Change in Direction

Today marks the launch of a new blog maintained by the Association of Convictional Baptists (see here). Also, some of you may have noted my addition to the band of brothers at SBC Today, noted in a post titled "Change We Can Believe In" or something like that. Finally, although we know that every Southern Baptist pastor 40 and over, of course, tends to suffer with geriatric dementia and other ailments that make them of no importance to our future, those of my readers younger than 40 may remember that I indicated in December (see here) that I wished to make major changes in my manner of blogging. Today, those changes become a reality.

The Future of Praisegod Barebones

The format of this blog will remain the same. I will post posts. I will be very lenient in having your comments. The only thing that will change is the subject matter. I will be posting here regarding (a) things about me, (b) things about FBC Farmersville, (c) things about secular politics, (d) anything else that doesn't fit elsewhere. Praisegod Barebones is my personal blog and will continue to function in that manner.

A Partnership with SBC Today

As a member of the SBC Today "staff," I will be contributing at that site with articles and video items related to current events in the SBC and beyond from a genuinely Baptist point of view. I've contributed the occasional item over there in the past, and I already have a wonderful fraternal relationship with the SBC Today gentry, so I have nothing but optimism for our future partnership over there.

A Brand New Blog

Today I announce the launch of the Association of Convictional Baptists blog. This blog will embody the approach that I detailed in my December aspirations linked above. An introductory post is already up over there. I'll be posting something substantive in the next few days, followed at irregular intervals by other authors' posts.

The ACB blog employs a platform known as BlogEngine.NET. I hope that it presents a good user experience for everyone. It is an open-source blogging platform written in C#.NET, which is one of the programming languages in which I have attained proficiency. Thus, I've been able to tweak the BlogEngine.NET platform a bit to make it do what I like (and to shake out some of the bugginess that plagued it in its original incarnation). Because this platform doesn't have the same robust track record as WordPress or Blogger or Typepad or the like, I am interested in hearing whether it fails you in any way. Feel free to indicate any problems with the blog in the contact page.

As the opening post on the ACB site declares, I'm trying to design that blog as a blog built for readers. I'm guessing that blogs have lots of people reading who never post a comment. Rather than design the blog for the author's benefit or the benefit of those who comment, I'm trying to design the format of that blog with the reader in mind. I hope that you will be edified (and if it is compatible with being edified, pleased) with the results.

SBC Internet Changes

This may not be "the change we must change to the change we hold dear" (HT:JibJab), but "the times, they are a changing" in the SBC blogosphere. For those of you trying to keep track, I update you on the following items:

1. SBC Today Launches New Podcast, "SBC Perspectives."

   Disclaimer: I am a participant in the "SBC Perspectives" podcast.

   SBC Today has been among the vanguards of the Southern Baptist Internet since its inception. Now the good fellows at SBC Today have launched a new podcast entitled SBC Perspective. They've even been so cordial as to invite me to participate. The taping of the pilot was a hoot. I'm really looking forward to this—basically it is a collection of friends discussing the events of the day and the events of the ages. We love one another and have fun with one another. We're going to have fun in the production of this podcast. I hope that you have fun listening from time to time.

   If you're trying to keep up with who's saying what, I'm the guy who sounds like Gomer Pyle.

2. Andrew Fuller Center Moves to New Website

   I love the eighteenth-century English Baptist grandee Andrew Fuller. So do the guys at the Andrew Fuller Center over at Southern. But there's more than just Andrew Fuller over there. His life and teachings make a great forum for considering our heritage and identity as Baptists. So, bookmark the link above and visit the fine folks over there often.

3. Baptist Distinctives Conference at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

   OK, so this one doesn't really involve a change and has nary a thing to do with the Internet, other than the prominence of the themes involved in recent Baptist blogging and the involvement of some names you've either read or read about on the Internet. But, this one will be a conference worth attending and worth publicizing. I'll be there, and I would love to see you and visit for a while in Fort Worth in September.

   

Four Southern Baptist Pastors Launch "SBC Today"

Robin Foster, Wes Kenney, Tim Rogers, and Joe Stewart have announced the launch of a new Southern Baptist blog entitled SBC Today. All four are veteran bloggers. I've been asked to contribute occasionally. I will gladly do so as a guest author, but I plan to continue my own blog, primarily because I think the name Praisegod Barebones is so much cooler than SBC Today. Allow me to be the first to express publicly the wish that SBC Today will host compelling dialogue about the ideas that face us as Southern Baptists today without devolving into the shameful mechanics of personal vendetta and attack. Below is a copy of their press release. The site was announced first at Wes Kenney's current blog. It appears that Robin Foster will be blogging primarily at SBC Today rather than at his previous blog. There is a significant opportunity for SBC Today soon to become the premier conservative blog in the SBC blogosphere.

Monday, August 20, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Four Southern Baptist pastors have announced their intention to launch a new blog that grows out of their conversation about a renewed focus in biblical discipleship and Baptist identity. The pastors are Wes Kenney, of Valliant, Oklahoma, Robin Foster, of Perkins, Oklahoma, Joe Stewart of Littlefield, Texas, and Tim Rogers of Statesville, North Carolina. All four have already established blogs of their own. Kenney, who will share blog administration duties with the other three pastors, said that SBCToday.com will launch September 10 and will feature articles and audio files on subjects ranging from theology to sermon delivery to building a godly household. According to Kenney, the blog will showcase articles from “some of the best and brightest in Southern Baptist life.” The four founding pastors will post articles that function very much like a standard blog with comments and dialog. The articles from guest contributors, as well as the audio files, will not allow comments. “As a fifth century dawns for churches called Baptist, there is budding a renaissance of Baptist beliefs. In an effort to aid and participate in this revival of Baptist distinctives, we’ve decided to launch this new blog,” Kenney explained. “We also believe this discussion can be carried on in a courteous and respectful manner. We hope that we can highlight and clarify the distinctives that made Baptist churches a mighty force in missions and evangelism. Our sincere intent is that God will be glorified through the renewed focus on these foundational matters.” For further information, contact: Robin Foster (405)547 1222 rfoster@sbctoday.com Wes Kenney (580)933 6940 wkenney@sbctoday.com Tim Rogers (704)876 2264 trogers@sbctoday.com Joe Stewart (806)385 4414 jstewart@sbctoday.com