Baptist News Global

VITAL SIGNS: The reformation of your church

I have had the privilege of working with numerous congregations to clarify their identity and lean into the future proactively. When that has gone well, one consequence has nearly always been true. The fresh vision requires a significant shift in…

LEADERSHIP LINK: It takes a community to lead a community

We are Christ’s co-laborers (2 Cor. 6:1). Churches are collaborative communities. Remember Paul’s conversation about how diverse spiritual gifts blend together to empower congregational ministries in First Corinthians 12? Romans 16 emphasizes that same theme — but with names and…

OPINION: Billy Graham and the ‘old, old story’

(ABP) — “Billy Graham is the most famous evangelist in the world and his power of persuasion has softened the skeptics who used to call him the hot-gospeller from the Bible Belt.” That’s how legendary (cigarette-puffing) CBS newsman Edward R….

TRENDING: Scatter-shooting some trends

Ed Stetzer is an interesting missiologist based in Nashville, Tenn. Brash, opinionated, and fiercely research-driven, he met with a group of Spence Network pastors recently for a “what’s trending” conversation. Here are a handful of his many descriptions/predictions: 1. “The…

REVIEW: ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ portrays human suffering, without the filter

There are some movies that you will only watch once. They are so intense and deal with subject matter that makes you not want to repeat the experience. Yet, when you finish viewing it you are grateful for the experience….

OPINION: Unwrapping the church

(ABP) — Let’s be honest: at the start of my pastorate I had no idea what I was doing. Combined with my glaring inexperience, that first year of pastoral ministry also carried a heavy weight of congregational expectation: “Finally our…

‘Churchy’ lingo turning off Millennials

(ABP) — If there were an 11th commandment, for Millennials it might be “thou shalt ban pious slogans from thy midst.” In fact, faith-based lingo — like “everything happens for a reason” and “God is in control” — is coming…

Controversy underscores importance of theology in hymns

Worship leaders seldom welcome controversy. But some church musicians see value in the dust-up created earlier this year by a line in a hymn. The committee on congregational song for the Presbyterian Church, USA, wanted to include a version of…

What enables some worship songs to last for generations, others to disappear?

Some worship songs endure for centuries, while others stir the souls of one generation and leave others cold. What enables some songs to span centuries, cross denominational lines and contribute to the worship of multiple generations in diverse settings? “Hymns…

‘I am a fact … that does not yet have a name’

There’s a link between climate crisis and Christian nationalism, McLaren says

Where are they now?

Our undeceived young people