A year ago this summer, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship not only had to hurriedly move its annual General Assembly to a virtual space due to threat of COVID-19, but faced difficult decisions about cutting its annual budget down to a…
Biden Education Department hopes to reverse last-minute Trump allowance of campus discrimination based on religious beliefs
The U.S. Department of Education announced Aug. 19 that it anticipates rescinding parts of a rule enacted by the Trump administration that forces universities to financially support religious student groups that discriminate. This November 2020 reinterpretation of the Free Inquiry Rule…
New lawsuit accuses SBC Executive Committee, Southern Seminary, Lifeway and others of ‘conspiracy’ to cover up sexual abuse claims
A sweeping lawsuit filed by a victim of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her Baptist pastor father alleges a conspiracy among several Southern Baptist Convention entities and individuals to defame her and squelch her pleas for relief. The…
Church ‘religious exemption’ letters against COVID vaccination mandates likely won’t work
Churches in California and North Carolina are among those now offering congregants documentation for “religious exemptions” to the COVID-19 vaccine, a practice that is legally dubious and likely ineffective, according to labor lawyers. The practice has arisen as more employers…
‘Humanitarian catastrophe’ unfolding in Afghanistan
“What we are witnessing, in real time, is a humanitarian catastrophe.” That’s the grim assessment of the situation in Afghanistan this week by one of the foremost authorities on immigration work in the United States. Ali Noorani, president of the…
The need to be persecuted
Yesterday, I started teaching a new series to my adult Bible study class on 1 Thessalonians. As part of the introduction to this Pauline epistle, I attempted to explain to the class the kind of real persecution these early Christians…
Americans almost as divided over transgender identity as over abortion
American views on people who change gender are nearly as divisive as views on abortion, new polling from Gallup shows, in the first-of-its-kind research by the firm. Gallup has tracked Americans’ views on a range of sexuality issues for the…
CBF General Assembly moves to online-only format as COVID cases climb
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s attempt to plan a hybrid General Assembly in late August has fallen victim to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic across America. What had been planned as a virtual gathering with three regional in-person options now…
What’s wrong with ‘Left Behind’?
One of the biggest lies perpetuated in modern American Christianity is about the end times. Just by paying attention to popular culture and conversation, you would assume that the “Left Behind” theology is the most accepted — and maybe the…