Has it Been Two Years?

Fred Luther’s two-year term as SBC president will end at the convention meeting in Baltimore. As his term in office comes to an end, the first African-American president of the SBC sits down and talks with Baptist Message, the newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. With Father’s Day quickly approaching, he concludes with a rather timely statement about fathers and their role in the family and church.

Read the full interview here, via Baptist Press and courtesy of the Baptist Message.

Speculation: who will be the next SBC president? Do you know who the front runners are?

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Can Christians Vote for a Mormon

 

Can Christians Vote for a Mormon?  That was the topic of a panel discussion at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  When I saw the headline, I couldn’t believe we were still talking about this.  The panel resulted in some good points being made about viewing American history from a Christian perspective and abandoning the idea that the White House is some king of mascot for Christianity.  I like this statement from Al Mohler:   “Above all we have a Gospel responsibility, that we are first and foremost citizens of the heavenly Kingdom and our concern is that others will become a part of the Kingdom through the proclamation of the Gospel.”

The panel was composed of four members, among them Al Mohler, Jr., President of Southern Baptist Seminary and Russell Moore, dead of the school of theology at Southern.  Despite a little shock at the headline (and maybe that was the point) I really liked where they came out on this.  Read the entire article at Baptist Press.  

 

 

Marriage Equality in the United States

The Christian blogosphere is lit up with Obama’s public support for gay marriage rights in the United States.  My post yesterday was a knee-jerk reaction to hearing the news.  That post is about the biblical definition of marriage, that goes off on a tangent of America not being a “Christian nation.”  This post is more about the news: Obama supports gay marriage rights, some demographics, and speculation about this election year.

Obama coming out in support of what he calls marriage equality comes just a few days after Biden made similar remarks on NBC’s Meet the Press.  Others in his administration were making similar statements and there is speculation that Obama was somewhat pressured into taking a similar stance.  Even if that’s how he already felt personally, this is the strongest statement he has ever made regarding gay and lesbian rights.  We now have an American president that public supports gay and lesbian marriage.

A Bit of Historical Perspective

This is not a “Hurray for our side” nor a “He’s not my President” type of rant.  There is not anything here you can’t find somewhere else.  I’m writing this post for three reasons:  1) I watched the inauguration live  2) I’m a history teacher, and 3) I blog, that’s what I do.

The presidential campaign was historic in and of itself.  It was the first time that two current senators ran against each other for the highest office in the land.  Of the last 5 presidents, 4 were first state governors.  Only the senior President Bush had just served as the V.P. for eight years.  We knew that on election night, we would either be choosing the first African American to serve as President ever, or the first woman to fill the role of Vice President.