With more than 800,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in America alone, observers might wonder why some U.S. congregations have taken a seemingly cavalier approach to fighting the pandemic. One possible answer emerged this week from new survey data released by…
Who needs the church when we have the biblical worldview?
After his second visit to New York in 1939, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrestled with the character of Protestant churches in America versus those in Europe in an essay titled “Protestantism without Reformation.” Even as he introduced his argument, which plays up…
Beauty out of ashes: Something’s stirring in the rubble of Lebanon
You think America has problems? Spend a week or two in Lebanon, and you’ll get a taste of what real — as in existential — problems are. Even Scrooge would sympathize. Imagine scrounging barely enough food to eat once, maybe…
Progressives have a problem telling their story
George Lakoff argues that progressives are in despair because they are trying to do 21st century politics with an 18th century mind. Progressives are clinging to an unworkable model of reason. Another of Aristotle’s persuasion tropes is sweeping across America –…
Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas and the world we see
After having what will one day be recognized as a Hall of Fame NFL career, Demaryius Thomas died unexpectedly of what police are calling “a medical issue” in his Georgia home on Dec. 9, 2021. He would have turned 34…
Americans growing less religious and more strictly religious at the same time
In the current sociology of American religion, there are two trends moving in opposite directions. The “nones” are growing in number, while among those who identify as Christian, varieties of fundamentalism are growing. Religion researcher Ryan Burge recently summarized this…
Look at the big picture to see the reckoning happening on sexual abuse
Events often occur in a series spaced out far enough that it becomes difficult to understand the comprehensive nature of the series. Often the space between the events makes it appear the events are episodic. Such is the case with…
The true gospel is social
Several years ago, a mission team of laypersons preached the morning sermon at First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas. They had just returned from completing medical and construction projects at a small Christian hospital in the mountains near Chihuahua, Mexico….
Reflections on The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
When I was in college in the mid-2000s, I devoured books by pastors and writers who were labeled “Emergent.” Coming out of my Southern Baptist upbringing, I was drawn to expressions of Christianity that seemed to engage culture not as…