By Kyle Henderson My son was hired for a temporary job. It is a great job and great opportunity, but it will only last two months. He has been looking for a while, so we were excited. He had only…
Something inside
On Thursday morning, 50 of us are jammed into a Sunday school room singing chants. Most of the “us” are scholars — elementary school students — for Freedom School. This is the first day of six weeks that will be…
Does God hate our sympathy? The AME massacre and social media
In the wake of the AME massacre in Charleston, S.C., I’m beginning to wonder if sympathy is a sin. Everywhere I turn I hear sympathy: “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families” or “Lord, have mercy!”
Tragedy of abuse is manifest in ‘Love & Mercy’
Brian Wilson has a tortured soul. Much of his life had abuse from one source or another. His greatest tormentor was his father, Murry. The backdrop of an abusive father informs Love & Mercy, a powerful biopic on the life…
A final commentary on the day’s news
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee This is my last regular column for Baptist News Global. Beginning July 1, I will take up an offer from Religion News Service to become one of their 12 regular bloggers/columnists. I offer reflections on…
How Long, O Lord?
“How Long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” the Psalmist asks. African Americans ask this question in the wake of the murder of nine Christians at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina during a Wednesday…
It’s hard to sleep
It is hard to sleep. Tonight, I struggle to reach the land of the sandman because I kept wondering if another scenario like the one at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina was taking place elsewhere in…
A quarter-century after the SBC holy war
This past week marked the 25th anniversary of the final battle in the Southern Baptist holy war. The former combatants noted the occasion appropriately: They got on with current business. The Southern Baptist Convention conducted its annual meeting in Columbus,…
MACBF’s ‘net’ widens to include a full- time coordinator
By Starlette McNeill Members of the Mid-Atlantic Cooperative Baptist Fellowship gathered at Seven Locks Baptist Church in Potomac, Md., for a meeting with Suzii Paynter, the executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. It began like any other meeting —…
Pastor, preach on Charleston shooting
We know now that Dylann Roof acting alone in the shooting and killing that occurred at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. The outpouring of shock, anger, sadness and grief was abundant on social media and on television. As a…
‘I see ya brought a helper’
My dad drove a gas truck for the local farmers cooperative when I was a kid. He delivered bulk fuel to farms for tractors and furnace oil to village dwellers for heat. In the summer or on a school break,…
When fast makes us fat, dumb and tired
By John Chandler Matthew Sleeth is a medical doctor, later-in-life convert to Christianity, activist for creation care, and author of “24/6 — a prescription for a healthier, happier life.” His book about Sabbath is intelligent, intelligible and winsome. His practical…