A. Jase Jones, part 1: Surrendered to God’s Call
by Bill Jones

(originally published 9/7/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

(I originally posted this on the TBMaston Foundation blog, Weighty Matters, on June 21, 2011. Last Friday, September 2, would have been Daddy’s 98th birthday.) That last visit was a precious gift from God. Although Daddy had struggled in his last years – as so many do at that age – with a fuzzy memory Read more . . .

A. Jase Jones, part 2: Seminary Student; Pastor; Home Missionary; and Chaplain
by Bill Jones

(originally published 9/7/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

(I originally posted this on the TBMaston Foundation blog, Weighty Matters, on June 21, 2011. Last Friday, September 2, would have been Daddy’s 98th birthday.) Mother & Daddy with our kids, Alison & Travis (1991) Daddy began study at Southwestern Seminary, but his study was interrupted when, in early 1943, he enlisted in the U. Read more . . .

A. Jase Jones, part 3: Maston Foundation; and At Home with His Family
by Bill Jones

(originally published 9/7/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

  Thanksgiving 1998: We’re all wearing caps commemorating the recent reunion of Daddy’s WWII regiment, the 398th Engineers. (missing – Michael, Patsy & Palmer’s son) L to R: Daddy; Alison; Travis; Patsy; Palmer McCown, Patsy’s husband; Joanna; Stephanie; and yours truly Palmer is holding the cap belonging to Jim Markgraf, Stephanie’s husband, who is taking the picture. Read more . . .

Heroes of Baptist Freedom: Bob Stephenson & Associated Baptist Press
by Bill Jones

(originally published 8/10/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

On September 8, Associated Baptist Press (ABP) will honor Bob Stephenson with its Founders Award at a dinner at NorthHaven Baptist Church, Norman, Oklahoma, where Bob and his wife, Norma, are members. When I received the announcement, I immediately emailed David Wilkinson, ABP executive director, and congratulated ABP on making such an outstanding selection. Bob Stephenson is a valued Read more . . .

The Debt Ceiling Food Fight and the Loss of Community
by Bill Jones

(originally published 8/3/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

Otto von Bismarck called politics “the art of the possible.” There was a time when politics brought people together to discuss their competing ideas, priorities, and agendas and find a middle ground that would serve all of their constituencies. Oh, there was name-calling back then, too. But campaigns were largely confined to election years; with election night Read more . . .

Baptists and Freedom: What’s it really all about?
by Bill Jones

(originally published 7/27/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

At TBC, we talk a lot about freedom. So much that sometimes the purpose of that freedom gets lost. It is through Christ that we are free. But it is also for Christ that we are free. We are passionate about freedom because we are passionate about Jesus. At least that’s the way it should be. Read more . . .

Foy Valentine and Phil Strickland – Their Prophetic Voices Still Sound the Call
by Bill Jones

(originally published 6/29/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

Two of our great Baptist statesmen shared a conviction that all believers are called to be prophets. In November 1987, Foy Valentine, longtime executive director of the SBC Christian Life Commission, accepted the first T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award with a ringing address entitled Crying in the Wilderness: Streaking in Jerusalem: The Prophethood of All Believers. In November Read more . . .

OPINION: Growing up Baptist in a pluralistic world
by J. Zachary Bailes

(originally published 6/14/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

NOTE: This article was originally published on June 10, 2011, on the Associated Baptist Press Web site. Written by J. Zachary Bailes, an M.Div. candidate at Wake Forest University Divinity School and editor of the blog Crazy Liberals . . . and Conservatives In his Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport, George Washington wrote in Read more . . .

OPINION: Don’t try to ‘fix’ women in ministry
by Laura Rector

(originally published 6/14/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

NOTE: This article was originally published on May 11, 2011, on the Associated Baptist Press Web site. written by Laura Rector, a Ph.D. candidate in Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California I’m in the bookstore at an egalitarian seminary. Unfortunately, not everyone there is an egalitarian. An older gentleman waylays me, finds out what I Read more . . .

Pentecost Yields an “aha” Moment
by Bill Jones

(originally published 6/12/2011 on Texas Baptists Committed blog)

This morning, we observed Pentecost Sunday in our church. The lectionary Scripture passage was from Acts 2. As it was read aloud from the pulpit, I was struck by one verse in particular. After the author (Luke, according to tradition) tells us that the apostles were “filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak Read more . . .