Four years ago Joel Gregory, Professor of Preaching at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, was commissioned by the Baptist World Alliance to study representative Baptist preaching throughout the world. Talk about taking a bite out of an…
Learning how to eat the Lord’s Supper
By Brett Younger When I was 5 years old, we visited my grandmother’s church when they were having the Lord’s Supper. The worship service had nothing to do with Communion, but after the long invitation that closed the service, the…
The resurrection of a dying church
By Alex Gallimore I became a pastor during the scorching summer of 2012. Although I was right out of divinity school where I had been trained to think theologically and had accumulated quite a bit of local church experience, the…
It’s not time
It must be nice to live in a black-and-white world in which people either embrace “evolution” (more on that in a minute) or are science deniers who are committed to a view of Scripture that is quaint but utterly foolish….
Christians, war and neighbor love
By David Gushee Follow David on Twitter: @dpgushee As I write, this is the lede on the main New York Times Iraq story: “Wielding the threat of sectarian slaughter, Sunni Islamist militants claimed on Sunday that they had massacred hundreds of…
So, what about preaching and plagiarism?
By Marv Knox Pastoral plagiarism is back in the news. Actually, pulpit pilfering happens so often, it never goes completely away. But it made headlines again this month, when Religion News Service published an article asking, “Is pulpit plagiarism on the…
The “ruinous consequences” of payday lending
“Very few things harden the heart more than usury in all its forms.” A Baptist pastor in North Carolina wrote those words in the October 31, 1840 edition of the Biblical Recorder. Citing a slew of Bible verses from Exodus…
It’s time for evangelicals to come out for evolution
By Chuck Queen Whenever I engage in conversation with people I meet for the first time I try to avoid being asked the question, “What do you do for a living?” But if I am asked I say, “I am…
In ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ repetition offers a form of grace
By Michael Parnell Tom Cruise is not the box office draw he once was. His last seven movies have not made it past the $100 million mark that declares a hit. Cruise has a problem. He keeps playing the same…
The problem of violence
I remember when the Columbine High School shootings happened in 1999. Schools across the country went into lockdown. Most of us were left mouths open watching news reports, trying to process and understand what happened and why. Schools and other…
Beginning a journey
By Amy Butler Dear Riverside Community, There are moments in life when we know that we are standing on holy ground, when we are overtaken with the knowledge that God is here, and when the call of God in our…
A word for the graduates, part 2
As graduates around the country begin making plans for the next phase of their lives, it will be worthwhile for them to take some time to prepare for the challenges that will come with it. For Christian young people in…