Recently after worship at First Baptist Church, Asheville, N.C., where I’m the interim minister of music, a choir member approached me almost as soon as the pastor had finished the benediction and said, “Doug, I’m scared.” Looking into this diminutive…
Why an open letter still matters
In April 2023, Baptist Women in Ministry shared an Open Letter to Baptist Women in response to an increase in actions against Baptist women who minister, lead and serve as pastors, specifically within the Southern Baptist Convention. In a recent…
As a Pentecostal, I wonder what’s happened to the Christian heart
It is common knowledge that evangelicals in the United States are staunch supporters of the MAGA movement. It’s not a stretch to suggest, had it not been for the evangelical vote, Donald Trump would not have been elected president even…
Redesigning wealth for a regenerative future
For generations, people in the Western world have fixated on scarcity. This mindset, rooted in the belief that resources and opportunities are limited, has shaped how Americans build their economy and define success. But as Buckminster Fuller pointed out decades…
‘That isn’t right’
My father told me a story about my Granddaddy this past summer that I’d never heard before. My paternal Grandfather was Baptist, like me. A real Baptist. The one who believed in organizational autonomy and the beauty of the Lottie…
America’s unfinished civil war
We are in the midst of an American civil war. This time, wool uniforms have been replaced by whistles, backpacks and face masks worn by ICE agents, and drafts have been replaced by calls from community organizers and federal recruitment…
Despair is not a choice
Many of us who care and are paying attention to the current reign of evil and terror in America are finding it hard to stay on the path of hope. When we see little children being used as pawns by…
When the powerful attempt to silence truth …
In today’s Lectionary, the Gospel reading is from Matthew 4:12-23, where we read: “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. … From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has…
In conversation with Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Grace Ji-Sun Kim is one of the most prolific and powerful liberation theologians I know, always directing attention to the ways our Christian beliefs in love, justice and mercy can and must help us engage the world. In a time…
Kristi Noem is a liar
Kristi Noem is a liar, but so is everyone else who keeps propping up the Liar in Chief. I have written extensively for years about the corrosive effects of Donald Trump’s lies and how they are infecting entire populations of…
The day after the public execution of Alex Pretti
I returned from Minneapolis to Dallas Friday night. I expected the next piece I’d write for Baptist News Global would be about my experience participating in the clergy actions on Friday. Those reflections will have to wait. When I saw…
The TheoBros are getting the war they want in Minnesota
John Piper’s Minnesota minions are apparently rejoicing in answered prayers tonight as yet another one of their neighbors has been shot dead by ICE. Two weeks ago, Andy Naselli, pastor of Christ the King Church in Stillwater, Minn., and professor of…