Texas Baptists Committed

A State Convention for the 21st Century
By Charlie McLaughlin

This month I visited Calvary Baptist Church in Abilene for worship and was impressed that they were making a change in their weekly worship pattern.

CO-CHAIR THOUGHTS FROM BILL BRIAN

What a privilege to serve as co-chairman of Texas Baptists Committed with Jerold McBride, whom I respect and admire.

Jesus and the Pharisees
By Brent Beasley

Recently I was again reading the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees recorded in Matthew 15:1-20. This was a head-on clash between Jesus and the leaders of the orthodox Jewish religion.

CO-CHAIR THOUGHTS FROM JEROLD McBRIDE

At Southwestern Seminary I earned Master of Divinity and Doctor of Theology degrees. As a graduate student I taught evangelism under C. E. Autrey.

Women Pastors: No big deal? No, BIG DEAL.
By Mark Coppenger

Last year, we experimented with a panel chapel, where six of us discussed a prickly issue, in this case, divorce and remarriage in the church.

“On Higher Ground”
by Russell H. Dilday

This is a reprint of Dilday’s sermon from 1984, which remains applicable today. It is especially courageous in light of the context of the times in which it was delivered.

The Baptist Distinctive of Personal Integrity
by Dr. Bruce Prescott

In times past, Baptists would speak about “soul competency” or “the priesthood of every believer.” The meaning of those phrases, however, has been obscured.

WHAT KIND OF CHURCH WILL SURVIVE AND GROW IN THE NEXT MILLENNIUM?
By Bill Leonard

Religion in the American south is changing. The old traditions, powerful for almost two centuries, still frame religious identity.

WOMEN IN MINISTRY SHOULD NOT BE A DIVISIVE ISSUE
by Charlie McLaughlin

The trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary flexed their muscles again by rejecting Steve Harmon as a prospective professor.

Will Falwell be a ‘loyal’ Southern Baptist?
by Mark Wingfield

After years of speculation, Jerry Falwell finally has joined the Southern Baptist Convention. But does that make Jerry Falwell a Southern Baptist?

Quotes:

“In the 21st Century, a Southern Baptist church with men-only deacons will be the exception. A church or denomination that rejects women from leadership roles will forfeit the future.”

Leon McBeth, church historian who has taught at Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth for almost 40 years.

My dream for the future of the BGCT is that my license to ministry, my call to ministry and my future degree from the seminary will not be seen as extraordinary or radical because I am female.

My hope is that we as independent, autonomous Texas Baptists will be open to the heart and mind of God and allow Him to work through the men and women of our churches that He has called to His purpose. I hope that we will be strong enough in our faith to call men and women of standing, according to their inward faith in Christ and dedication to God, rather than their outward physical characteristics.

And I hope these things as I stand on the very brink of my life as a minister, because God has called me because my gender does not matter to Him, my willingness to respond to His will does.

Kim Snyder, from her speech at the first TBC Annual Convocation

‘Daddy has always believed in me, bragged on me, andencouraged me to followmy call to preach,’

says Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham