Social media was abuzz this week with reaction to Southern Baptist Convention leader Al Mohler appearing on a podcast with Christian nationalist Doug Wilson. The mere fact of them being in conversation is the most notable thing, because what they...
The Baptist church of my youth didn’t have a revival until we called a Southern Baptist pastor from Texas. Then we had a revival whether we liked it or not. I walked the aisle on the final night. At 20…
“And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” But do they? Well, it depends on who “they” are. With the hymn “They’ll Know We Are Christians by…
I just got back from my third trip to Tamil Nadu, India. My academic program has a decade-long collaboration with two schools there, and their faculty have traveled to Oregon three times for shared projects. Over the years, I’ve built…
Baptist minister and retired Arkansas judge Wendell Griffen stood before an audience of faith leaders and education advocates in Tallahassee, Fla., March 9, pointed to his lapel and dared Gov. Ron DeSantis to have him apprehended for being politically and…
“You rarely change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” —Buckminster Fuller Learning to tie your shoes in a new knot is really difficult. We spend years learning…
Christians are called to demonstrate a “preferential option for the poor,” and that means addressing the multiple types of marginalization that afflict people, according to theologian and missiologist Amos Yong. “Poor is not just economically poor,” said Yong, a dean…
Observers both inside and outside The United Methodist Church these days puzzle over a question: Why is it so hard for local churches to take their property with them if they leave the 12-million-member worldwide denomination? A March 4 special…
A Texas-based nonprofit that provides vitamins to expectant mothers is expanding into Georgia thanks to a grant from a Baptist health care ministry. The Vitamin Bridge recently announced it plans to serve 10,000 low-income pregnant women in 2023 through a…
The world’s religions intrigue me. This fascination is a benefit of my having lived on the island of Java for a quarter century, immersed in a culture enriched by religious pluralism. My appreciation for religious difference also is tied to…
Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christian Church is locked in a bitter feud with the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the former Nobel Prize winner turned war-man. The church claims state interference in its affairs. It threatens mass defiance, and thus a…
My 9-year-old son has formally declared sleep his nemesis. “It’s so boring,” he complains. “I have too much I want to do.” He is, and always has been, wide awake and ready to play or create by 5:00 a.m. He…
As news outlets nationwide began picking up on a story about Travis Avenue Baptist Church first reported by Baptist News Global March 7, one odd fact came under scrutiny: Drew Erickson, who suddenly resigned as lead teaching pastor, claimed he…
