Best of the Blogs
Best of the Blogs is designed to help connect you with insightful and edifying blog posts from the past week. The post will include a brief summary of a blog or article we found particularly helpful, accompanied by a link to direct you to the full post. These bloggers may or may not be Baptists. Regardless of denominational affiliation, we'll link to articles or blog posts which we hope will help you as you seek to follow Jesus and serve His church.
Reflecting on 17 Years as IMB President
With Jerry Rankin's retirement effective August 1, Alan James reflects on some of the highs and lows during Rankin's 17 years at the helm of the International Mission Board. 'In the mid to late '90s, Rankin and the organization grappled with new ways to get the Gospel into tougher, more restricted places. In 1993 when Rankin began his tenure as president, the organization saw nearly 4,000 missionaries and their Baptist partners help start more than 2,000 churches in 142 countries. In 2008, more than 5,500 IMB missionaries helped plant nearly 27,000 churches and engage 101 new people groups for a total of 1,190 engaged people groups," James writes.
Rankin's ability to anticipate and adapt to a rapidly changing world is a defining aspect of his years as president. "Rankin has often said he hopes his presidency will not be judged for the accomplishments of the organization under his leadership but for how the organization is poised for the future," James writes.
To read more go here
To read the transcript of Rankin's final address to the IMB Board of Trustees go here
Glorifying God in the midst of suffering,
The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., had a really rough week. Pastor J.D. Greear describes three events that rocked the church family. "First, our beloved Helen Young, a matriarch in our church, passed away this afternoon. Helen had struggled with a severe case of cancer for some time…and went home to be with Jesus at about 4 p.m. Helen was our church's backbone… Secondly, Chai Atwood, the son born 14 weeks premature to our college pastor Trevor Atwood and his wife Keva on Sunday, went home to be with Jesus… Third, we found out today that Nate Henn, the son of Summit members Bob and Julie Henn, was killed by a terrorist bomb in Uganda yesterday."
To read the full post go here
To read more about Nate Henn and the terrorist bomb in Uganda go here
Although the week has been hard for Summit, God is still good and He continues to receive glory. For example, here are a few of the twitter posts written by Trevor Atwood (tmatwood) since his son went home to be with Jesus:
July 12: Today much changed, Jesus did not. The gospel is true in the face of death. Thx to the 1st born among many brothers. Chai Samuel is yours.
July 13, 1 Cor. 15:54-57: Good try, death. Not anywhere close to enough, though. Victory is Chai's in Christ Jesus. Never been more sure of anything.
July 13: What is eternal always outweighs what is light and momentary. Do you live like it's true? Will you die like it's true? 2 Cor. 4:16-18.
July 14: I just wrote my son's eulogy. I am reminded that God is so good. Suffering should drive us to God, not away from him. Romans 8:24
July 15: Tomorrow I will bury my youngest son. As I looked at his grave today, I pictured him busting out of it at the resurrection. Made me smile.
Serious Disciples
Over at Today's Disciple, Brian Upshaw highlights the helpful ministry called Serious Disciple Webinar. "Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, David Dockery, Timothy George, Alan Hirsch, H.B. London, David Platt, Alvin Reid, and Dallas Willard. What do these pastors/authors/professors/leaders have in common? They probably share lots of the same traits, but one point of convergence is that they have each been featured in one of our Serious Disciple Webinars."
Upshaw writes: "These webinars are interactive. Not only do you get to hear great teaching, you get to comment and ask questions of these leaders. You can listen live to upcoming webinars or you can scroll through the archives to hear past guests."
You can check out his full post here.
Go here to access the archive of Serious Disciple Webinars
Man on a Global Mission
This week the News & Observer featured an article on Dr. Daniel Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reporter Yonat Shimron writes,"unlike some seminary presidents who focus solely on fundraising, management and scholarship, Akin has assumed a larger public role. Beyond the magnolias and red brick buildings of the Wake Forest seminary, Akin is known as the architect of a bold new vision for the Southern Baptist Convention.
Known as Great Commission Resurgence, the vision refocuses the nation's largest Protestant denomination on its No. 1 priority - making converts to Christianity. At a time when many denominations are declining, Akin thinks the Southern Baptist Convention can grow by redoubling efforts to spread the gospel to the globe's farthest reaches. Convention-goers agreed, overwhelmingly approving the plan this summer."
Read more here
Can one be both "Baptist" and "Reformed"? (this reading recommendation is only for those who like their theological coffee served up strong)
The question has been around for a very long time. In recent years the debate has been stirred up thanks to a Colin Hansen article in Christianity Today, which turned into a book by the same title, Young, Restless and Reformed.
Michael Horton, professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary in California, critiqued Hansen and his use of the word "reformed" in his widely read article The Hallway and the Rooms.
Even more recently, North Carolina Baptists weighed in on the discussion. For example, over at Les Puryear's blog, he asks the question: Can One Be "Reformed" and "Southern Baptist" at the Same Time?
Also commenting on the question is Southeastern Seminary's Assistant Professor of Church History, Dr. Nathan Finn, he seeks to answer the question in a three part series of posts.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
The discussion is an interesting and educational one. Put on your thinking cap.
