There are already thought to be more Christians in China (100 million) than members of the Communist Party (87 million). In fact, over the next 15 years, China is on course to become the nation with the world’s largest Christian…
Religion students petition Baylor to become sanctuary campus
A group of doctoral students in Baylor University’s religion department recently launched an online petition asking the administration to join the growing “sanctuary campus” movement, appealing to the private Baptist school’s Christian identity. Co-authored by six members of Baylor’s Graduate…
What’s love got to do with it?
As couples everywhere celebrate Valentine’s Day, Baptist News Global writer Greg Warner explores the whole issue of marriage and how it evolved from a mostly contractual agreement to a sacred institution of love and romance, and how even that has evolved…
Ending isolation saves careers, minister peer groups find
In ministry, going it alone can be downright depressing and, in extreme cases, deadly. Isolation, real or imagined, can lead ministers into burnout, emotional distress, heart disease and sometimes suicide. It prompts the age-old question: who pastors the pastors? Religious…
Fox pundit credits God, Franklin Graham, for electing Trump
Fox News personality Todd Starnes attributed Donald Trump’s election to “divine intervention” aided by prayer rallies led by evangelist Franklin Graham in an American Pastor’s Network radio interview Feb. 9. Starnes, a Fox News personality for more than a decade…
Experts warn that the church has lost its way — and its influence
Some Christian leaders wonder if the American church retains any meaningful influence in a society when it has been so strongly dominated by other cultural forces. In the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, theologian Ron Sider laments that…
BJC leader says churches can influence policy without being a PAC
The head of a Baptist religious liberty watchdog group warned in a Religion News Service op-ed Feb. 9 that removing limits on political activity by tax-exempt charities could harm churches more than help them. Amanda Tyler, executive director of the…
Focus on passion, not numbers, in nurturing new congregations
Church planting has never been easy, but it seems to be getting a lot harder in an age of nones, dones and young people who just don’t join things. As a result, those new to the field of launching new…
Franklin Graham says God uses ‘extreme vetting,’ welcomes confirmation of attorney general
Evangelist Franklin Graham, on his way to Puerto Rico for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s first Festival of Hope event in 2017, said Wednesday on social media that God uses “extreme vetting” in deciding who gets into heaven. “I’m on…
Transitions for the week of 02.10.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Dennis Bazemore, to Murfreesboro (N.C.) Baptist Church, as interim pastor. Larry Fields, to Smithwood Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tenn.,…
A not-so-hot reaction to Trump’s promise to fuse church and politics
Donald Trump has vowed to “destroy” federal rules prohibiting religious groups from engaging in partisan politics. Politically conservative Christians may favor the idea of church and state being connected at the hip. They may perceive it as translating into more…
Banned by LifeWay, hip-hop artist says white evangelicals don’t get black culture
A popular hip-hop artist whose album was dropped by Southern Baptist retailer LifeWay Christian Stores after customer complaints says white evangelicals are trying to reach people in urban contexts without understanding their culture. Amisho Baraka Lewis, a 38-year-old Christian hip-hop…