By Suzii Paynter “Once considered a private matter by Western policymakers, religion is now playing an increasingly influential role — both positive and negative — in the public sphere.” This is the opening sentence of a major foreign policy report,…
Nothing worth proving can be proven
By Jim Denison “Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven times. Walt Disney, the inventor of Mickey Mouse, was afraid of mice. A duck’s quack doesn’t echo…
Clergy and grief
By Bill Wilson A friend and I were talking a few weeks ago and she made the following statement: One of the hardest parts of long-term ministry is burying your friends. I buried a dear friend on Monday. It was…
A Baptist in a clerical collar?
By Eugene Curry Those careers that are part of what may broadly be construed as the “service sector” often involve some means of identification. Policemen sport badges, waiters don aprons and nurses wear scrubs. The idea is that such tell-tale…
Bad theology in the House of Representatives
By Allie Bullard On July 14, I listened to a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “The Ethical Imperative for Reform of Our Immigration System.” The hearing highlighted three conservative Christian leaders speaking on immigration, including: Richard Land of the Ethics…
Secularization, Australia, and us
By David Gushee Sometimes the best way to understand one’s own culture is to leave it, which I have done to teach a course this week at Morling College, a fine Baptist institution here in metropolitan Sydney. My most unexpected…
Truth, ‘Baptist Holy War’ casualties — and ABP
By Marv Knox “Truth is the first casualty of war,” the old adage proclaims. Consequently, a couple of truth-tellers became early victims of the Baptist Holy War. Twenty years ago this summer, the Southern Baptist Convention’s so-called “Conservative Resurgence” secured…
It’s summer. Where IS everybody?
By Amy Butler Warning: this column is purely a pastor’s summer rant. While I often feel alone in these sentiments, I strongly suspect that other pastors out there share my feelings. Thus, I’ve recorded them here just to see if,…
A man who told the truth
By Tony Cartledge Robert “Bob” Bratcher died July 11 and the world is a poorer place with his passing. Bratcher, a Greek scholar and one of the world’s most accomplished Bible translators, was best known for the modern English translation…
The good ‘other’
By Jerrod Hugenot The parable itself is quite unique. In fact, among all of the parables Jesus told as recorded in the four Gospels, this particular parable is one of only four that those who study such things classify as…
How God sees the Gulf
By Jim Denison A few weeks ago, my wife and I were flying over the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot came over the intercom, suggesting that we look through the windows on the left side of the airplane. We could…
The proper way to eat animal crackers
By David Wilkinson What’s the proper way to eat an animal cracker? According to the book Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, the most popular order of dismemberment among children is as follows: back legs, forelegs, head and, lastly, torso….