This past July 4th, as Americans celebrated Independence Day, Pastor Jonathan Sims of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church notified his flock about their formal independance from the Southern Baptist Convention. The reason, he said, was decades long spiritual rot within Southern Baptist churches.
Everything about this address made me cheer. He was humble, convincing and insightful. He calls himself Brother Jono and uses those simple titles for all staff. He was on fire, naming names at every turn, all while lauding historic Calvinism, the centrality of expositional preaching, the importance of church discipline and the authority of Sola Scriptura.
He gave at least ten examples of liberal rot within the SBC:
- Decisional Regeneration
- Wokism
- Spontaneous baptisms
- Softening on abortion
- Revivalism
- Critical Race Theory (calling it wicked, hellish and another Gospel)
- Love for cultural relevance
- Women preachers
- Parading sexual abuse victims
- Bloated membership rolls
Sims is a fifth generation Southern Baptist preacher. He’s been a part of Southern Baptist schools and churches for nearly sixty years. So departing from the SBC speaks volumes to what he sees as a lost cause, a sinking ship and an old wineskin.
I’ve been a missionary in a little South African Tsonga village for fifteen years. I’m a Baptist but have no SBC affiliations. I am a part of Sola 5, an association of Reformed Baptist churches in southern Africa. I love and pray for and am thankful for these pastors and churches. But the Downgrade in the SBC over the years has been a grave reminder to me that if we preachers of Christ are not walking daily in the Spirit, mining carefully in the Word, admonishing each other with love and firmness and fighting ruthlessly against the greatest errors in the church today, Sola 5 will succumb to liberalism in the church as well.
God have mercy on the SBC. God give grace to Sola 5. God bless Jonathan Sims.
Summary: forty-eight brief chapters of warning and encouragement for new pastors
What happened to the prayer meeting? First we changed the name to “mid-week service.” Now it’s gone altogether.
Charles Brown (1806-1884) was a gifted preacher and faithful minister in the Free Church of Scotland for over a half century. 
We named one of our sons Lawson, so I was eager to read a book penned in Steve Lawson’s honor. 
First Corinthians 1-4 is the only place in Scripture where we find the specifics of Paul’s philosophy of rhetoric, or put more biblically, his theology of preaching. This is cast in the milieu of the Greco-Roman world, where the people prized oratory above all else. The ancient populous lionized the greatest speakers whose ultimate goal was to persuade, move, and win. Nothing in Greek culture was higher, more ideal, than the man of eloquence.
Mohler argues that far too much of what passes for leadership today is mere management. “Without convictions you might be able to manage, but you can never really lead.” (26-27)
Trueman picks on problems in the contemporary church and addresses how the Reformers could help us improve and think biblically.
The renowned British scholar Alec Motyer passed on to glory a few months ago. For all of his academic accomplishments, his book on Bible proclamation shows he was first and foremost a preacher.
Paper is a poor conduit of heat. So are sermon manuscripts poor conduits for preaching. So says Ellsworth on this paperback about preaching memorable sermons.
Jay Adams is old school, confident, biblical, and one of my favorite authors. For those interested in counseling and wanting an introduction to his work, this would be a start. Pastors are his audience but a thoughtful mother or layman could handle it.
The author of this fascinating book is an Anglican who listens to Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin on weekdays but sings high church hymns on Sunday. Why can’t Johnny sing hymns? According to Gordon, it is because he’s addicted to pop culture.
Between Two Cultures 