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Man of Sorrows

April 5, 2012 in Christian Life, Guest Posts with 0 Comments

Author: Frederick S. Leahy

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane . . . And . . . he began to be sorrowful and troubled.(Matthew 26:36, 37)

The statement in Matthew 26:36, 37 is significant. Christ has known sorrow before this, but the assertion that in Gethsemane he began to be sorrowful and troubled indicates a sudden steep descent into the billows of distress. Now, as never before, all God’s waves and billows began to sweep over him (Psalm 42:7). What a contrast to the sweet calm and peace of the upper room! He and his disciples had just sung from that wondrous Passover hymn, the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) and Christ sang that hymn as it had never been sung before and as it never could be sung again, for he was about to fulfil it as he went to his cross…

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How the Doctrine of Election Affected the Pastoral Ministry of John A. Broadus

March 27, 2012 in Guest Posts, History, Theology with 2 Comments

“How the Doctrine of Election Affected the Pastoral Ministry of John A. Broadus”

By

Dr. Roger D. Duke

Assistant Professor of Religion & Communication

Baptist College of Health Science

Memphis, TN

A Lecture (or Sermon)

Delivered at the Annual Founders Conference Mid-West

Given February 27 & 28, 2012

In St. Louis, Missouri

At the Invitation of Dr. Curtis McClain

Of the Missouri Baptist University

Introduction

There is a vast amount of difference that exists between “the dreamer of dreams” and the “builder of dreams.” [i] My colleague Craig Christina observes that “John Albert Broadus was much more than a dreamer; he was a man who gave his life for the edification of the church, the Southern Baptist denomination, and her founding seminary. Yet it was the establishment and continuance of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary that became his all-consuming passion later in life, and it is in the building of the Seminary that one finds the heartbeat of this dream builder.” [ii]

“The seminary,” to which Broadus would give the major energies of his life, “opened its doors in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 1, 1859.” [iii] In its beginnings it had an enrollment of 26 students. “The largest number of students in each of the first three sessions was from Virginia, in large part because of the efforts and influence of Broadus.” [iv] But, “a disruption . . . waited on the horizon; one which would preclude all studies and threatened the [very] existence of the seminary itself” [v] and with it, Broadus’s dream. This “disruption” of course was the Civil War. This disruption will act as a case-study to consider how “the doctrine of election affected Broadus’s pastoral ministry.”

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How John A. Broadus Embraced the Doctrine of Election

March 19, 2012 in Guest Posts, History, Theology with 2 Comments

“How John A. Broadus Embraced the Doctrine of Election”[1] [2]

By

Dr. Roger D. Duke

Assistant Professor of Religion & Communication

Baptist College of Health Science

Memphis, TN

A Lecture (or Sermon)

Delivered at the Annual Founders Conference Mid-West

Given February 27 & 28, 2012

In St. Louis, Missouri

At the Invitation of Dr. Curtis McClain

Of the Missouri Baptist University

Personal Introduction

Upon reflection of Dr. McClain’s invitation to give these two lectures (or sermons), I was taken back in my mind to a time many years ago when we first met. It was January of 1982. Curtis and his wife Patsy had just arrived in Memphis. I too had just arrived with my little family—consisting of my wife Linda, who was 6 months pregnant at the time, and my nearly 3-year-old daughter Leah. Both Curtis and I had come to Memphis to study at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary: Curtis with a newly minted Master of Divinity “in hand” to begin work on his PhD degree and me—who had left the construction trades as a Union Steamfitter Journeyman and had never even attended college—AT ALL! It is quite ironic that he would extend to me such an opportunity as this! I confessed to him: “I attend Founders Conferences Curtis—I don’t SPEAK AT THEM!” Needless to say we became fast friends over the years through some very random acts of Providence. Well—at least they seem random to me.

Early Remembrance from Seminary Days

One of the funny issues that stand out in my mind about the academe early in my seminary career was the friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) competition between the language department and the theology department. But these seem to have always been “in house” arguments which go back at least to the days of James P. Boyce and John A. Broadus. In his A Gentleman and a Scholar, Broadus related how that

His colleague [Broadus speaking of himself] who was professor of the New Testament once said to . . . [Boyce], in some pleasantries of conversation, that students of exegesis might have some freedom if it were not for those dreadful theological people, who know beforehand what every passage ought to mean, in order to suit their creeds and systems, and who have not a proper respect for philology and criticism.[3]

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Guest Post at The Edge of the Inside

October 5, 2010 in Church Life, Guest Posts with 0 Comments

My pastor friend, Todd Littleton, has posted an article that I wrote on his web-site, The Edge of the Inside.  The title of the article is Preacher Shame.  Click on the link to read and feel free to post your comments.

* Preacher Shame on The Edge of the Inside

Disqualification – Guest Post: Todd Littleton

June 9, 2010 in Guest Posts with 16 Comments

This is a guest post by my good friend, Todd Littleton.  Todd is the pastor of Snow Hill Baptist Church in Tuttle, Oklahoma.  I have known Todd since our days together at Oklahoma Baptist University.  There we studied together, shared life together and teamed up on a great flag football team.  Todd is the person who motivated me to begin blogging.  Through all my struggles, he has remained a dear and trusted friend.  Todd blogs at The Edge of the Inside.  You should subscribe to his blog.  He will keep you thinking.

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Disqualification. Check the rule books of all major sports and a person may clearly understand what would disqualify a participant. Watch what you do with your bat or your bets in baseball. Be wary of any needle in any sport whether biking or riding a derby winner. In college be sure to keep the grades up and be hands-off to handouts or not only you but your school may suffer the indignities of disqualification.

Right now an investigation is underway regarding a highly popular, if not high profile, Christian speaker and educator who, it seems, has fabricated a narrative to increase his credibility when speaking about Islam. Seems like simple research and the accompanying conclusions are not enough for book sales and speaking tours. Will he be disqualified? Who knows. Should he be? That may well be determined on how you employ your ethical framework.

My friend Frank, owner of this site, has been disqualified. Openly and publicly he has chronicled his life story on this site. Assuming personal responsibility is not a short suit for Frank. So when he asked me to consider a “guest” post for his site he offered a topic  – “What about a guy like me?” Let me translate more specifically. “What future does a guy like me have when it comes to ministry since I have been disqualified?” Adultery. Divorce.  Death knells.

Rather than offer an unqualified answer, I would prefer to flip the question. Would we disqualify a minister for lying? Would we disqualify a minister for a quick temper? Would we disqualify a minister for mismanaging his time? The question is not whether the minister should be fired, but would he be disqualified?

In the text often raced to in our attempts to purify the office of clergy we sidestep other qualifications, giving a pass to those who are intemperate, lazy and dishonest. Oh, they may lose their job in one place, but our churches are full of people who have passed from one place to the next with these foibles unaddressed.

Pressing the matter further lies with the community – Christian community at large or whatever local Christian community of which Frank becomes a part. What place does forgiveness and repentance play in these kinds of matters? What part does restoration play in the process of repentance? These are sticky matters. They are local community matters. I imagine this provokes the chagrin of Frank’s more conservative readers, maybe even Frank himself.

But, taking a cue from Derrida I am still left wondering at what point we understand forgiveness. If there is anything we would not forgive can we really say we forgive anything? Following on that, the Jewish understanding of repentance is not the quick – “Oh, that’s OK.” Included in the process is restitution and restoration. Too often we in the Christian community like the car wreck. We rubber neck to get the details. We stop way short of embodying the life of Jesus before a watching world. We are quick to judge and condemn. Slow we are to forgive and through the process of repentance require restitution and offer restoration.

What would it mean if the Christian community, the local church, lived out the redemptive narrative of Jesus, the Christ in these matters. Now, that life re-ordering narrative is sure to stir the imagination and cue up what it means to encounter Good News.

At what point does the Christian community decide to embody the redemptive work of Jesus in the here and now for the world to see? I will be watching as Frank continues to write and on occasion to share his story. Maybe we will get a glimpse at the answer in the community of which he and Suzie are now a part.