Note: This post is an excerpt from a chapter titled “Juneteenth” in the author’s forthcoming book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy, which will be published September 8 and is now available for pre-order....
My mother had light in her eyes. She was a delightful combination of my grandparents. My grandmother had a strong sense of right and wrong, a strong sense that her way was right and yours was wrong. So much was…
North Point Church’s groundbreaking efforts to create churches across Georgia not designed for church people are being undermined by evangelicals who have prioritized politics over mission, Pastor Andy Stanley told his congregation Dec. 29. In a nearly hour-long sermon that…
The recent terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day has shaken the nation. As details emerge, the tragedy underscores the urgent need to confront the forces that fuel radicalization and extremism. In the face of such senseless violence,…
After a presidential election that reportedly turned on fears about inflation, less than half of Americans now say they believe President-elect Donald Trump will be able to reduce the price of groceries. Debates about the price of food staples such…
We were out visiting for the church, the Deacon and I, two Baptists prepared to “win the lost for Christ” on a steamy summer Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth. The Deacon was a committed soul winner, and I was a…
Israeli’s war in Gaza attained genocidal proportions soon after it began in 2023, marked by comprehensive efforts to destroy or displace the Palestinian population in the embattled territory, according to a new report by Amnesty International. In addition to its…
Editor’s note: This column was published March 2, 2023, in the Pine Belt News of Hattiesburg, Miss., and is republished here with slight edits to fit the remembrance of Jimmy Carter. In Jimmy Carter’s boyhood autobiography, An Hour Before…
With their man headed back to the White House, Republicans are significantly more optimistic about America’s fate in 2025 than either Democrats or independents, according to Gallup. The venerable polling firm asked a representative national sample their opinions on the…
Shortly after the 2024 presidential election, I dreamed a dream. I was on a sidewalk in what appeared to be a seedy part of town. Weeds were pushing through sidewalk cracks. Volunteer bushes were brushing up against the gigantic wall…
I don’t mean to sound morbid, but I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice how eerily similar funeral services are to the ritual of sentencing a person to prison. With the ritual of a funeral ceremony, many people…
For the most part, Baptist leaders in the United States heaped praise on former U.S. President Jimmy Carter after his Dec. 29 death at age 100. Apart from Al Mohler, a Southern Baptist Convention seminary president who accused Carter of…
The most-read Baptist News Global analysis pieces in 2024 were dominated by instances of clergy sexual abuse and the misogyny and hyper-masculinity being preached from megachurch pulpits. Embattled personalities like Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler were among the leaders whose…
