SBC Life Articles by Larry B. Elrod

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–“I do not have happy memories in this chapel,” confessed David Baker, pastor of First Baptist Church, Belton, Mo., and a 1978 alumnus of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Speaking to the Sept. 5 chapel, Baker said, “I was a student who was most miserable.” Relating his frustrations while a student, Baker continued, […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–Some of this year’s new seminary students may decide the journey toward ministry is too great to persevere, warned assistant professor Tony Preston during the Aug. 24 academic convocation of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “Becoming another casualty in the worship wars or a wounded healer who suffers the wrath of some unkind […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–Great benefits can be derived from genetic engineering, cloning, cybernetics and other biotechnologies yet to be invented, said Ben Mitchell in the annual Scudder Lectureship April 18-19 at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “But the future may also portend human tragedy, a loss of human dignity and a world increasingly hostile to concerns […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–“Some Bible-believing preachers do not really believe in the sufficiency and potency of the Scriptures,” declared Kent Hughes at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary during the annual Hester Lecture Series on Preaching. Without that conviction, Hughes said, their preaching will suffer. The senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Ill., since 1979 delivered […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–“When I think of the call to preaching and try to reduce it to one pregnant statement that bests describes it, I cannot rise any higher than ‘man of God,'” Conrad Mbewe said at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mbewe, a Zambian who has been called “the Spurgeon of Africa,” is pastor of […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–”The only choice we have is whether to consume our lives in the present without any thought of tomorrow — or, by dying, “to save our lives for the future,” said Ron Dunn. Dunn addressed Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary students for the Week of Preaching, Sept. 7-10, in Kansas City, Mo. Dunn […]

When I was called to a little, dying congregation in the inner city of Chicago, it seemed that all they were looking for was an ecclesiastical Dr. Kevorkian, but God had other plans," said Charles Lyons, pastor of the 2,000-member multicultural Armitage Baptist Church in Chicago. Lyons, speaking at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in April, […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–“God has required of us our total affection,” declared Jim Elliff, president of Christian Communicators Worldwide. “The Book of James says that if you love the world, it is the same as adultery.” Using Matt. 6:19-24 as his text, Elliff spoke at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary April 20 stressing the need for […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–“It is a dangerous thing to try to do something before you are prepared,” said Don Kammerdiener, executive vice president of the International Mission Board, in the opening address of Global Missions Week at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. A graduate of Midwestern, he once served as a Southern Baptist missionary to Columbia […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–“When I was saved at the age of 10, I remember thinking as I walked the aisle, `I wish everyone in the world could know Jesus,'” said Jerry Rankin April 14 to a chapel filled with students, faculty and staff as well as missionaries from around the world dressed in the clothing […]