Thinking Critically . . . Acting Faithfully

I’m taking a momentary (only momentary, as you’ll see) break from writing about things Baptist, because there was a monumental occurrence last night that has prompted me to come clean about a secret known heretofore only to my very closest friends and family members. Yes, the truth can finally be told, and I’m relieved to Read more . . .

A few minutes ago, I was writing a post for Weighty Matters, the TBMaston Foundation blog, about the Ethics Lecture that took place earlier this week at Truett Seminary on the Baylor campus. As I wrote about the role of the prophet in challenging Christians to reexamine our beliefs and principles, an old song popped Read more . . .

(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 . . .

(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 . . .

  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 . . .

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 . . .

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 . . .

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 . . .

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 . . .

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 . . .