Baptist News Global

New speaker of the House releases select January 6 footage to allow Christians and conservatives to change the narrative

Days after House speaker Mike Johnson, a conservative Christian who says he is guided by the Bible, started releasing security camera footage from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, Trump supporters…

If the Sinner’s Prayer is the only way to salvation, why isn’t it in the Bible?

One night recently, I was speaking by phone with the adult son of a man whose funeral I would officiate a few days later. While getting to know the family and the deceased in preparation for these “pick up” funerals…

Journalist’s book explores ‘crack-up of the American evangelical church’

After covering the “crack-up” of the Republican Party in American Carnage, award-winning journalist Tim Alberta explores “the crack-up of the American evangelical church” in The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. Four years…

I asked for awe: The gift of awe and the path of radical amazement

The great Rabbi Abraham Heschel, a spiritual genius, suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 1972. A friend came to visit him in his New York City apartment. Heschel said, “Sam, when I regained consciousness, my first feelings were not of…

Still a high and holy calling

I want to say a word on behalf of a sometimes overlooked category of ministry. I refer to the Baptist pastor who maintains a sense of God’s calling to ministry and serves God and people faithfully, month by month, year…

In Botswana, a booming economy lures U.S.-educated pastors home

The tiny nation of Botswana — with 2.6 million people — is arguably the U.S.’s most reliable diplomatic and military friend in Africa. Now, a booming economy driven by diamond, copper and rare earth minerals is attracting U.S.-educated Baptist, Pentecostal…

The pain of advent

This is the second of a four-part series in which we seek to see anew the incarnation of Jesus through the eyes and body of a woman, Mary the mother of Jesus. For Jesus to become flesh, word incarnate,…

‘It was futile … nothing will change’

“Apology.” That was the subject heading. It was an email from a member of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Sexual Abuse Task Force, the committee that was created in the summer of 2021 and given a one-year term to oversee a…

Supreme Court declines to reinstate Florida ban on drag shows

“Pro-family” groups that hoped the U.S. Supreme Court would defend a Florida law banning drag shows were disappointed by a decision announced a week before Thanksgiving that leaves the law unenforceable while a legal battle continues over its constitutionality. The…

Immigration advocates deplore House Republicans’ effort to tie Ukraine aid to severe border measures

Immigration rights advocates are pleading with Congress to reject any foreign aid legislation that includes permanent and severe reductions to asylum access for migrants. The appeal was issued as Senate Republicans seek to make border security issues a key condition…

Big ideas at human size: An interview with Carrie Newcomer

Carrie Newcomer may be the holiest person I’ve ever met. The Quaker singer-songwriter embodies the peace and universal love that characterize Quakerism, and it comes across clearly in her songs, which are peopled with characters who are flawed, searching, quirky,…

Even as Biden supports their interest in Israel, white evangelicals disapprove of his job performance

White evangelical Christians — the core supporters of Donald Trump — overwhelmingly disapprove of the job President Joe Biden is doing, but also strongly disapprove of his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, which many Democrats complain has…

Supreme Court slides into partisanship

Before the fireworks, be careful what you drink

The contemptible case of Clarence Thomas

The permanent paradoxes of Christian thinking about war