“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” ~Satchel Paige “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age.” ~Victor Hugo? “Everyone is the age of their heart.” ~Guatemalan Proverb This week marks several important events in my life. First, I turn 50 on Friday. At one level my becoming eligible for an AARP card is only the turning of one more page. But at another it calls for much introspection. … →

I recently attended a national meeting sponsored by the North American Mission Board. At that meeting, attended by state convention, national, and seminary leaders in evangelism, we heard again about the need for revival in our land. In particular my friend Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Seminary, told us how bleak the forecast is for the Southern Baptist Convention, arguing we are in danger today of becoming like the Methodists of the last generation, who have demonstrated the depths … →

NOTE: the following is adapted from The Convergent Church: Missional Worshipers in an Emerging Culture, by Mark Liederbach and Alvin L. Reid (Kregel). On September 13, 1970, the New York Times Magazine published an article by Milton Friedman titled “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” Friedman argues that the number one priority of business managers is to serve the interests of the firm’s owners—the shareholders. The moral obligations of the business, in this view, are limited … →

Winfield Bevins planted the Church at Outer Banks a few years ago, an Acts 29 church already planting others. He is also a DMin student at SEBTS. Here is a kind response he wrote regarding the book Convergent Church: Missional Worship in an Emerging Culture by Mark Liederbach and me: “Wow, I finally found a book that articulates what we are doing as a church. We are a convergent church! Thank you for taking the time to write this important … →

The term “missional” remains a novel word to many in the Western Church and in particular my tradition, the Southern Baptist Convention. We sometimes express caution at new terms, and that is understandable. Besides, the terms “witness,” “share the gospel,” and others still communicate well. But given the significant shift in the U.S. away from a biblical memory and toward a more pluralistic culture, the term missional, i.e., taking the posture of a missionary here as we would abroad, can … →