Dear Editor: The Willie McLaurin story came at a very bad time for the SBC, even though it would be hard to find a recent time without turmoil. After spending much of my career as an expert in fraud and…
Letter to the Editor: Gratitude for memory of Tom Graves
Dear Editor: It was with a significant sense of grief, and gratitude, that I read BNG’s recent article about the late Tom Graves. Having had the privilege of serving as president of the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond,…
Job description of a church member
These days, many have departed or disconnected from the local church. Some are burned out and some have just been burned by the messiness created by mean-spirited or misdirected church people. However, many other members and non-members are thinking in…
Religious freedom takes practice, not just legislation
Editor’s note: This is the fifth opinion piece in a new series on religious liberty authored by BJC Fellows and made possible by a grant from the Prichard Family Foundation. A few years ago, I met a woman who,…
3 ways to practice embodiment in a country that is censoring and capitalizing on our bodies
Since the overturn of Roe vs. Wade in June 2022, 13 states have banned abortion with another nine likely to follow. This means a staggering 48% of the nation would have laws banning procedures for women who need them. These…
Thoughts about the art and craft of teaching
This week I begin my 31st year of full-time teaching in the field of Christian ethics. In this post I want to think aloud about the art and craft of teaching. I believe the magic in teaching — at least…
America’s loneliness epidemic is the church’s calling
In a recently released advisory, the U.S. Surgeon General raised an alarm about the “devastating impact of the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in America,” citing harm to individual and societal health and calling on the nation to “prioritize building…
Another C.S. Lewis knock-off letter shows what evangelicals get wrong about sex
Note: This article includes an explicit discussion of sexuality. Desiring God’s latest installment of cheap Screwtape Letter knockoffs features Greg Morse attempting to mimic C.S. Lewis’ classic novel by writing a letter from a “marriage counselor” demon named Grimrod to his…
The man with a servant’s towel
Tom Graves will be remembered as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, mischievous brother and faithful son — as a thoughtful professor, a powerful orator, a good pastor and a strong leader. I personally remember him as the founding president of Baptist…
Talking about a controversial Country song at Bubba-Doo’s
There are questions I’m not always in a hurry to answer because of what I do. When you’ve been asked to remain as politically neutral as humanly possible so you can minister to a wide variety of people, the littlest…
‘Try That in A Small Town’
We already tried that, and it didn’t work out so well. For some people. The small town was Money, Miss., population less than a hundred. Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was accused of whistling at a white woman. They took care of…
Joseph and Baylor: Deceiving ourselves
The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis is a common one many of us learned in church or through the popular musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. While it may be an ancient story, it bears relevance…