Said At Southern.com - Is now open
ON the third try I think I've found a design that I can work with and build upon at the new site. Stop by and let me know what you think. All new content will be appearing at Said At Southern.com
Said At Southern - Take Two
Day 2 - design #2
I've reworked the site based on feedback. It is much cleaner. The only big drawback is a two column theme. What do you think?
Moving To Wordpress
For the last month we've been plotting our move to WordPress and the SaidatSouthern.com domain.
Now that finals are over, we're ready to make that happen.
This new design will allow many improvements to our site. If you have comments or suggestions please leave them at the new site on any post.
Please update your bookmarks and blogrolls.
Our feedburner feed has been updated and will point you to the right place.
- VBS 2008 Guide - Vacation Bible School 2008 Themes and Curriculum
- Free Sunday School Lesson Plans for Children's Sunday School Lessons
- Guide To Baby Dedication and the Baby Dedication Service
- 3 Steps For Sunday School Lesson That Motivates Children To Learn
- God Is In The Church Nursery
- 5 Ways Christians Can Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect
- Children's Ministry - Ministry to Children Ideas Resource
- Sunday School Lesson On Encouragement
"Gospel Growth vs. Church Growth"
"Gospel Growth vs. Church Growth" is an attention-getting title.
It is also the name of a conference to be held at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC in late October. The conference is co-sponsored by 9Marks Ministries and Matthias Media. Speakers at the event include Tony Payne, Phillip Jensen, and Mark Dever. From a cursory glance at the schedule, the conference looks to be thought-provoking. Confusion reigns in the current day over the appropriateness of church growth. This conference should stimulate much thought and discussion.
Early-bird registration clocks in at 80 bucks. Seminarians will want to jump on this price, as the conference should fill up quickly. Having been a member of CHBC, I know firsthand that the church building does not hold a great deal of room. As the profile of 9Marks grows, events like this only attract more and more attention and hopefully, more faithful growth of the church.
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Timmy Live At The True Church Conference
Said At Southern editor Timmy Brister is live blogging the "True Church Conference" at First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The theme of the conference is "The Miracle of Conversion." He shared a preview of the conference here. The conference is now underway.
Normally I post a weekly "best of Said At Southern." This weekend I urge you to read all the posts from True Church. In place of our weekend post I'll link each of his posts here as they appear:
- TCC XII: Jeff Noblit on “The Glory of God and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC XI: Paul Washer on “Missions and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC Photo Bundle 3
- TCC X: Jeff Noblit on “Believer’s Baptism and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC IX: Paul Washer on “Evidences of the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC Photo Bundle 2
- TCC VIII: Paul Washer on “Evidences of the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC VII: Jeff Noblit on “Church History and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC Photo Bundle 1
- TCC VI: David Miller on “The Preaching of the Gospel and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC V: David Miller on “The Preaching of the Gospel and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC IV: Conrad Mbewe on “The Power of the Holy Spirit and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC III: Conrad Mbewe on “The Power of the Holy Spirit and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC II: Dr. Russell Moore on “The Sovereignty of God and the Miracle of Conversion”
- TCC I: Dr. Russell Moore on “The Sovereignty of God and the Miracle of Conversion”
- How Do You Define a “True Church?”
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Do You Teach The Sabbath?
Pulpit Magazine (John MacArthur's people) posted an article this morning arguing that Christians are not bound to keep a Sabbath. They wrote:
We believe the Old Testament regulations governing Sabbath observances are ceremonial, not moral, aspects of the law. As such, they are no longer in force, but have passed away along with the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, and all other aspects of Moses’ law that prefigured Christ.A few months back Timmy Brister posted several articles on this topic. He presented the historic Baptist position that believers are still bound by the fourth commandment. In his corner were Joel Beeke, Jonathan Edwards and J. L. Dagg. He quoted Dagg:
As the whole decalogue binds us, so does this commandment. No man has a right to separate it from the rest, and claim exemption from its obligation. Christians, therefore, must observe the sabbath; and, as a day which God has hallowed, it is specially appropriate for the public worship of God (ibid.).So what do you practice? What do you teach you church? Is the Sabbath a moral or ceremonial law?
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Dr. Mohler Speaks - Everyone Listens
On Wednesday, Dr. Molher held an open forum to discuss the state of Southern Seminary.
Leading up to this even many people were wondering what was going to be said. There was no lack of speculation. I vainly imagined it was a press conference to promote Said At Southern. I kept wondering why someone from the administration hadn't called. But no news can be good news.
It turns out that Dr. Mohler was going public with the most recent update he had given at the Spring Seminary Trustee meeting. Once again Dr. Mohler has demonstrated his leadership quality. He understands the importance of sharing the vision of SBTS in a very public way. I was encouraged by the reports. God is doing something remarkable at our Seminary and I am thankful to be a student.
Will has posted a summary of Dr. Mohler's comments.
Timmy traced Dr. Mohler's vision back to James Boyce and forward into a future where every Southern Baptist Churches is a mini-SBTS. The comments on Timmy's blog are very active so be sure to share your thought there as well.
Here are some more numbers from the presentation:
- 1 out of every 4 seminary students in the SBC are studying through Southern
- Of the 4,156 students at SBTS - there are 1,589 in the School of Theology, 890 in the Billy Graham School of Evangelism, Mission and Church Growth, and 1,108 in Boyce College (there are other schools as well).
- The tuition at other theological institutions (Fuller, RTS, Trinity, etc) is at least 3x more than Southerns.
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Little People In Little Places: The Average Size Of SBC Churches
There has been some talk recently about the average size of Southern Baptist Churches. Some have said that we are a large convention of mostly small churches. Others noted that by total membership most Southern Baptists belong to larger churches.
So who's right? And does it even matter? Les Puryear has been posting on these issues. I've turned his numbers into these charts so we can ask the same questions.
Distribution of churches according to church size the SBC is comprised as follows:
1-99 members = 7,744 churches (21%)
100-199 members = 8,461 churches (23%)
200-299 members = 5,899 churches (16%)
300-499 members = 6,493 churches (18%)
500-749 members = 3,566 churches (10%)
750-999 members = 1,716 churches (4%)
1,000-1,999 members = 2,191 churches (6%)
2,000+ members = 835 churches (2%)
However, if we look at the distribution of churches according to the number of people within each church size range the SBC is comprised as follows:
1-99 members = 7,744 churches = 387,200 people (2.29%)
100-199 members = 8,461 churches = 1,269,150 people(7.50%)
200-299 members = 5,899 churches = 1,474,750 people (8.72%)
300-499 members = 6,493 churches = 2,597,200 people (15.35%)
500-749 members = 3,566 churches = 2,228,750 people (13.17%)
750-999 members = 1,716 churches = 1,501,500 people (8.87%)
1,000-1,999 members = 2,191 churches = 3,286,500 people (19.42%)
2,000+ members = 835 churches = 4,175,000 people (24.67%)
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