Barrabas and Me, from Desiring God

David Mathis at Desiring God Ministries has posted an Easter article looking at the trials of Christ in a VERY interesting way. Who do you relate to in the Easter story? For sure the crowds screaming, "Crucify Him", Peter or even Judas. But Barrabas? Read the article here. With only a week or so until our Easter celebrations, we need to remember who we are and what He did for us at the cross. And we must never get over it.

Atheist Preachers? Al Mohler Discusses a Growing Problem.

I am so thankful that I have grown up under pastors who not only believe in God, but seek His will in everything they do. Read Dr. Mohler's article about evangelical preachers who don't believe in God. How can we expect the lost to see Christ as their savior if those tasked with teaching them don't believe it themselves? This is a cause for prayer, not only for these churches, but also for our pastors. Pray that they don't lose heart under the pressures of ministry and that their faith in God grows only stronger each passing day.

Kevin DeYoung on the balance of charity and evangelism

Kevin DeYoung has a post that sort of follows up my earlier post on charity and evangelism. Read the entire article here. In his post, Kevin tries to balance both sides of the debate between those who argue for social justice above the gospel and those who argue that the gospel and social justice are mutually exclusive.

Important article from Dr. Mohler

Here is a fascinating, yet terrifying article from Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In it he discusses the rising problem of girls being discarded in preference of boys. As the father of three daughters, this brings tears to my eyes. It also underscores the need for more parents to be willing to adopt this babies and also for education for the parents in these countries about ways to give these daughters away without murdering them. You can read the entire article here.

Jerry Rankin on the SBC

Dr. Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board(IMB) has written a great article about the state of the Southern Baptist Convention and the need to reexamine its missions strategy. The Great Commission Task Force(GCTF) has made some powerful observations and recommendations concerning the future of the Cooperative Program and both the North American Mission Board(NAMB) and the IMB. Read the full article here.

Here is an excerpt:

"Cannot we at least take an objective look at what is happening in our denomination? Is it ever wrong to examine our structure, the use of our resources and the efficiency of our programs? Could it be that there are those whose entity or special interest may be threatened by such a study of realities?

There are those who say we already went through major changes in the mid-90s; there is no need to examine our structure again. Do they not realize how much our world, our society, our churches and our economy has changed in the last 12 years? Besides, what was labeled “Covenant for a New Century” really did not position us for the 21st century. Some entities were eliminated but the supposed streamlining just incorporated those functions into other existing entities. We were told this would make more resources available for missions, but the greatest benefactors in budget increases were ERLC and the Executive Committee. The result was an actual reduction in allocations to the mission boards!"

I think Dr. Rankin is right. No organization can perpetually continue without at least considering that there may be better ways of accomplishing the same task. Please pray for the GCTF as they seek God's direction of how to best steward the SBC and reach the lost for Christ.