were 1,434,892 children ages 6 to 11 in Southern Baptist Sunday schools. By 2007, the last year for which statistics are available, that number had dropped by about 455,000 to 979,429. At the same time, the U.S. population grew by 46 percent.

There are mentions of my friends Pat Hood, pastor of LifePoint Church and Rick White of The People's Church, two local contemporary SBC churches.

Feel free to weigh in with your opinion...

Here is my editorial in today's Tennessean, the Nashville paper. They asked me to write on the topic, "How to Stem the Decline of the SBC."

There are three editorials and some reader's letters: one from the editors from the paper, one from me, and one from Robert Parham of the Baptist Center for Ethics and Ethics Daily. Finally, there are reader's opinions.

The first editorial from The Tennessean editors mainly focused on the North American Mission Board and the Global Plan for Sharing, drawing from an earlier piece they wrote on the subject.

The second was from Robert Parham. Robert is a good (and prolific) writer and would be one of the more vocal critics of the conservative shift of the SBC. He stays true to form here and I am sure he will provoke many responses. Obviously, we would disagree on some important issues. Most obvious in this context: I would be a supporter of the conservative shift while he (as you can tell from the article) was not. (We call it the "conservative resurgence" and Robert would refer to it as a "fundamentalist takeover.")

Mine was third and I drew on an earlier blog post here and this post explains the trend. Here is mine in its entirety:

Stemming SBC Membership Decline

LifeWay Research recently reported that the SBC had declined in membership. The SBC growth rate has been slowing for decades but last year was the first year of decline in a long while--but trends say that more will follow.

The SBC I care about is in decline. Yes, it's part demographics (i.e. we're historically rural and such regions are in numeric decline) and ultimately changes have to be made at a local church level. But, many believe there are issues the convention can acknowledge and address to help turn around the decline. Denying the facts won't help, nor will a theological left turn, but there are things that need to change to reverse the decline.

When the news came out, some in the SBC stuck their heads a bit deeper in sand saying, "We're doing just fine, thank you!" They believe trying harder without change is best. Besides, they say, the SBC is not shrinking as fast as liberal denominations--which seems to me like bragging that our sunset is brighter than theirs.

On the other hand, some "finger waggers" will propose that the answer is to move leftward theologically. Yet, regardless of one's theological views (and that is important), no evidence exists to support that a leftward shift will grow a denomination--generally, the more liberal a denomination is, the faster it is declining.

Yet, a growing number of us believe that change is needed in the SBC. Let me suggest a few of those needed changes.

First and most importantly, the SBC must refocus on the gospel. The convention has become big, bureaucratic, and distracted by so many things--from politics to boycotts to programs. In the process, we have, at times, lost the focus on what was once the main thing: being, doing, and telling the good news locally and globally. We must return to our "first love" (Rev. 2:4), Jesus, and then show and share his message. We need gospel change.

Second, the SBC must address the continued loss of leaders. Ongoing denominational conflict has hastened the depopulation of young leaders. Furthermore, ethnic leadership remains mostly absent after decades of ethnic change in America.

Yet, such change will require an openness to other approaches to church and ministry from different cultures and generations. Openness will be difficult since preaching against other ways of doing church still gets the "big amen" at the SBC meeting-- even though the "Amen Corner" is getting older and smaller every year. If we share a common theology, we need to hold out a chair and ask new generations and ethnicities to sit at the table of leadership. We need leadership change.

Finally, infighting must not define the SBC. It is public knowledge that Baptists do not always settle their differences amicably at the convention or local church level. If "Baptist" and "bad-tempered" are synonyms to the average American, the trend toward decline will only accelerate. We need a heart change.

Can the tide be stemmed? Yes. Will it? Realistically, the "odds" are against it. But, I am one who believes that if we obey God's leading, He can continue to use even an imperfect people like Southern Baptists.

Interestingly, The Tennessean editors changed my title from "How to Stem the SBC Decline" to "SBC needs right kind of change." I prefer the original title much more than their new one and hope that change does not confuse readers with the multiple meanings assigned to the word "right."

Being the guy who writes the conservative evangelical position in the secular paper is always interesting (particularly in 500 words!). But, I hope I held up a commitment to biblical theology while calling for change in the denomination. You decide.

I've been writing a bit about the value of cooperation lately, including an entry on about denominations. I believe in cooperation and want to encourage it on many levels. As I have said before, I think we can accomplish more together than we can apart.

The Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention is a great case in point. The CP is a means of Southern Baptist churches pooling their monetary resources to continue the mission of the church including different kinds of international and North American church planting, theological education, mercy ministries and more. Whereas one church can only do so much in any one of these areas, together SBC churches accomplish great things in all of them.

Lifeway Research conducted a survey of pastors to examine Southern Baptist "churches' thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about the Cooperative Program."

Here are some of the interesting finds:

The description chosen by the most pastors (44 percent) was "mostly positive" stating, "We believe the CP perhaps could be improved in some ways, but is doing a very good job at present of supporting worldwide missions."

The second largest group of pastors (36 percent) describes the Cooperative Program as "overwhelmingly positive," stating, "we believe the CP is not only satisfactory, but is essential to the continued existence of the SBC, and the fulfillment of its mission of worldwide evangelism."

Thirteen percent of pastors have a "mixed" view agreeing that the CP "could be improved in many ways." The remaining responses were spread across "mostly negative" (2 percent) and "overwhelmingly negative" (1 percent). Three percent of pastors describe their church as "unaware" of the Cooperative Program.

When most Southern Baptists think about the CP they think: missions and church planting. Though the CP funds many different ministries, these are widely considered to be the most critical work of the Convention.

Pastors feel strongly that the most important objectives of the CP are to send and support missionaries (83 percent) and to provide resources to plant churches (74 percent) in North America and around the world.

As I explained in the story, "Since many churches equate 'missions' with the Cooperative Program, we should not be surprised that 'missionaries' are at the top of the agenda for pastors."

While most SBC pastors have a high view of the CP, most also believe there is room for improvement. 65 percent of the pastors surveyed "strongly agree it is important for SBC entities supported by the Cooperative Program to use the contributions efficiently, only half that number (34 percent) strongly agree efficiency is present today."

Again I explained, "Although the vast majority have a positive view of the Cooperative Program and a majority believe the funds are used efficiently, it is important to note that there is noticeable drop between those who 'strongly agree' that it is important the Cooperative Program "be" efficient and those who "strongly agree" it actually "is" efficient."

The CP is a strong example of cooperation that most of our pastors value. There is also a number that would like to see improvement in the efficiency of the CP and the precise way monies are allocated, "more than two-thirds of pastors strongly agree that the CP currently 'supports SBC entities, ministries, and missions that my church values.'"

I have already received many comments about the research. That is good, but I would like to ask you to share them here, publicly. I will encourage some denominational leaders to read your thoughts. So, let me here from you.

What do you think about the research, the Cooperative Program, and how we can make cooperation more effective?

Networks have grown in prominence over the last decade. Actually, few national networks are more than a decade old. However, it is not a secret that they are growing in participation and in influence.

This has not been free of controversy. Many in denominations are concerned and some are critical at the rise of networks. They have some valid concerns: networks often have less racial and economic diversity, they tend to be often less involved in global missions, and they are often driven by one methodology.

I am regularly asked if denominations still matter. Actually, I am asked often why I work for one. And, I answer consistently for the same reason - I think we can do more together than we can alone.

However, denominations are in an important time of rethinking right now. I believe that many denominations, including mine, will look significantly different twenty years from now.

In Breaking the Missional Code, we wrote about denominations:

This is the longest time I have gone without posting to the blog.

I have been super busy, speaking this weekend at The Summit Church and C3 Church, both in Raleigh Durham. I was there with my daughter Jaclyn so I did not have time to post. I will make up for it this week.

The last time I wrote, I mentioned that my denomination has a statement of faith that includes an article on cooperation:

We just released some new research on the beliefs of Southern Baptist pastors. Here are some excerpts from the story you can find here:

Today, something personal.

This post is the product of a conversation I recently had with Bill Kinnon, uber blogger and provocateur, about the importance of the local church, and the questions I often get while preaching and teaching across the country. Questions like, "Ed, why are you currently serving at an established church?" (being a denominational leader and, formerly, a church planter).

The simple answer is I do not believe I can talk about the church without being a part of a church.

But let me unpack this a bit.

In the past I have worked for Southern Seminary and the North American Mission Board, and I currently serve Lifeway, the International Mission Board, Southeastern Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Whatever you call them, they are not the church, but serve along side it. However, my experience has been that in many cases they are staffed by people who were formerly pastors. And, in some cases, it seems that moving into a role like this leads many to a diminished connection to a local church. Some of that is a function of the role change, but in most of the places I have served, we have sat down together and lamented the disconnect we felt with the local church. Some worked hard to overcome it. Some did not.

This is not a criticism of others. The point is that I found the temptation in my own life. You see, I teach pastors and church leaders. I tell them they should be biblical, missional, and spiritual (see chapter one of Comeback Churches). I have a high standard of church, and, to be blunt, it seems that no church meets that standard (except maybe the churches I plant, which points to a pride issue).

So, here is what I am trying to avoid in my own life: too many church consultants, speakers, leaders, professors, and denominational leaders (like me) see themselves as voices to the church and not a part of the church.

I have often heard people say (and have said myself) the church is, in many ways, broken and in need of some change. However, it is exceedingly dangerous to become a critic of the church while you are not a part of one. I love the church, and therefore feel compelled to point out our challenges with the hope of seeing transformation. I guess this makes me a critic of the church, but it should also makes me a critic of myself.

I currently serve as interim pastor. For those of you not in our autonomous church tradition, I am basically the "fill in" preacher until they find a new pastor. The role allows me to be a part of the church here and help them during the transition. It is not a perfect situation and I know I need deeper connections, but it is how I am connected at this time.

This brings me back to the question I am sometimes asked, "why are you currently serving at an established church?"

For me, doing an "interim" helps me be a little more faithful in several ways.

First, it keeps me home on weekends and in community. It is a temptation to be on the road every weekend. A lot of great churches will invite you to speak - but as interim I can't do that. This keeps me in my church and home with my family.

Second, it keeps me preparing messages. In the past, I have "re-preached" many of my sermons. Having done 7 or 8 interims, you can basically re-preach the same messages in each church. But, my former co-pastor (Philip Nation) challenged me to bring a "fresh word" at church every week. So, that is what I try to do at church and that keeps me preparing. When I look in a pastor's eyes, and that pastor is tired from sermon prep work, I know what that means. (I finished my message at 12:30a.m. this morning.)

Third, it reminds me of what real ministry work is. It's all too possible for me to fly in and out for pastor's conferences and start to believe my own P.R. (Being a mere D-list celebrity doesn't dissuade one from believing his own press releases).

At church, I am not the normal pastor (being an interim), but I still have the privilege of opening the word of God and sharing it with God's people. It is not the same as being the congregations shepherd, but it keeps me in real world life and ministry. People still complain to me, there is still that opinionated guy who keeps coming up after the service to question my Bible teaching, and I get an occasional piece of hate mail. If I were a "real" pastor there would be more, but since the church has over 3,000 Sunday morning attendees, there are always some percent of people who are unhappy enough to tell me - and it reminds me that real world ministry does not look like a TV show - it is messy because it involves people. And, that is also what makes it real life ministry.

Lastly, by serving as interim in a local church, a simple and very important truth is reinforced in my life; God has chosen the church, not denominations and parachurch organizations to make known his manifold wisdom (Eph 3:10). This fights against some of the triumphalism in my denomination and elsewhere. They may come and go, but it is the church that will prevail against the gates of hades.

Let's be honest, there are more verses in the Bible that justify you having a concubine than us forming a denomination (much less a Lifeway). Yet, I stay in what is basically a church support (rather than a full-time local church) role. Why? Well, it is for the same reason we have a denomination. We can do more together than we do apart. For example, I value church partnerships like denominations as it means I can help resource 5,000 missionaries around the world through organizations like the IMB. I believe in partnerships (of which denominations are one expression) because I believe we can do more together than we can do individually-- and, although the Great Commission is given to the church, each local church can not (by itself) effectively evangelize the world.

The reason I do not become a full-time pastor is that for now I am called to help pastors and church leaders. However, I will always remain a pastor and will always be a part of a church.

Is it a lot of work sometimes? Yes. Do I regret doing it sometimes? Honestly, I do. It would be easier to be a "prophet" to the church and not be a part of the church. But that seems pretty hypocritical to me.

The bad thing about being an interim is that eventually you have to leave. What then?

Well, I am leaning against doing another interim. This one is great - the church is 3 miles from my home and we know many people in the community. It is a great church with a passion for the Bible and has a heart and desire to be missional. However, teaching every week has been a bit too much and I have not been able to connect in some other ways. After my interim, I hope to serve in a church role where I do occasional teaching (weekly has been wearing me out!) and serving in a church's ministry and leadership teams.

All that being said - I know that many who read this are frustrated by the church. Most of the denominational leaders I know are. I am. Yet, I love the church. It is that love that makes me want to provoke the church "to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

The church is filled with people who know Jesus, love one another, and are (or at least want to be) on-mission. It is the family of God. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the sent people of Jesus Christ. I am convinced that the good God wants to accomplish in the world, and in me, will happen in and through the church.

Politics
The Bible says we should be slow to speak. Good idea. Something I said on Twitter while watching the RNC was picked up by Brian Ayers - and he is encouraging me to run for office in 2012 with Sarah Palin. It's probably a good match in some ways, though I am afraid she would beat me in a hunting contest.

But we do share a sense of style. It looks like we shop at the same store for our glasses (Lenscrafters, I am guessing). But I'm not sure where Brian get's the idea that I am smaller than Palin. And why am I hiding behind her?

Missionaries
When some people think of international and cross cultural missionaries they conjure up unrealistic images super-saints. Here's a video that shows a more honest picture of those who have gone into West Africa; who they were before life on the mission field, and who they are now.

To learn more visit www.gowestafrica.org/cardboard

BTW: If you know an SBC-affiliated 20 something guy or gal, the West Africa mission has a fully-funded (insured and salaried) 2 year mission experience with their name on it! (They have a real need for guys especially because in some of the cultures in Africa guys can go places women are not allowed.)

I wanted to add a couple of more things to "Friday is for Friends" from yesterday (click here to review what you might have missed). But, this is the "Baptist" version, so you Lutherans, Pentecostals, and Wesleyans might not enjoy it as much!

Johnny Hunt's Article in SBCLife

First, Johnny Hunt brings it, and brings it straight, when he writes:

Jesus prayed that His followers would be unified so that the world may know You sent Me (John 17:23). That prayer is desperately needed for our Convention today...

I, for one, am ready for a change -- a positive change that calls us to build on our Conservative Resurgence and focus on building great churches, evangelizing the unsaved, reclaiming the wayward, taking the Gospel to the lost and the least, starting new churches, and sending several thousand new missionaries to the unengaged, unreached people groups of the world. And, if I can read the Convention messengers, they felt the same way in Indianapolis...

I want us to bring the next generation of young leaders into an active participation in our Convention. We have lost much of a generation of pastors, and if we lose the younger generation, we have no future.

We have tried to "tell" them to come back, but to no avail. However, we need a new plan. Simply put, it is not working to "welcome" them and not "affirm" them. We have to acknowledge that many people are doing church differently in many contexts right here -- we must acknowledge that you do not have to travel to Africa to find a different culture. North America is full of people who think differently, worship differently, and lead differently than my own generation. Paul would value this as diversity. We, as a Convention, are blessed with a wonderful group of godly, young pastors coming along behind us. And, if they share our confession and want to be in this partnership, it is high time we affirmed them and welcomed the diversity of scripturally sound ways that they do church in their context...

This is a big task, and trends are not good -- the Convention annual meeting is getting older and smaller every year...

Do you really believe that we can turn the tide? No! And neither do I. But God can!...

I believe we stand at a crossroads. We can continue to fuss over minor issues or, as Dr. Rogers gave us the charge, we can unite with a common mission. The expectation of the Conservative Resurgence was that we would agree on enough doctrinally that we could focus on the nations -- let's begin now, and let's do it together.

Read the whole article here.

Baptist21.com

And speaking of young leaders, some young pastors recently created a new site called "Baptist21.com." A few observations:

1. I know some of these guys and am very impressed with their desire to learn from the past and press to the future. From their web page:

Baptist 21 is grateful for a Southern Baptist heritage where the Gospel has been faithfully passed down and effective Great Commission ministry has been undertaken. Many believe there is a crisis ahead for Baptists, particularly Southern Baptists, in the 21st century. Our commitment is to work diligently in the present by honoring the Gospel faithfulness of the past, contending for the Gospel, engaging current cultures with the Gospel, and cooperating toward future Kingdom effectiveness among Southern Baptists in the 21st century and beyond.

2. The blog has thus far been pretty insightful, dealing with preaching the gospel, young leaders, and universalism.

3. I think it is the first blog (other than the my own) where I am in the header. However, two problems with that. First, it has my old picture with the big Baptist bouffant hairdo (rather than the new version here). Second, is Paige Patterson pointing at me or James Merritt?

Go check out the blog.

Emir Caner to Truett McConnell

Finally, Ergun Caner sent me an email that his brother, Emir, is going to be president of Truett-McConnell College in Georgia.

Congrats to Emir and to the school.

I found this SBC blog ranking, from Les Puryear's blog, informative... particularly showing that some of the most vocal are not ranked as highly as I expected.

Blogging is an interesting thing... and denominational blogging adds a different twist. Your blog can often inflate your sense of self-importance. If you attack a person, and others come defending, soon you are "someone"-- at least for a day.

Thankfully, Technorati.com gives a realistic view of the influence a blogger really has, not just how many people he or she got to come by and defend their target of the day. This influence is expressed in a blog's "ranking." From the technorati website,

A Technorati Ranking relates to the number of sources that point to a particular weblog relative to other weblogs. The more sources referencing a weblog, the higher the Technorati ranking.

So, blogs are ranked based on how many other blogs and websites are linking back to them and their individual posts. The more links reflect wider readership and greater circulation of written material.

On several occasions I have received calls from SBC denominational agency PR people (and a couple of agency heads over the years) saying, "This blogger is saying so and so... does anyone listen to him or her?" I always encourage them to consider the truth (or lack thereof) of what they are saying, but then to look at Technorati to see if anyone except his mother is reading the blog.

Here is my analysis of the list by section (I took the liberty of numbering Les' list). The catagories are my creation and may not reflect the self-identification of the blog:

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The Reformed

It is interesting to note how many of the top bloggers are self-identified as Reformed. They tend not to be overwhelmingly concerned with SBC politics.

My guess is that most of the top SBC bloggers are read more by non-SBC (in addition to SBC) audiences. The Reformed movement is growing (particularly at Southern, but at other places as well). However, the numbers alone do not explain the Reformed domination of the SBC blogosphere. There are just not that many Reformed SBC pastors-- but perhaps, as a growing movement, they connect over the Internet.

Tim Brister (I have already told him that I refuse to call a grown man "Timmy") is, I am quite sure, the only person on Twitter wearing a tie (see and follow his feed here-- I do). He is a great writer and good thinker and probably the most influential blogger in SBC life and just behind Justin Taylor and Tim Challies in the Reformed world.

Steve McCoy is a well known in SBC, emerging, missional, and Reformed circles. And, I like his blog, but it could be because he first loved me. When I am on the road and people mention bloggers, Steve's name is mentioned to me more frequently than any other blogger.

When blogging was young, I remember when some seminary professors complained about Steve's influence, saying he did not warrant such readership. (He used to have a now defunct blog, "Missional Baptist Blog," which was the target of their complaints.) And, yes, blogging (like a theological education, among other things), can put you in a position of prominence and leadership before your experience warrants it. However, Steve has been an entertaining and insightful writer and, if influence is measured by followers, then Steve has influence.

Tom Ascol, of Founders fame, has been struck by lightning and yet still lives. 'Nuf said. Even Chuck Norris has not been struck by lightning. Tom is the director of Founders Ministries, a movement to promote Reformed principles in the SBC.

Joe Thorn is bald, plants churches, and loves Jesus. Great guy-- and a former student. Joe has cut back on blogging some and I wish he would blog more.

And, Said at Southern is run by uber-blogger Tony Kummer, who just lists and talks about things, well, said at (you guessed it) Southern (the seminary).

2. Provocations and Pantings - Rank: 14,246

3. Reformissionary - Rank: 17,893

4. Founders Ministries - Rank: 22,269

5. Joe Thorn - Rank: 26,508

6. Said at Southern - Rank: 50,468

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Personal Blogs with Occasional SBC Comments

Not sure how to define Micah. He reminds me of Joe and Steve, but still thinks the SBC might be worth saving. He is a good writer and an effective pastor.

Also, I am not sure how to describe Kevin Bussey, but he is working on a book that should be interesting. (All bloggers are working on a book... grin.) I love his header picture and he is a good writer.

Les Puryear's "Joining God," and Alan Cross' "Downshore Drift" are something of a reformist voice, but tend to have a softer tone than some of the others. Les' focus is on the small church.

7. Micah Fries- Rank: 65,915

10. Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee - Rank: 104,170

14. Joining God in His Work - Rank: 187,157

16. Downshore Drift - Rank: 211,008

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SBC Debate / Group Blogs

I would think that two years ago, SBCOutpost who have reigned supreme. Today, it is down the list a bit and is about tied with its nemesis blog, SBCToday. One final site in this catagory is SBCImpact. Impact is something of a reformist voice, but it seems to have a less strident tone than the others, and also is ranked much lower.

8. SBC Outpost - Rank: 72,782

9. SBC Today - Rank: 84,122

15. SBC Impact - Rank: 207,280

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Southeastern

The Southeastern boys have a blog that is climbing the rankings (it takes a while to build up a rank and this is going up fast). It has some great content and I have added it to my "Noteworthy Items" many times. If you want to see the contours of the coming Great Commission Resurgence, this is the place to read.

One bad thing-- no comments. My advice, open the comments-- you do not have to respond to them. Yes, one well-known faculty member from a certain seminary always asks 15-point questions (a joke, people), but you don't have to answer all questions that are asked-- I don't.

11. Between the Times - Rank: 105,966

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Aggregator

SBCVoices is a blog aggregator, and a pretty neat one at that, of all things SBC:

12. SBC Voices - Rank: 111,870

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Baptist Identity

These guys tend to be identified with the Baptist Identity movement (not to be confused with the Christian Identity movement). I vehemently disagree with about .7% of what they say which makes us enemies in the blogsphere (another joke people, but one that should make you think).

More on these blogs:

SBCToday is a team blog. They did a great series of interviews with the SBC presidential candidates. Their tag line explains their passion: "Restoring Unity through Biblical Discipleship and Baptist Identity." I mentioned them under debate blogs above.

Bart Barber is the only blogger to ever apologize to me (and on his blog) about something he wrote-- that is pretty impressive. And, his Fifth Century Initiative is a pretty neat idea. Also, I thought his participation and willingness to collaborate (and compromise!) on the SBC regenerate church resolution was a sign of character and a model for the future. (I commented on that resolution in church this morning, so thank you Bart).

I don't think I have ever met the guy who runs SBC Tomorrow, though he is a frequent commentator on many blogs and always signs, "with that I am, Peter," which seems a bit self-evident to me if that is your name. However, he is reviewing Tony Jones new book, The New Christians, and I have been following his review. He has some insightful comments.

And, Tim Rogers a Southern Baptist in NC once gave me a ride at a conference, so I like him. I took a picture of him at the SBC and it came out blurred-- I was hoping to put him on the Twitter. So, even though his ranking may be low, he loves Jesus and cares about missions, so I like him.

Great passion from these guy on distinctives-- and I think distinctives matter.

9. SBC Today - Rank: 84,122

13. Praisegod Barebones - Rank: 174,802

17. SBC Tomorrow - Rank: 306,067

18. Southern Baptist in NC - Rank: 472,152

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A blog can make anyone with a web connection feel empowered, but influence is shown by who is listening, not who reads and rolls their eyes.

The SBC blogsopshere has been quiet lately and I think I like that. When it cranks back up, I hope it will be about missions, evangelism, and cooperation... but we will see!

Now, feel free to comment below... did I describe them correctly? Any I missed? Etc.