Baptist News Global

Our obsession with true crime dramas and what ‘Dahmer’ teaches us about heaven and hell

One of the biggest trends in entertainment today is true crime dramas about serial killers. Forbes reported in 2020 that it was a “great year for fictional serial killers.” And now, two years later, our fascination with mass murder is continuing, but…

‘To bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance’: Responding to the rising tide of antisemitism

On Aug. 18, 1790, President George Washington wrote a letter to the Hebrew congregation of Newport, R.I. Washington was responding to a letter from Moses Seixas, warden of the Congregation Yeshuat Israel of Newport. In his letter, Seixas had expressed…

Another baker puts a same-sex wedding case in the legal oven, where there’s no recipe from the Supreme Court

Because the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet given lower courts a recipe for what religious freedom rights should be given to wedding vendors, yet another cake baker has a case in the legal oven now. It was a different…

Strengthening your EQ: 8 tips for managing your emotions

In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, there’s a line that says, “I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” In…

New book gathers essays by women called to ministry across the generations

A new collection of essays by women in ministry illustrates the passion and determination women have mustered in overcoming the barriers they faced in answering their callings. “We wanted to hear the honest stories of a woman’s call to ministry,…

The pandemic is not over for those with long COVID

“The pandemic is over.” President Biden’s words a few weeks ago are dangerously false. They are also short sighted. Since we first heard the phrase “novel coronavirus,” our focus has been on deaths. Yes, deaths are an important metric with…

New Saddleback pastor affirms women as preachers, SBC conservatives want constitutional amendment to exclude churches that affirm women as pastors

The battle over women serving as pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention took on new heat this week when the new pastor at Saddleback Church affirmed his belief that both men and women are qualified to preach and when a…

A Southern Baptist saint: Gratitude for the life of Leslie Jordan

When I saw the tweet that read “Comedian Leslie Jordan dead at 67,” I gasped. Then immediately, I felt a tear forming in my eyes — and I never cry. I began scrolling until I found an article that confirmed…

A plea to people of faith on behalf of our LGBTQ friends

In 1996, an LGBTQ activist in Hawai`i somehow convinced me that it would be a “great idea” to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee was deciding on whether or not to bring an amendment defining marriage before Hawai`i…

An unlikely treasure of religious devotion found in a family attic

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but occasionally a gasp is a more appropriate response. Such was the case during an evening of sorting through old photos from the attic of my wife’s family home. Her father died…

Before you make church property decisions, consider your mission and calling

Congregations must put faith and calling before revenue when contemplating renting, leasing or selling church property in response to declines in giving and attendance, said Dominic Dutra, author of Closing Costs: Reimagining Church Real Estate for Missional Purposes. Church leaders…

Heaven and hell: Trick or treat?

Mallory Challis’ recent analysis — “Most Americans believe in heaven or hell, but their ideas aren’t always biblical”— of what people believe about the afterlife begs a question: Which works better to incentivize behavior, heaven or hell? It’s a variation…

Matthew Vines sets off a debate over what it means to be ‘queer’

Dear Mike Johnson, be careful what you ask for

What, to the white Christian, is America 250?

Four years later, anti-abortionists battle on other fronts