This is the first in a four-part series BNG will publish every Monday during Advent. There’s something about Mary, the mother of Jesus, that Baptists don’t quite know what to do with. I’ve noticed we tend to avoid Mary. If…
Tim Tebow, male leadership and the ‘feminine,’ ‘weak’ church
Lately we have seen much talk about “real” biblical manhood vs. the “feminization”of the local church. The church is weak because the men are weak, the critics say. Blame the decline of church attendance and the decline of Christian values…
Jesus scares or Jesus cares?
After the violent attack on her husband Paul, Nancy Pelosi released a statement saying she and her family are heartbroken and traumatized but are grateful for the prayers and warm wishes they have received. Her husband is improving. Then she…
Justice sated in The Handmaid’s Tale
The much-anticipated return of The Handmaid’s Tale, a TV series based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Margaret Atwood, was just released. Last season ended with the murder of Commander Fred Waterford, who played a large part in the creation of…
Keep your Bible where it belongs
When I took my first Bible class in college, I was required to memorize the books of the Bible. A lot of people in my class found that exercise of writing out the books of the Bible from memory in…
Dear Tucker Carlson: Women are not afraid, we are angry
Last week, a young mother named Eliza Fletcher was abducted and murdered in Memphis, Tenn., not too far from where I live. Liza was a beloved preschool teacher at a local private school. Her husband reported her missing after she…
Jesus would turn over tables in this Crisis Pregnancy Center
During my first stint in seminary, I visited a Crisis Pregnancy Center to write a paper for a class on health and spirituality. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. When I arrived, the director and I met for a…
Abuse will continue if freedom is repressed
Growing up, I yearned for freedom. Freedom to make my own decisions. Freedom from my parents. Freedom to be myself in a world that didn’t really like headstrong girls or women. When I questioned Sunday School teachers or offered a…
The consent of mothers
We are all called to be mothers of God — for God is always waiting to be born. — Meister Eckart, 13 c. German mystic In the wake of the news that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v….