The church of the living What! Is that some new, low-budget, horror film?
Well no, not exactly... While it may not be a new Sam Rami film staring Bruce Campbell, it is a pretty horrifying way to describe the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
Sadly, according to Jim Elliff, this is an accurate description of the vast majority of Southern Baptist churches in America today. According to his article titled “Southern Baptists, an Unregenerate Denomination”, Jim gives us some pretty gory details of how this once very lively denomination, has become rotten and lifeless. And while this may not be new news to most, it was very telling to me, especially when you consider our current numbers along side those of a few hundred years ago. Yes, we may boast of 16 million members, but when you look at the real numbers, we are not so impressive.
Anyway, this was a great article, I highly recommend it.
You know, I'm not a big comedy fan, but I do enjoy a good laugh every now and then, and this reminds me of a joke told by Mark Lowry on one of the Gaither homecoming programs. I don’t actually remember the joke, but it had something to do with raising the dead. The punch line was that if Jesus did that in his Baptist church, he’d have to raise everyone! I wonder if Mark Lowry reads Jim Elliff?
Grace & Peace!
Dave Scarbrough ~ dave@scarbrough.net
