This week, I have invested several hours of my time in the conference at Union University entitled, “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism.” I want to highly recommend that you all check out www.uu.edu and listen to some of the sessions. They should all be posted by the week’s end. Union is doing a great job with making this stuff available.

Today, after hearing some of these engaging speakers, I came home to make lunch for my children. As I was cutting cantaloupe, my head was spinning and I had to sit down and record some of my thoughts before they snuck away like a stray dog.

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Recently, I was asked to write a column for the Tennessee Baptist and Reflector. Here are my thoughts:

I remember vividly my first trip to the Tennessee Baptist Convention.  It was 2007 and I had worn the badge of “Senior Pastor” for just a few months.  Since I found myself in a strange new place, I made it my goal to lay low and appear as if I knew what was going on around me.   Indeed, my covert operation was proceeding nicely until Pastor Ron Stewart’s Presidential address.  In an effort to prove a point, he halted mid-sentence and asked that all pastors under the age of 40 stand up in the assembly and be accounted for.  So much for anonymity.  As I reluctantly rose from my seat, I was shocked to see that there were just a handful of us at best.  At that moment, I felt like the Giant Panda, endangered and scarce.

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It wasn’t until I worked on staff at Union University that I really got a taste for missions.  All my life, I thought missions was for people who strangely enjoyed long plane rides, exotic foods, and post cards.  It took a trip to Bangkok, then Botswana, and even Missoula, Montana for me to really grasp how long and wide and high and deep is the love of Christ for the world.  I’m still taking that in. Continue reading »