The Decline of the SBC
The Southern Baptist Convention appears to be in decline. I say appears because the “Bagdad Bob’s” of the SBC are poo-pooing recent membership numbers that demonstrate this is a stark reality. There has been a firestorm over this release, especially in the commentary provided by the head of Lifeway Research, Ed Stetzer. People at all levels of the convention leadership are exhibiting different reactions. Some are upset, while others are acknowledging reality, and still others are wondering why it took so long to get published.
Being a Southern Baptist, and pastoring a Southern Baptist Church in Delaware, I felt I needed to weigh in on this issue. I, in general, do not blog about SBC issues, but this is as much a missiological issue as it is a SBC issue. It should wake up not only the American church, but the SBC about the state of the church in this country.
I want to first address the importance of this decline in the SBC. For years, we have been told that the reason other denominations were in decline was the move toward liberal theology. I guess we were wrong, because it appears theology was not the factor. With the reality that the SBC likely has tipped and is on its way down, this is very disconcerting for many. This is especially distressing for the oligarchy leadership who think they own the SBC. The move toward conservative theology has produced the lowest evangelism rates and the tapering off of membership since before the takeover began. I am conservative in theology; however conservative theology alone does not move one toward evangelism. Thus the conservative resurgence did not lead to a Great Commission resurgence convention-wide.
It’s Over
I have just uploaded my last research paper before I begin my dissertation. The title of the paper was Designing Communications that Effect Change. I look at how the brain construct our reality, how meaning is constructed, how the brain processes information, and elements of communication that bring behavioral change. I discovered that reason is emotionally constructed (we are emotional beings who think, not the other way around), and thus not nearly effective as stories that touch the heart. We learn predominantly through images, and as a result are all innate semioticians, as the brain processes through neural imagery.
Characteristics of Gridlocked Systems
I’ve been reading A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin H. Friedman, in preparation for my doctoral dissertation. This book is about how emotional processes are what need to be engaged when thinking about leadership and change within an organization, not logic, reason, or methodology.
Friedman, in the first chapter on “Imaginative Gridlock” deals with the characteristics of a gridlocked system, and there are three:
1. An unending treadmill of trying harder;
2. Looking for answers rather than reframing questions; and
3. either/or thinking that creates false dichotomies.
We are Visual People
I started to title this post, “We are All Semioticians”. We are visual people. We think visually and interpret visually. We also comprehend visually. Pastors spend too much time putting together logical and reasoned arguments in their sermons when they should be incorporating visually and emotionally stimulating images that move people to action. Below is why that is the case.
Missional
He has a Red Bull addiction It’s just over 9 minutes. Enjoy. Read More →
I admit it, I’m a fan of American Idol. And tonight was the second year of “Idol Gives Back”. I saw videos of rock stars touching people...
What the? You read right folks. The good folks at Lifeway are working to train people in “The Missional Sunday School.” Ed Stetzer (why...
Dr. David Dunbar, President of Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, PA has a Missional Journal. In the entry entitled, “A New Imagination”, Dr. Dunbar...
Theology
This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Science and TheologyIf the following from my previous post in this series is true, then an acknowledgment must...
Ok, hang with me here. I am doing research into how the brain processes language, aural, written, and visual, and I am in a chapter of a book describing...
Dr. Malcolm B Yarnell III, or as I affectionately call him, “Yarni”, (that’s not a knock in all honesty) has published a paper for the...
This weekend my wife and I went out to dinner with a couple from our church. The wife noted that our last two worship gatherings felt more like a Friends...
This is a video with R.C. Sproul, Al Mohler, and Ravi Zacharias discussing post-modernism, modernism, liberalism, and the emergent church. The question...
Books
I’ve been reading A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin H. Friedman, in preparation for my doctoral dissertation. ...
I just received this notice from my friend Joel Rainey and thought I would share it with you. Missional Press would like to announce it’s latest...
This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series The Mission of GodChapter three begins with a discussion of the God who makes himself known. God, in the Bible,...
This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series The Mission of GodIn Chapter one of this book, Christopher Wright begins to lay out the search for a missional...
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series The Mission of GodI hoped to have had this post on Tuesday but I got behind on a computer project I was involved...
Other Headlines
Alan Hirsch at Exponential ConferenceHe has a Red Bull addiction It’s just over 9 minutes. Enjoy. Read More →
Chaos Theory in actionThis video is an example of Chaos Theory in action. Random, yet ordered. But mostly, beautiful. Read More →
Pray for Zimbabwe TomorrowTomorrow is the International Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe. The crisis there is grow worse by the day. Violence is escalating and it appears China is trying...
Crisis in Zimbabwe Missional vs. Seeker Churches
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