Daniel Ausbun
  • Home
  • About

The Backgrounds of the Two Southern Baptist Convention Presidential Candidates

5/31/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
J.D. Greear
On Tuesday June 12 in Dallas, Texas - Southern Baptists will elect a new president of the convention. There will be two candidates messengers will have the opportunity to vote on as president: J.D. Greear and Ken Hemphill. I've had the privilege of hearing both of these men speak. While at New Orleans Seminary, Ken Hemphill was a guest teacher in one of my evangelism seminars. Several years ago I attended a NAMB conference at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia and J.D. Greear spoke at it. Both of these men love the Lord, love sharing the Gospel and have an unquestionable commitment to Southern Baptist missions.

J.D. Greear is 45 years old and was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The past 16 years he's been the pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina. He's married with four children. He has a B.A. from Campbell University, a M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as an IMB journeyman in Southeast Asia.

The Summit Church has the goal of planting 1,000 churches in 50 years. It has already planted 248, with 208 of these being outside of the U.S. Last year The Summit baptized 631 people on it's nine campuses.

Interesting Fact: In the 2016 SBC presidential election, Greear was in a run-off vote with current president, Steve Gaines. Greear received 47.80% of the vote and Gaines received 49.96% - the winner needs 50% plus one. Greear bowed out and allowed Gaines to serve as president.

Picture
Ken Hemphill
Ken Hemphill is 70 years old and was born in Morganton, North Carolina. He's married with three children and ten grandchildren. He has a B.A. from Wake Forest University, a M.Div. and D.Min. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. Hemphill serves as the special assistant to the president of North Greenville University. He's a member of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Throughout the decades, Hemphill has served churches and institutions of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has pastored churches in Kentucky and Virginia, worked for the SBC's Executive Committee, NAMB, and was president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Interesting Fact: Ken is a P.K. (preacher's kid). His father, Carl Hemphill, served as pastor for 55 years in churches throughout North Carolina.

Messengers vote for their president. Every church is entitled to two voting messengers and can qualify up to twelve, depending on their giving. Learn more about the SBC's constitution here.

When you arrive at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas - you'll want to come prepared and educated to vote for your next president!

0 Comments

Pastors and Professional Societies

1/26/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Many pastors/staff members have a bachelors degree (4 years), a Master of Divinity (3 years) and possibly an advanced degree (3+ years). This means a large number of ministers have been in college/seminary 7-10+ years. This is alot of schooling, and when you're at school, you're surrounded by the academic community.

God leads you to the field, and you're pastoring a church and instead of discussing soteriology, you're talking about fixing the sound equipment in the sanctuary. Conversations shift from John Calvin to Papa John's Pizza.

How can a pastor stay "in touch" with the academic community while pastoring a church?

Professional Societies allow the pastor's office to connect with the school's department chair. Evangelical societies require members to sign a statement of faith in the inerrancy of Scripture.

Here are four societies I'm a member of and enjoy reading their journals.

Evangelical Theological Society (largest evangelical society). Membership is $30 and you must have a Th.M. or Ph.D. to join. Membership includes a quarterly journey along with regional and national meetings. If you're to join one society, you should begin with ETS.

Evangelical Homiletics Society (a society for preaching). Membership is $50 and is open to anyone to join. Membership includes a bi-annual journal and multiple national meetings. Pastors should consider joining EHS - they promote biblical preaching.

Evangelical Missiological Society (a society to advance the Great Commission). Membership is $30 and is open to anyone. Membership includes an annual book, a bulletin published three times a year along with regional meetings and an annual conference. EMS promotes strategic thinking in missions, in which churches and pastors are included in the conversation.

Evangelical Philosophical Society
(promotes evangelical philosophy in churches and academies). Membership is $37 and you must have at least a M.A. in philosophy or theology - a M.Div. does not qualify. Membership includes their renown bi-annual journal, Philosophia Christi along with regional and annual meetings. EPS helps answer some of our culture's major questions from an evangelical viewpoint. Questions such as, "Does God Exist?"

0 Comments

You Can Attend 5 SBC Seminaries Fully Online

11/30/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Has God called you into the ministry? Have you always wanted to attend seminary, but can't move because of your job? The Southern Baptist Convention has 6 accredited seminaries. At 5 of the 6 seminaries you can graduate without ever going to the school - 100% fully online! You can earn Associate, Bachelor's or Master's degrees at home.

What are you waiting for? If God has called you, He will equip you - and online seminary is an outstanding option. Here are the schools and degrees you can earn all online:

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (see picture above)

    Associate of Arts in Biblical & Theological Studies
    Bachelor of Arts in Biblical & Theological Studies

Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary

    Master of Theological Studies

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

    Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry
    Master of Arts in Theological Studies

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

    Master of Theological Studies

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

    Master of Arts in Biblical Studies
    Master of Arts in Theology
    Master of Theological Studies
0 Comments

    A resource for Christian ministry, leadership & life issues!

    Archives

    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Categories

    All
    Addictions
    Adoption
    Alcohol
    Bible
    Calvinism
    Children
    Church Membership
    Culture
    Discipleship
    Divorce
    End Times
    Evangelism
    Leadership
    Marriage
    Ministry
    Missions
    Money
    Parenting
    Pornography
    Prayer
    Preteen
    Seminary
    Sin
    Social Media
    Students
    Sunday School
    Women

    RSS Feed