Baptist News Global

What modern Christians might learn from the patron saint of plagues, St. Valentine

This year, thanks to a mischievous convergence of the cultural and liturgical calendars, Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day. It’s not the first time (2018 wasn’t that long ago) nor will it be the last (next up is 2029). Theologically,…

Ministry jobs and more

Baptist News Global provides a free listing of ministry-related jobs for Baptist churches, theological institutions and organizations across the United States. Each free posting is for 30 days and is limited to 150 words. Postings may be extended another 30…

Valentines, ashes and the sixth anniversary of the Parkland School Shooting

For only the fifth time this century, Ash Wednesday shares the same date as Valentine’s Day, and the two will coincide only once more for the remainder of the 21st century. There is something strangely beautiful and paradoxical about these…

Clergyman’s new podcast probes religion’s support for authoritarianism

When Steven D. Martin was in seminary, he read a book titled Theologians Under Hitler. The book examined how seemingly faithful, moral German Christians could have supported the tyrannical, murderous Nazi regime in the 1930s and 1940s. Martin has been…

The two men behind the possible schism in the Church of England

At the start of each year in the United Kingdom, the monarch doles out “honors” to citizens who’ve contributed to the betterment of British society. This year, both Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and his longtime friend, Nicky Gumbel,…

Are Mike Johnson, Mitch McConnell and many key Republicans really Christians?

It was “in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians” (Acts 11:26). This verse of Scripture struck one side of my brains just as the other side revolted, “They are not Christians!” This simultaneous scriptural recollection and…

SBC megachurch fires worship pastor over allegations of sexually abusing a minor and ‘predatory manipulation’ with adults

The Austin Stone Community Church, a prominent megachurch with a popular worship band in Austin, Texas, announced the dismissal of its worship pastor, Aaron Ivey, on the grounds of “predatory manipulation, sexual exploitation and abuse of influence” with multiple men…

The gospel according to comeuppance

Sixty years ago this year, I experienced a profound sense of “Christian comeuppance,” at a student-oriented retreat sponsored by Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. It was my first semester at Texas Wesleyan College (now University), and the retreat…

Want to write? Write every day, book editor advises in BNG webinar

Writers must be rigorously blunt with themselves about the motivations and goals inspiring them to write and — hopefully — publish books, said Carey Newman, senior editor at Fortress Press and author of a newly published book on the art…

Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Jessica Wai-Fong Wong

Jessica Wong is the author of Disordered: The Holy Icon and Racial Myths, an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and teaches systematic theology at Azusa Pacific University. I was drawn to her work because like me she is…

New legislation in Arkansas and Missouri aims to expand statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse

Last week, lawmakers in Arkansas and Missouri presented new legislation aiming to expand and eliminate the statute of limitations in childhood sexual abuse cases. Passed in 2021 in Arkansas, the Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act temporarily changed…

Of Henry Blackaby and John the Baptist

Mixed emotions nearly kept me from writing this tribute to Henry Blackaby, who died Feb. 10 at age 88. I hadn’t talked to Henry in years, but long ago, when he was at the height of his influence in the…

Theologizing with Larkin Poe, 10 years after Reskinned

Ministry leader with tall tales wins GOP bid for Colorado governor

What Willy Rice once knew

What I learned July 5 at church