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….
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…
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 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.)…
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…
This July 4th, exercise your freedom to worship
By Barry Howard July 4th falls on Sunday this year. Where will you be this Sunday morning? Independence Day falls on Sunday only every few years. The last time this occurred was 2004. The next time July 4th falls on…
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…
‘Prophetic leadership’ isn’t an idle phrase
By Amy Butler Seems like everybody likes to use the phrase “prophetic leadership” when it comes to the church. It sounds deeply theological and also a little daring, don’t you think? Pastor search committees have a tendency to use the…
Church, state, and the mouse’s fate
By Brent Beasley This week a good friend of mine from a former church, Carmen Anderson, asked me for a story I once told in a sermon about farm animals that all got killed by the farmer. She thought she…
“Christian nation” e-mails inbound…
With July 4th looming, I expect the usual flurry of e-mails telling me the following: 1. On the aluminum cap atop the Washington Monument are two Latin words, Laus Deo, meaning, “Praise be to God;” 2. the Founding Fathers were…