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…
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…
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,…
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…
Praying on the Gulf Coast
By Jim Wallis The captain was the first to smell it. He told us that the ocean didn’t used to smell this way. Then we all smelled it. As we traveled further out over the choppy waters, it finally came…
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….
A very brief primer on Christian nationalism
By Bruce Gourley Christian nationalism is a hot topic, as a read of recent Associated Baptist Press articles and attendant commentary reveals. To wit, some Christians today insist that America was founded as a Christian nation, and that the concept…
Baptists (Cooperative and uncooperative) face the future, Part II
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two commentaries adapted from a presentation that the author gave at a recent retreat for executives from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and its partner agencies. The first is available here.) By Bill Leonard…
Grateful to God for America?
By David Gushee The July 4th weekend found me immersed in Christian political theology as I prepare to teach a course on this theme in Australia in a few weeks. Independence Day itself found me in one of my favorite…
Baptists (Cooperative and uncooperative) face the future, Part I
(Editor’s note: This is the first of two commentaries adapted from a presentation that the author gave at a recent retreat for executives from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and its partner agencies. The second will be published tomorrow, July 7.)…
Baptists shouldn’t take religious freedom for granted
By K. Hollyn Hollman When Baptists in America study their history, they typically respond with pride. The denomination’s longstanding witness on behalf of religious liberty can be traced to the first Baptists in England, who boldly proclaimed that God alone…