By Elizabeth Evans Hagan No matter if you believe being gay is theologically sound or not, the presence of the gay and lesbian community in our society is growing all the time. A May 25, 2011, Gallup Poll reported a…
Anthony Weiner and spiritual schizophrenia
By Jim Denison Had you heard of Anthony Weiner last month? The New York congressman has served in the House of Representatives since 1999, but most of us didn’t know his name before the lewd pictures he sent to at…
Growing up Baptist in a pluralistic world
By Zachary Bailes In his Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport, George Washington wrote in 1790: “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the…
Pentecost, celebrating God’s rainbow of diversity
By Angela Yarber Countless Baptist churches gather for worship on Pentecost, singing in a variety of different languages, swathing sanctuaries in red, and celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit. At Wake Forest Baptist Church we also baptize one of…
Pluralism, not privilege, the debates continue
By Bill Leonard Winthrop Hudson, the American Baptist historian, writes: “The most obvious inference to be drawn from our present low spiritual estate would seem to be that the churches are no longer fully measuring up to the specific responsibility…
Pentecost, the birthday of the church
By R. Kevin Johnson This coming Sunday is Pentecost. Coming 50 days after Easter, Pentecost commemorates the day that Jesus’ promise to the disciples was fulfilled and the Holy Spirit descended like flames of fire. This date on the Christian…
Dreaming with God
By Bill Wilson I’ve made a transition in recent years in the way I think and talk about God’s will. For many people, the will of God is a mysterious, elusive and frustrating concept. Too often, we have made it…
Saying ‘no thanks’ to prayer
By David Wilkinson Is it ever a good idea to turn down someone’s offer to pray for you? My neighbor thought so. My wife, Melanie, and I were talking with Kathy and Joe on the sidewalk in front of their…
Being Baptist — An Interracial Journey
By Bill Leonard One Sunday in January 1994, our family — Candyce, Stephanie and I — walked across the parking lot of the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., after the morning service. An elderly African-American woman approached us…
The end of the world as we know it
By Amy Butler Well, another Rapture prediction has come and gone and I don’t know about you, but I’m still here. This time, everybody seems to be talking about it, from conservative Christian friends, to non-believers, to my friends who…
The Ascension of Jesus
By R. Kevin Johnson This week Christians commemorate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. Like the event recorded in the scriptures, the celebration takes place 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection. In the first chapter of Acts, Jesus spends a few…
John Jay report holds lessons for Baptists
By Christa Brown Last week, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice released the results of a five-year study on the “causes and context” of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. Though the study was commissioned by United States…