<![CDATA[Dr Ray Gentry.com - Blog]]>Thu, 07 May 2026 09:16:17 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Southern Baptists See Attendance, Baptism Gains Amid Membership Declines; One of Four Things to Know This Week, May 7, 2026]]>Wed, 06 May 2026 20:41:55 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/southern-baptists-see-attendance-baptism-gains-amid-membership-declines-one-of-four-things-to-know-this-week-may-7-2026A Word to the Wise: 

Are you building or maintaining? 
 
James Clear, 3-2-1 Thursday, 4.30.26
​
Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. Southern Baptists See Attendance, Baptism Gains Amid Membership Declines (Lifeway Research)
 
2. Study Shows Gen Z Moving Toward Faith and Away From It (The Christian Index)
 
3. Church Attendance Increases for the First Time in Decades (Lifeway Research)
 
4. Ducking the New Surveillance (The Dispatch, Nathan Beacom)
 
 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I have been asked by a ministry partner to help spread the word about Rededicate 250 on May 17 in Washington, DC. Here is a short video about it.
 
I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[The Modern Flattening of Sin – And What We Lose; Plus Four Things to Know This Week, April 30, 2026]]>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 18:22:47 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/the-modern-flattening-of-sin-and-what-we-lose-plus-four-things-to-know-this-week-april-30-2026A Word to the Wise: The Modern Flattening of Sin—and What We Lose (Trevin Wax)
 
Whatever happened to the seven deadly sins? For centuries, theologians, philosophers, and poets treated pride, envy, sloth, gluttony, lust, wrath, and greed as a diagnostic of the human soul in its self-centered sickness. These sins were the biggest windows into the condition of humanity’s broken-down house, the particular ways the soul curves in on itself rather than turning upward to God…sin as sickness and sin as estrangement from God—can be found in Scripture. The trouble comes when we let the second picture eclipse the first.
 
When we recast sin as primarily a matter of feeling far from God rather than being in an objective state of rebellion against him, the solution gets altered. We no longer need a physician who prescribes a cure for a dying patient; we go looking for a therapist who helps us understand our feelings. 
 
Our greatest need isn't for a Savior who will die to make us feel better about ourselves but for a Savior whose death will pardon rebels, a Great Physician whose blood can heal our sin-sick hearts, a Liberator who sets us free from our captivity.
 
Scripture gives us a view of sin large enough to require the gospel. Unless we understand what we've been saved from, we’ll never fully grasp what we've been saved for.

Trevin Wax, 4.24.26, The Modern Flattening of Sin—and What We Lose
Social science has reframed sin in terms of symptoms. We need a vision of sin large enough to require the gospel. 

​Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. A Calling to Die: Ben Sasse shows what it means to approach dying as a Christian (James R. Wood, World Opinions)
 
2. Lifeway Trustees Elect Ryan Blackwell as President and CEO (Baptist Press)
 
3. 2026 Committee on Nominations Report Released (Baptist Press)
 
4. GuideStone, ERLC Applaud House Passage of Clergy Act (Baptist Press) 

 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[A Profound Strategy to Help You Follow Christ with Integrity the Rest of Your Life, Plus Four Things to Know This Week, April 23, 2026]]>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:33:12 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/a-profound-strategy-to-help-you-follow-christ-with-integrity-the-rest-of-your-life-plus-four-things-to-know-this-week-april-23-2026​A Word to the Wise: A Profound Strategy to Help You Follow Christ with Integrity the Rest of Your Life
 
Here is one way our Father helps us keep going with solid integrity until the day we die. And I’ll bet you five American dollars this one isn’t on your to-do list for today. Am I being too bold? If so, I apologize—and you’ve won my five bucks! But I think it’s a safe bet.
So, I’ll put this profoundly wise strategy right out on the table. Here it is: . . . enjoying the enjoyable!
You read that right. Enjoyment. It’s a brilliant tactic for serious Christians living in a confused world.
Here are words for it: Savoring. Tasting. Noticing. Appreciating. Relishing. Delighting. Celebrating. Laughing. Relaxing. Playing. Conversing. Smiling. Feasting. Sharing. Thanking. We have many words to describe it, because God gives us many ways to receive it.
Bold enjoyment for the sake of sustainable integrity is taught in the Bible. Ecclesiastes 11:9–10 guides us onto this profound and happy path for daily living:
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
That passage raises many questions, doesn’t it? But for now, I’ll limit myself to three insights we gain from this startlingly wonderful passage.
One, this passage comes from one of the Wisdom books of the Bible. What is biblical wisdom? It is the acquired skill of living well in a complicated world. 
Two, this passage is both a liberation and a warning.
The liberation is this: God, your Father, is inviting you to look around, notice the many enjoyments he is offering you, and go for it! 
The warning is this: You will stand before God one day and give him an account for how you have lived this life. So don’t be selfish, reckless, oblivious. Honor Christ and love others in all you do.
Three, if you and I revere the Bible as the Word of God, then how should we respond to this word from God? Dare to believe it. Dare to receive it. Dare to live it out.
Something within us might prefer to hang back with low-grade misery as our blah daily “meh.” But that mentality is a sin against our gracious Creator, calling for immediate repentance.
​
Ray Ortlund, Crossway email, 4.20.26. He is the author of Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: A Gospel Call to Bold Enjoyment.

Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. Pace Receives Unanimous Vote to be Southeastern Seminary President (Baptist Press)
 
2. Mohler Calls for End to Confusion Around Pastoral Role (Biblical Recorder)    
 
3. Longtime Church Planter Tells About What It Will Take to Reach the West (Baptist Press)
 
4. Pastors, Churchgoers See AI as Concerning, Confusing (Lifeway Research)
 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[10 Reasons Why Contributions May Be Declining; Plus Four Things to Know This Week, April 16, 2026]]>Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:37:31 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/10-reasons-why-contributions-may-be-declining-plus-four-things-to-know-this-week-april-16-2026A Word to the Wise: 10 Reasons Why Contributions May Be Declining (Bob Bickford)
 
Here are some of the most common ones—and they’re not what most people expect.
1. When Trust Drops, Giving Follows
2. When People Don’t See Impact, They Stop Investing
3. When People Feel Unseen, They Disengage
4. When Giving Feels Like Pressure, It Eventually Breaks
5. Sometimes People Aren’t Giving Because No One Is Leading Them To Give
​6. Some People Withhold Giving to Send a Message
7. Some People Are Quietly Struggling Financially
8. Some People Have Just Drifted
9. The Generous Generation is Passing Away
10. Attendance Patterns and Process
As much as we dislike this - it’s true. People are attending church less frequently. That means those who only give when they attend are likely missing regular giving.
If you don’t have multiple ways for congregants to give - you’re missing out.

So What Do You Do? 
If giving is declining, don’t start with a campaign. Start with clarity.
Rebuild Trust
Strengthen Care
Actually Lead on Giving
Pay Attention to Real Needs
Go After the Heart
If giving is down, resist the urge to fix it quickly.
Slow down long enough to ask better questions.
Listen. Observe. Diagnose.
​
www.bobbickford.com/blog/10-reasons-why-church-contributions-may-be-declining
Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. ‘Almost Nobody is Tithing’ Grey Matter Finds, But Decline in Evangelical Giving Slows (Baptist Press) 
 
2. ERLC Trustees Name Evan Lenow Next President (Baptist Press)
 
3. Tennessee Association Transforms Storage Shed Into Biblical Counseling Center (The Christian Index)
 
4. First-Person: This David Stokes the Fire of Ministers (KY Today, A Tribute to retired AMS David Stokes)
 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[5 Ways Churches Can Connect with Single Adults After Easter; One of Four Things to Know This Week, April 9, 2026]]>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:17:00 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/5-ways-churches-can-connect-with-single-adults-after-easter-one-of-four-things-to-know-this-week-april-9-2026A Word to the Wise 
 
If desecration is the pervasive problem of our day, then nothing less than consecration is the answer. We have imagined ourselves to be gods and have ironically reduced ourselves to mere dust. That is a moral problem. It cannot be solved simply by “reenchanting” our world by acknowledging that nature is mysterious or that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our consumerist philosophies of life. Consecration is not a feeling or an emotional response to something; it has a distinct dogmatic, cultic, and moral shape, with all three elements standing in nonnegotiable connection to each other. … Only a renovation of the heart, redirecting it toward God, is able to [answer our plight]. And that only takes place in the context of the church, where humanity by creed, cult, and code can once again realize what being made in the image of God truly means.

Carl Trueman, The Desecration of Man
Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. How to Measure Your Church (Robby Gallaty, Vick Green, Baptist Press/Lifeway Research) 
 
2. Former ‘Reluctant AMS’ Looks Forward to Serving Bivocational, Small-Church Pastors (Baptist Press)
 
3. 5 Ways Churches Can Connect with Single Adults After Easter (PJ Dunn, The Christian 
    Index)
 
4. The Desecration of Man, How the Rejection of God Degrades Our Humanity (Tim Challies)

 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[Survey Aims to Develop Overview of Southern Baptist Worship; One of Four Things to Know This Week, April 2, 2026]]>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:54:19 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/survey-aims-to-develop-overview-of-southern-baptist-worship-one-of-four-things-to-know-this-week-april-2-2026A Word to the Wise 
 
“The world has yet to see what God will do…with the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.” D. L. Moody heard those words in London the summer of 1867, and they challenged him the rest of his life. He immediately said, “I will try to be that man.” 
The Life of Dwight L. Moody by W. R. Moody

Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. Survey Aims to Develop Overview of Southern Baptist Worship (Baptist Press) Pass this on!
 
2. ERLC Presidential Committee Announces Dr. Evan Lenow as Candidate to Serve as ERLC President (The Christian Index)
 
3. On Becoming a Leader Everyone Roots For (Admired Leadership Field Notes)
 
4. Scott Pace Named Candidate to Lead Southeastern Seminary (Baptist Press) 

 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[When Your Spouse Stops Being Your Project; One of Four Things to Know This Week, March 26, 2026]]>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:42:01 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/when-your-spouse-stops-being-your-project-one-of-four-things-to-know-this-week-march-26-2026A Word to the Wise by Mac Lake
 
While answers can solve problems. Questions develop leaders.
Great leaders resist the urge to fix—and choose to coach.
So here’s something you can try this week:
In one conversation, replace your answer with a question:
  • “What do you think?”
  • “What’s your next step?”
  • “What did you learn?”
It might feel slower at first. But it’s actually how leaders grow faster.
Because when people think, process, and act for themselves, they begin to lead—not just follow. 
​
Mac Lake, 3.23.26, Most Leaders Talk Too Much, Try This Instead
Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. Beneath the Surface of Leadership Development (Dan Reiland)
 
2. Southern Baptists Remember, Give Thanks for Steve Gaines (Baptist Press)
 
3. When Your Spouse Stops Being Your Project (Tim Challies)
 
4. How to Create a Discipleship Plan for an Established Church (Ken Braddy, Lifeway)

 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[Wise and Helpful Ways for Christians to Experiment with AI; One of Four Things to Know This Week, March 19, 2026]]>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:35:04 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/wise-and-helpful-ways-for-christians-to-experiment-with-ai-one-of-four-things-to-know-this-week-march-19-2026A Word to the Wise: 
 
AI won’t replace people, but people who use AI will replace people who don’t use AI. 

Quote by an IBM researcher recounted by Wes Moss, Money Matters, WSB Radio, 2.22.26
 
Four Things to Know This Week
 
1. Excellence is not a Performance Target (Admired Leadership Field Notes)
 
2. 12 Reasons Pastors Leave a Church (Chuck Lawless)
 
3. Looking Up in the Age of the Crowd (Trevin Wax)
 
4. Wise and Helpful Ways for Christians to Experiment with AI (Tim Challies)
 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray

P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[Five Discipleship Trends in Effective Churches Right Now; Plus Four Things to Know This Week, March 12, 2026]]>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:43:40 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/five-discipleship-trends-in-effective-churches-right-now-plus-four-things-to-know-this-week-march-12-2026A Word to the Wise: 
 
Five Discipleship Trends in Effective Churches Right Now
The return to midweek discipleship
Why marriage ministry must integrate with kids and students
Why affordable theological training is essential
How stewardship reflects spiritual maturity
Why groups—not worship—drive consistency
​
Sam Rainer, Church Answers, https://churchanswers.com/webinars/five-new-research-based-discipleship-trends-most-church-leaders-are-missing/
​
Four Things to Know This Week
 
1.  AMS Replant Lab Spurs Hope Renewal for Dying Churches (Baptist Press)
 
2. Baker to Chair 2026 Committee on Resolutions, Portal Opens March 15 (Baptist Press)
 
3. 3 Pivotal Trends in Theological Education: The 2026 ATS Report (Ed Stetzer, Logos.com)
 
4. What Three Godly Heroes Are Teaching My Seminary Students (Chuck Lawless, Church Answers)
    
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
​
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]><![CDATA[What Do People Want Most From Their Leader? Hope; Plus Four Things to Know This Week, March 5, 2026]]>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 13:53:10 GMThttps://www.drraygentry.com/blog/what-do-people-want-most-from-their-leader-hope-plus-four-things-to-know-this-week-march-5-2026A Word to the Wise: 
 
Gallup identified four key expectations followers have of their leaders. They need leaders to provide hope, trust, compassion, and stability.
​
Aaron Earls, Lifeway Research, 3.7.25, What Do People Want Most From Their Leader? Hope
​
Four Things to Know This Week

  1. Forces for Good Summit Aims to Equip Churches for Sexual Abuse Prevention, Response (Baptist Press)
  2. 10 Nonnegotiable Rules for Student Safety in Churches (Sam Rainer, Church Answers)
  3. Group Caught Amid Iran Attacks Now Headed Back to U. S. (Baptist Press)
  4. 12 Signs of Hope for a Declining Church (Chuck Lawless)
 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
]]>