Blog Archive

Before the election, projection models showed that a popular vote shift of 2 points in either direction moved the electoral outcome drastically. Nate Silver at 538 said that if Clinton won popular vote by 4 points, she would win the electoral college easily. He said if Clinton won by about 2 points the electoral college became a toss up.

Think about that. Out of 100 voters, it only takes one or two to change their minds to drastically alter the outcome.

This is one reason we should be careful in the election aftermath. The temptation is to look back and think the winning campaign was brilliant and the losing campaign incompetent. Even in the last two days I’ve heard people talk about how Clinton was such a terrible candidate and Trump called the most talented politician ever. If one or two people in 100 had voted the other way, people would be talking about what a disaster Trump & his campaign were and how brilliantly Clinton brushed off scandals and prevailed.

Where it hits home to me is when people now are acting like Trump’s win is somehow discrediting to those who took the #NeverTrump stand. Most of us thought Trump would lose and lose badly. That prediction was wrong. Very wrong. But that wasn’t the basis of #NeverTrump. I didn’t refuse to vote for him because I thought he was going to lose – I didn’t vote for him because I thought he was unfit for office. His win doesn’t change any of that. If you had told me back in February that a Trump was going to win, it wouldn’t have changed my position. I would have said, “If he’s going to, he’s going to do it without me.” And that’s exactly what he did.

So if you ask me if I feel stupid or like I’ve been rebuked by the election results, my answer is no. My reasoning still stands. The 1-3% shift that changes the election result — that’s really not a consideration in my view.

And now even though I didn’t consider him fit (nor Clinton, we were choosing from two unfit candidates, neither of whom I could support) to be president, now that he’s been elected my hope is that he will rise above the things that caused me to consider him unfit and will lead the country well. I have serious concerns. I’ll speak up when I see problems. But for now I’m going to hope for the best.

This article originally appeared at SBC Voices.
I’ll add my voice to those who have commended all three candidates in this year’s presidential election. I don’t have anything negative to write about Crosby or Gaines. I even blogged in a recap of last years convention about the positive experience I had meeting and talking with Steve Gaines at last year’s convention. I appreciate what I know of both of the other candidates. But as I try to picture a healthy SBC in 10 years, there’s no doubt in my mind that J. D. Greear is the best choice to lead us in that direction.

12 years ago Jimmy Draper launched an initiative to engage and develop young leaders and pastors in the convention. That was a hugely encouraging step back in those days.  I remember it as a time when many of us were disillusioned and felt disconnected from the convention itself. I was 24 years old and my first convention was Nashville in 2005. I went away from the pastor’s conference wondering if I was even wanted in the SBC. We have come a long way in ten years. Jimmy Draper saw then, and we should see now, that developing, engaging, and recruiting young leaders is one of the keys to a healthy future. I say that as someone who’s nearing, or maybe has already passed the young demographic. I need to be involved in helping engage those younger than me.

Greear is the best option to engage young pastors in SBC life. He’s led Summit to invest heavily in our cooperative work, with an emphasis in international missions. This along with church planting and theological training, are the elements that will continue to drive the renewed interest we’re seeing among leaders.

If we could have asked, back in 2005, what kind of young leaders we would like to develop and see take on leadership in the years ahead, you couldn’t have painted a more compelling picture than the work Greear has done at Summit Church.

He’s been a helpful voice in convention life for a number of years now. He’s refused to get involved in the Calvinism divisiveness. He’s invested his own life in taking the gospel to the nations. He’s modeled healthy cultural engagement, speaking graciously while standing firm on biblical principles.

When you consider the SBC—not only in 2016, but also in 2026 and beyond—it’s clear to me that Greear models where we should be going. And he’s the best choice to lead on the journey to get there.

I really enjoyed my time in Columbus this year at the SBC Annual Meeting. Here are six factors that made this the best convention I’ve attended. 

Ronnie Floyd’s Leadership
Last year (2014), I voted for Dennis Kim for SBC president. That wasn’t necessarily anything against Ronnie Floyd—I wanted to see us continue to celebrate our non-white Southern Baptists after electing Fred Luter the two conventions previous. All that to say I didn’t have much of an opinion of Ronnie Floyd one way or the other, positive or negative, before this year’s convention. 

Alan Cross’ article a few weeks ago alerted me to the fact that Floyd has been working hard toward racially diverse representation on the committee he was responsible for appointing, and possibly also keeping the issue in front of other committees and boards to ensure the issue was made a priority.

There was also a constant emphasis on prayer and unity as I heard Ronnie speak in his interview in the SBC This Week podcast about two weeks before the convention. So for me there were positive indications before the annual meeting.

Those good signs proved to be only the beginning. Floyd gave a very good convention sermon and conducted the business of the convention well (even when he told me to stop speaking, another post soon on that incident). This convention was probably the most encouraging and enjoyable I’ve been to from a programming/schedule standpoint, and I think that was in large part due to the rearranged schedule Ronnie Floyd worked to put in place. The prayer time on Tuesday night was amazing. More on that below.

Schedule Adjustment
This year we consolidated similar types of reports and business together in the same session. I was skeptical this would make much of a difference in the actual convention experience. I was wrong about that. The activities of the day seemed to flow and make sense. The continuity was a welcome adjustment. The previously prevalent random “let’s stand up and sing a song now to kill a few minutes” wasn’t missed at all. Judging by the number of people still in the convention hall even at the end of some of the sessions, I’d say the change was a huge success with those attending. 

I think my only complaint with the schedule was that the seminary report time (all 6 back-to-back) seemed to drag on longer than my attention span was able to stay focused. But then the rather uncomfortable convention center chairs might have been to blame as much as the actual duration. Maybe a 3+3 format with something in the middle to break up the length of the report section, or something similar, could be considered next year.

Prayer Segment
The highlight of the convention schedule was the call to prayer segment on Tuesday night. I’ve heard good messages preached at the convention before, but this was the most powerful, extended worship element I’ve ever seen in the 5 conventions I’ve been to personally (and watched several online in that same time). And I mean by far. No competition. Dave Miller said he remembered a pretty powerful time back in the mid 80’s (about the time I was in kindergarten 🙂 sorry Dave) when Bellevue organized some banners to march in during a worship time, but that had only lasted a couple minutes. This was an extended time of worship and calling out to God. The time of prayer for racial reconciliation was amazing, as well as powerful times of prayer for the persecuted church and several other areas. 

Send NA Lunch
Another highlight of the convention, for me, was the Send North America/IMB lunch on Monday. Kevin Ezell and David Platt shared the stage and talked for something like 30-45 minutes. There was good information presented. The contrast between the two, with Ezell’s tendency to crack a joke about every other word, then Platt’s intensity (which he left only briefly to give a courtesy laugh to Kevin’s jokes) was classic. I think more than half the convention showed up for this lunch and I’m glad I wasn’t one of the few who missed it.

People
What would a SBC Annual Meeting be without getting to catch up with friends and meet new ones? I talked to so many people with such obvious love and joy in their lives because of Christ. I sat down at the Southern Lunch with a table full of people, most of whom I had never met, and within minutes we were talking like we had known each other for years and rejoicing in the work God is doing in each others’ lives and ministries. 

I met some people whose names you’d know from the stage. Each one impressed me (as much as you can tell in a 5 minute conversation or so) as being real and authentic, not walking around with an inflated sense of importance like some might expect. I got to have conversations with Steve Gaines, Clint Pressley, Ronnie Floyd (briefly), and Kevin Smith (if I could name drop a little bit) and thoroughly enjoyed meeting each of them. In the exhibit hall, Steve Gaines called us over to pray with him for a young man who’s going with his family to Alaska to plant a church. It’s little stuff like that where I’m reminded that the pastors whose faces we see on stage and whose voices we’ve heard preach are real men who love God, people, and the work of ministry. They can be easy objects for criticism because of prominent roles (no one’s saying they’re perfect) but I believe each of them, as well as many others I didn’t meet are striving to serve Christ and I want to rejoice that God has blessed their ministries so tremendously. 

But it’s not mainly the stage personalities that encourage me about our convention. It’s the people I know from blogging & twitter, people I’ve met at previous conventions, people I’ve gone to church with in the past. Hanging out with the SBC Voices guys was awesome. I got to spend a lot of time with Gentry Hill, one of my former youth who’s now graduated from seminary and is now looking for a church to pastor, and who was an absolute lifesaver several times this week. (What a joy to see a former student ready to take on a full time ministry role?! Wow.) I want to go on but this section’s too long already. Too many great people to list and God greatly encouraged me this week through them.

Encouraging Work of Entities
The reason we all get together every year is because of the cooperative work we do through our mission boards, seminaries, LifeWay, ERLC, and others. I said it on twitter during the week and I’ll say it again here, we have tremendous leadership in each of these entities and they are doing amazing work— work that deserves to be supported with prayer, CP giving, and our encouragement for these organizations. NAMB and LifeWay are doing the best work they’ve done in years. Our IMB has always done excellent work and Platt is leading them to even greater effectiveness and focus on partnering with local churches. I can’t think of a better spokesman for us on public policy and ethics issues today than Russell Moore and his team at the ERLC. The seminaries continue to do well. And hey, GuideStone has good insurance & retirement too.

My first annual meeting was in 2005. Back then there were some bright spots but there were also some things that frustrated me with the state of the SBC. Since that time, my support of the CP has moved from feeling almost obligatory to enthusiastic as I see the direction we’re going and the unity with which we’re traveling there. Attendance has ticked up the past two years, and recent reports showed a slight increase in current year CP giving. Both indicators could mean nothing, but they could also show a slightly renewed interest in our cooperative work as a convention. I pray that’s what we’re seeing because I think it would reward well the hard work that’s been put in to get our convention moving in its current, encouraging direction. 

Great meeting, Columbus 2015. Maybe St. Louis can be even better. 

(Note: this is a post that originally appeared at SBC Voices. I wrote it while in Columbus at the convention and didn’t have my laptop with me. Dave Miller was kind enough to post it for me there. You should look there if you want to follow the interaction in the comments section.)

Over the past year, there’s been a small but constant stream of criticism in SBC social media about certain books available in LifeWay stores. A few titles and authors are brought up frequently as evidence that LifeWay leadership must not care about sound doctrine or that they care about money more than biblical faithfulness. I reject those characterizations and you should too.

Everyone agrees there should be a line drawn determining what books LifeWay should sell. The issue for us today is how tightly that line needs to be drawn to our own views, preferences, and opinions.

It would be easy for any theologically aware believer to go into a Christian bookstore and find titles we disagree with. Disagreements would fit a wide range—some big, some small. Some doctrinal, some practical. Some important, some minor. No matter where the line is drawn, people will always be able to find titles that are just inside that boundary line and say, “But why is this book here? If you cared about truth, certainly this book wouldn’t be on your shelf!”

LifeWay’s critics want Lifeway to function as a theological gatekeeper in a way Southern Baptists have never agreed it should function. Yes, we all agree there are boundary lines. But as someone who considers myself theologically educated and discerning, I am aware that if I personally drew the boundary lines, I would have a tendency to draw them too narrowly and mirroring my own views & preferences. LifeWay’s critics have consistently shown a lack of self-awareness in this area.

Here are a number of problematic assumptions and unwarranted jumps in logic that LifeWay’s critics make. These form the foundation of why I reject their conclusions and their methods.

1. LifeWay cannot be seen as endorsing the viewpoint or contents of all the books they sell. Two books advocating different viewpoints may sit beside one another on the same shelf. Which is the endorsed LifeWay position? Sometimes stocking a book might mean nothing more than the work is a prominent example of a viewpoint we would disagree with. Let’s take an egregious example. Should LifeWay sell the Book of Mormon? Initially almost everyone would say no. But what about people who are interested in apologetics and studying other religions? Might there not be a place in a Christian bookstore for books that compare the beliefs of different world religions? Along with that copies of the books or writings of those religions? As far as I know LifeWay doesn’t have such a section and doesn’t sell the Book of Mormon. At the end of the day, I think that’s the best decision. But I hope my example goes to show that a product selection policy might (should be) much more than simply agree/disagree.
2. The fact that I care about sound doctrine does not necessarily mean I only sell books I agree with. Mohler’s theological triage is an important concept here. We have to make decision about what issues are going to be that would cause us to include or exclude certain works. But I think most people who are involved here know that determination shouldn’t be left to the self-appointed theological watchdogs. The people who love patrolling (controlling) what readers have access to are not the ones I want making those kinds of decisions.
3. It’s not clear to me that LifeWay needs to play the role of arbiter on close calls. What about books that fall on the borderline? A critic may list a book as out of bounds but other theologically educated believers might see it as acceptable. I myself have a category for books that I wouldn’t personally recommend but see no problem with having them available for people who want them. The critics seem to have no such category.
4. The critics ever-narrowing set of parameters that may never be satisfied. Those who criticize in this area have shown to be implacable. LifeWay has removed a number of books over the years because of concerns expressed through various avenues. One of the critics’ favorite targets was recently removed. I didn’t see a single one of them express appreciation for the decision. It was a battle won (in their own minds, their criticism actually had little, if anything to do with the book’s removal) and they were on to the next title. Their list is long and I’ve seen nothing to make me think they would ever be satisfied. At least nothing short of letting them go through a LifeWay store and overturn book racks of their own choosing.
5. LifeWay leadership has demonstrated through years of faithful writing & service that they place a high priority on biblical truth & faithfulness. I’m particularly thinking of Thom Rainer and Ed Stetzer here, who often bear the brunt of this kind of criticism. (As if their main role is retail product selection anyway.) Both of these guys have served Southern Baptists well and faithfully for years. They’ve stressed the importance of sound doctrine in each of their ministries. A long list of others at LifeWay should be included here too. The idea that the folks at LifeWay are sitting around board tables in Nashville rubbing their hands together and laughing evil laughs at all the money they can make off selling bad theology would be a laughable caracature if it weren’t asserted so regularly by LifeWay’s critics. It doesn’t make sense.

The critics say they’re planning to force LifeWay to address these issues on the floor at this year’s SBC Annual Meeting in Columbus. That’s why I wrote this. Because I have heard them and I disagree—with both the content of their arguments and their strong arm tactics. I’m confident everyone in the convention hall will see through this (threatened) childish tantrum for what it is.

I’m really glad to hear that C.B. Scott has been reinstated at Brewton Parker College. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the injustice of his firing and the surrounding circumstances. I had some strong words for the trustees of Brewton Parker then as well. And it’s because of the strong words I wrote then that I want to say an equally encouraging word of thankfulness today.

I’m not sure of the details, but from the SBC Voices post, it sounds like the interim president, Dr. Charlie Bass did the right thing. I have to assume that some of the trustees who were not fully involved from the outset decided to become involved more directly. So the trustees, post-resignation of trustee chairman Gary Campbell, are to be highly commended. It takes a lot of courage to reverse course and right a wrong in a situation like this. May the next chapter of Brewton Parker College be characterized by the kind of integrity and leadership we’ve seen over the last couple of days.

We’re still waiting for an official press release from Brewton Parker College on Scott’s reinstatement. I’m sure their Vice President of Communications is working on that as I type.

Secrecy, revenge, and non-disclosure agreements. Lawyers, threats, and a severance package offered as hush money. It sounds like the drama of a New York Times Best selling novel. But I’m not talking about fictional corporate greed and vengeance. This is life over the last month in the administration at a small Baptist college in Georgia. And this time, the victim is a man who lost his job because he stood up and wouldn’t be part of the charade.

Yesterday Southeast Georgia Today

released an article called “BPC VP Refuses to Resign, Fired” which shed light on what’s really been happening at Brewton Parker College. The former president, Ergun Caner, resigned last week after a tumultuous one year stay as president of the college. The evidence that’s come to light in the last 24 hours shows that there was a lot more to the story than what the initial press release indicated. Evidently Caner felt he needed help to “restore his credibility.” The SGT article also refers to an incident where 3 witnesses report Caner using inappropriate racial language (it’s unspecified what he was accused of saying). The racial epithet problem is not a new one for Caner, videos of him speaking earlier in his career show him on stage using poorly chosen phrases in failed attempts at humor. There’s no telling what stories are yet to come to light – but I’m told there are more. Caner came in surrounded in controversy. Instead of building bridges and earning trust, it sounds like he did the opposite.

But according to the PR department of BPC, everything was going great. For all I know, that’s still the story we’d all be believing if someone hadn’t stood up to the charade. Enter C. B. Scott, Vice President of Alumni, Advancement, and Church Relations at Brewton Parker College. With Scott refusing personal appeals of Caner to help continue to sweep the problems under the rug, Caner resigned. Caner’s supporters on the board of trustees saw C. B. Scott’s refusal as ultimate betrayal and were determined that he wouldn’t survive at BPC either.

Offered an “attractive severance package” if he would sign a non-disclosure agreement, Scott refused to act like there was nothing wrong. He could have looked the other way, taken the money, and reasoned to himself, “It’s all in the past, what difference does it make now anyway?” But thank God for his example — that underhanded dealing and wrongdoing ought not to be passed over for the sake of position, prestige, and money.

How much better would we be if there were a C. B. Scott at every Baptist College, entity, and institution? By God’s grace there are, no doubt, people with this kind of spine at many of them. And also by God’s grace there are many of these organizations who act with integrity without threat of their inner dealings being exposed — they have nothing to fear or hide. But we know better than to think this kind of stuff doesn’t happen just because these are supposed to be Baptist and Christian organizations. Colleges in Louisiana and now Georgia have garnered national attention because they’ve been run like a good ‘ole boys club rather than with humility and transparency. There’s no doubt there are others who haven’t received this kind of attention or have not yet come to light.

If every institution had at least one high-ranking person who said, “I don’t sign NDAs and I don’t sweep wrongdoing under the rug,” the lure of favors, power, and prestige at any cost might suddenly fade. Light makes darkness run. And the risk of being exposed would be too great to act without integrity. Is it too much to ask — that our brothers and sisters who have the privilege and responsibility of leading these organizations, funded by people who offer their trust along with their money, would act accord to the trust given them?

The trustees of Brewton Parker College ought to hang their heads in shame. At least the ones who saw to it that C. B. Scott would no longer be employed there as an act of retribution. Also the ones who allowed it without doing everything they could to stop it. Here was the answer to many of the problems in Southern Baptist culture… and you fired him.

Here’s a thought-provoking quote from Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship, chapter 7, “Reading and Praying the Bible in Corporate Worship” (pg. 140):

One of the striking things about evangelical corporate worship in our times is the evident paucity of Scripture. There is relatively little Scripture read, prayed, or sung in our assemblies. While high liturgical traditions continue to infuse service with scriptural language via lectionaries and other devices, even when there is is little actual clerical or congregational esteem for the final authority of God’s word written, it is a supreme irony that in evangelical worship (the gathered praise of those who among all Christians profess to take the Bible most seriously) the Bible often almost disappears.

Facebook is a fantastic tool. But I’m about to be on it a lot less. Here’s why…

1. I’m concerned with the growing business model of Facebook, Google, and lots of other companies whose main goal is to collect information about us and sell/profit by profiling our lives, preferences, communications with our friends and family. You would be shocked at how much information is available about you and your family to people willing to pay for it. You know all those frequent shopper programs at the grocery store and restaurants? Yeah. There’s a reason they’re willing to give you a discount.

And Facebook isn’t just tracking what you do when you’re logged on to their website. It’s easy for them to track a huge number of things you do in any web browser where you leave your account signed in.

2. Facebook’s model of choosing what I see, rather than sorting posts by date/time or other objective means gives them too much control over my social media experience. It means that Facebook can and does bury our posts and comments that they don’t think others should see.

3. The pitiful performance of the iOS Facebook app. Before I deleted the Facebook app from my iPhone, the timeline would jump around while loading, sometimes repeat itself, and just be generally sluggish.

4. Forcing people to install messenger is ridiculous. I used messenger app for a long time before they made it mandatory. I’m not particularly worried about the overblown privacy hoopla around the messenger app awhile back, I just leaves a bad taste to force people to install an app they don’t want. So I join those who refused to install the app by deleting messenger too.

5. It’s so easy to waste time, continually scrolling down and down and down mindlessly.

6. Ads are more and more annoying, and they’re only going to get worse.

Al that said, I love staying in touch, seeing your photos, hearing about what’s going on in your lives, being able to pray for you. So I am going to check in, but not daily. And not from the iPhone app, only from a desktop web browser, and not even my usual web browser. I usually use Safari but to keep Facebook from tracking (spying) my other web usage, I’ll use a second browser just for Facebook.

So if you want to get in touch with me quickly, don’t send me a Facebook message. Email me at brenthobbs@icloud.com or text or call. I love you guys, but Facebook is coming between us. 🙂

Last week we learned about an unspeakably heartbreaking tragedy. Tuesday night reports began circulating that Ergun Caner’s 15 year old son, Braxton, was dead as a result of suicide. Countless people expressed sympathy and prayers over social media. Even though we know prayer is the best thing we can do when a tragedy of this magnitude occurs, it feels woefully inadequate. I don’t know anyone in the Caner family personally, but I felt physically sick for the night and next day, and still do if I let my mind linger over the sadness brought by this tragic loss for the Caner family and Braxton’s friends.

Background
The reason I write today is because of the layers of public controversy piled on top a situation that is already highly emotional charged (for the record, heightened emotions are perfectly appropriate right now). About a month ago, a vocal pastor named J. D. Hall, criticized photos and comments Braxton had posted to his Twitter feed. Let me try and give a brief summary and background.

J. D. Hall has had an ongoing, if pretty one-sided, public feud with Ergun Caner. Caner rarely-to-never responds to Hall and his cohorts, but Hall and others regularly blog, tweet, and podcast about Caner’s past. Out of sensitivity to Caner and his family during this time, getting into the details about what the criticisms are about is neither necessary nor appropriate. They’re well documented online for anyone who wants to find out. And I’ll say that I have been critical of Caner in the past as well, though I’d like to think my criticism has been more measured, reasonable, occasional, and stayed away from making things personal.

So Hall has been a frequent and strong critic of Caner, but Caner refuses to respond, and I think that makes Hall and his followers more annoyed and angry. Hall then pushes harder and the attacks become more and more petty and personal as time goes on. I don’t think Ergun Caner could brush his teeth in a way that J. D. Hall wouldn’t criticize. There’s a lot more to the backstory, but I just don’t have time to cover it and that’s not my purpose today. I hope that will suffice as context for Hall’s comments about and to Braxton Caner on Twitter.

The Twitter Exchange
July 2 was the day Hall criticized Braxton’s social media activity. Hall tagged Braxton’s Twitter account in his comments, ensuring that Braxton himself, not just Ergun, would be notified and see the tweets. Braxton responded and there was an exchange of four or five responses by each. Hall’s actions and comments in this exchange are almost breathtakingly shocking, concluding with him telling Braxton to “email me” if Braxton “ever want[s] to speak or seek truth about your dad.”

His comments were quickly condemned by a number of people online. Here’s one example. In fact, that tweet is what alerted me to the exchange. Even though, as I’ve said before, I’ve been a critic of Caner in the past, I recognized Hall’s actions were way out of line. I’ve also previously and publicly criticized Hall (here and here for examples). I believe that public statements and actions are rightfully publicly condemned so I also criticized Hall for his actions. Then I criticized even further when it became clear that he was responding by doubling down on his actions, despite a number of people publicly and some privately telling him he needed to apologize and repent.

After a couple days, Hall did finally admit, in a revision to a blog post about the situation, that it was poor judgment to include Braxton in his crusade against Ergun. (Note: that original post and the apology revision have since been taken down at Hall’s blog. I’m assuming his reasoning for taking it down was an attempt to be sensitive to the Caner family since the original part of the post contained material critical of Braxton.) Considering Hall’s earlier attempts to justify his actions and the laughable efforts at some of his followers to argue there was nothing wrong with J. D.’s actions, his apology was a welcome step, though nothing could make up for the complete lack of discernment Hall showed in the first place.

I want to make clear that I am not excusing or minimizing the fact that J. D. Hall’s actions were immature and reprehensible. In fact, I was one of those who called him out publicly at the time of the event. I was vocal enough in my criticism that Hall blocked me on Twitter.

Tragedy and Blame
I’ll admit that when I heard about Braxton’s death, the second thought, after sympathy for his family, was the Twitter exchange that occurred a little less than a month earlier. Could that have been a cause or contributing factor in this horrible situation? And if so, how much might it have affected the young man? Now, to be fair, I didn’t know anything about Braxton—at all—except for this online exchange a month before. Where else could my mind have gone? And I think a lot of people in my situation (online observer) likely had those same kinds of questions for the same reason.

In the days since the news spread, I’ve seen people condemn Hall as if he is the sole and lone cause of the young man’s tragic decision. I’ve seen long blog posts documenting every word written and spoken by Hall about the situation, seeming to tie his actions in a causal sense to Braxton’s death.

Then, on the other side, I’ve also seen defenders of Hall ask things like, “are you saying J. D. is to blame?” insinuating that there’s no blame whatsoever to be assigned to Hall—as if to assert that his actions were a contributing factor defies logic and is nothing more than an emotional reaction.

Neither reaction is right nor helpful to anyone. One thing we know is that we don’t know—especially those of us viewing this situation from a distance. It seems virtually impossible that this one event, 27 days before his death, could have single-handedly caused something so tragic. On the other hand, I don’t believe it had no effect on Braxton. For a young man, one who could have been struggling in other areas of life, to be the victim of what he considered an attack on himself and his family very well could have weighed more heavily on him than it would have on many of us. It may have weighed heavily on him, or he may have brushed it off quickly and thought no more of it days or weeks later. Once again, those of us observing from a distance just don’t know.

Maybe Braxton’s family and closest friends have some insight into what was going on in his life and mind. Maybe they have reason to believe Hall’s actions had a great impact or relatively no impact on him. If that’s something they ever want to talk about publicly, I’m willing to listen carefully and learn. From what I know of those who have dealt with suicide closely, often those closest to the deceased can only speculate—so it may be that no one ever knows how much, if any, blame deserves to be laid at the feet of J. D. Hall.

It’s completely reasonable to posit Hall’s comments could have been one more cloud on an already dreary day for this young man. In this scenario, Hall’s actions would be properly considered a contributing factor, though I think it would be nearly impossible to determine how great of a factor. It’s also completely reasonable to imagine that Braxton laughed off Hall’s actions as “some weird guy from Montana who stalks my dad tried to bother me on Twitter.” Braxton did poke back at Hall as being “creepy” and strangely obsessed. The fact is that we don’t know. We don’t know if Hall’s actions were a considerable factor, a minor factor, or no factor at all.

The fact that we don’t know should make all of us—Hall’s critics, his defenders, and the rest of us—very cautious about the way we speak, either accusing or defending. The one thing we do know is that Braxton’s death is a terrible tragedy and we ought to continue praying for all those personally affected by his death. As for the rest of it, let us be slow to speak and ready to listen.

Note on comments: Due to the nature of this topic, I’ve temporarily changed the comments policy site-wide to require moderator approval before any comment appears. I welcome productive conversation, but am afraid of the direction comments could go on this subject. The line between what’s allowed and what’s not will be completely subjective and up to my judgment. Personal attacks directed toward anyone will be off limits. Feel free to contact me on Twitter as well. I may selectively reply to concerns there.

Yesterday I finished preaching through the Gospel of John at New Song Fellowship. We spent seven and a half months on the gospel and I wanted to wrap up with a summary of what we had seen in John’s gospel over that time. Here’s the summary I wrote and read as a part of yesterday’s message.

Summary of John’s Gospel
by Brent Hobbs

In chapter 1, Jesus is the Word, who was with God and was God, the light of the world, who darkness could not overcome. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

In chapter 2, Jesus changes water into wine — a sign that his kingdom is not about dead ceremonial washings, but a living, joyful celebration of God’s kingdom. Then he clears the temple courts and claims to be, himself, the greater temple – God’s very presence on earth.

In chapter 3, Jesus talks with Nicodemus, telling him he must be born again to see God’s kingdom, and we learn that God loved the world by sending his only Son, so that all those believing in him would not perish, but have eternal life.

In chapter 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well and proves he’s the promised Messiah. The woman and many Samaritans in her village believe because of the words Jesus speaks to them.

In chapter 5, Jesus shows he has the power to heal and possesses the very authority of the Father.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds the 5,000 and walks across the lake, but many desert him when he claims that he himself is the bread of life, greater than the manna God gave through Moses.

In chapter 7, Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and uses the water and lantern ceremonies as object lessons. He teaches that he, himself, is the true fountain of living water and the light of the world.

In chapter 8, Jesus lets us know that all of us who sin are slaves to sin, but that there’s hope for us and true freedom can be found— because if the Son sets us free, we are free indeed.

In chapter 9, Jesus heals a man who had been blind his whole life, and offers to give sight to the physically seeing but spiritually blind Pharisees.

In chapter 10, Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. He’s come so that they might have life, and have it in full abundance.

In chapter 11, Jesus waits for his friend to die, then arrives at his funeral to call him out of his grave. The Pharisees and chief priests decide that since Lazarus lives, Jesus must die.

In chapter 12, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on a donkey, to a king’s welcome. But he knows that the path to his throne leads also to a brutal cross.

In chapter 13, Jesus takes his disciples to the upper room. He washes their feet and serves them as if he were their slave, to give an example that we all should follow.

In chapter 14, after predicting Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, and his own death, Jesus tell his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” because he is the way to the Father, the truth, and the life – and because he is sending the Holy Spirit to be their advocate.

In chapter 15, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We must remain in him.

In chapter 16, Jesus tells the disciple there will be weeping for a night, but afterward their weeping would turn to joy.

In chapter 17, just before his arrest & trial, Jesus prays for his disciples and for us: that we would live lives of unity and love.

When chapter 18 arrives, Jesus turns himself over to the Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers, because he came to earth to be lifted up and reveal the Father to the world.

In chapter 19, Pilate condemns an innocent man to die. Jesus is beaten, whipped, and nailed to a cross. The King of the Jews humiliated and tortured, fulfilling God’s perfectly designed plan, down to the lots cast for his clothing. Jesus bows his head and gives up his spirit with the cry, “It is finished!”

Jesus’ lifeless body is laid in a tomb and it seems like darkness reigns.

But the sun dawns on Sunday morning, and chapter 20 tells us about an empty tomb, a savior who comforts us by name, and Jesus appearing to his disciples. The light of the world lives! And Thomas proclaims, “My Lord, and My God!”

In chapter 21, the story is nearly over, but Jesus appears again. He continues to reveal his character and grace as he cooks breakfast for his disciples and forgives the one who denied him.

When the Word was made flesh, light invaded the darkness, and the darkness could not hold back God’s mission – what he meant to accomplish in Christ. And now what’s left is for you to believe this good news: Jesus reigns.