Baptist News Global

Joy and happiness not the same thing, pastors insist

Christians can experience joy even in loss — provided they don’t confuse joy with happiness but accept it as a gift from God, several pastors noted. “Joy is not the same as happiness. It is a deeper contentment that sustains…

Joy to the World?

Ever since an angel announced good news to shepherds working the night shift, Christians have associated the birth of Jesus with joy. But some people who have experienced significant loss in the recent past find a season of celebration observed…

Through loss and grief, Christian musician finds strength in God

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When the contemporary Christian group Selah recorded “It Is Well with My Soul” and “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” for their 1999 debut album, Be Still My Soul, one of its members, Todd Smith, had no idea…

Christmas loss: Suggested reading

Pastors recommended the following books as particularly helpful to people who have experienced loss and to Christians who are seeking to minister to them. • Good Grief by Granger E. Westberg “I like the next-to-last chapter title, ‘Gradually Hope Comes…

New drama focuses on forgiveness

WASHINGTON (RNS) — For playwright Marcus Gardley, the theater is his pulpit, and plays are his sermons. His latest production, Every Tongue Confess, seeks answers to the questions that swirled around the spate of arsons that hit black churches in…

NAMB trustee resigns over Ezell’s actions

CUMMING, Ga. (ABP) — A trustee has resigned from the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board saying he does not share the vision of the agency's new president. Lester Cooper "I believe that throughout my life, and particularly as…

BJC’s Walker to receive religious-freedom award

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) – The executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty will be honored for his efforts by a Virginia group that celebrates the United States’ first law codifying religious freedom. Brent Walker The Washington-based BJC…

Giving thanks

By Bill Wilson Healthy Christians are people of gratitude and generosity. That is a clear biblical truth that has been lived out across the years in church history. If the gospel has not penetrated a person’s heart to the point…

Love, your favorite heretic

By Elizabeth Evans Hagan I got a thank-you e-mail the other day from one of my friends who does not regularly attend church. She signed the message: “Love, your favorite heretic.” This is a friend with whom I often talk…

Coming home for Christmas

By David Breckenridge For a lot of us, Christmas is about home. It’s about going home, if home is elsewhere. Its about others coming home, if home is here. It’s about reconnecting with those to whom we are connected —…

NAMB trustee resigns over new president’s actions

CUMMING, Ga. (ABP) — A trustee has resigned from the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board saying he does not share the vision of the agency's new president. "I believe that throughout my life, and particularly as I've gotten…

VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: Views differ on church-state separation

I enjoyed the Nov. 18 issue of the Herald featuring the recent BGAV meeting in Hampton, Va. I took particular note of the “Another Opinion” pieces on pages 18 and 19. I assume the article on page 18, written by…

‘Be careful of Scripture heavy in law but light on grace,’ Wesley warns

‘Show up and do something,’ ACLU leader urges

From the South Side to the South Lawn and back again

Democracy as a moral practice, not just a system