Baptist News Global

What Kenobi has taught me about God

Spoiler alert: This article includes important plot information about the new series Kenobi. I’ve always considered myself a pop culture theologian. Since my earliest writings for my hometown newspaper, I would take the recent blockbuster film and compare it to…

Is ‘fascism’ the right name for the Trumpist hard right in America?

Long after it seemed dead and buried with Mussolini and Hitler, the term “fascism” has been making a comeback — not as the self-description of authoritarian politicians and parties, but as an epithet applied by their enemies, or as an…

In surprise move, Jack Graham endorses Tom Ascol for SBC presidency

In a video released Sunday, June 12, former Southern Baptist Convention President Jack Graham endorsed current presidential candidate Tom Ascol — a move shocking to some convention insiders and a potential game-changer in this week’s contest for leadership. Ascol and…

Weekly churchgoers are now the primary holdouts against same-sex marriage

Support for same-sex marriage in America continues to grow in all sectors except among the most faithful weekly churchgoers, according to Gallup. The latest polling shows a slight, one-point uptick from an already record high last year, from 70% to…

God in three persons, blessed Trinity

Although I would not make a good Jeopardy! contestant and I seldom win at Trivial Pursuit, I tend to remember unusual things about movies. A few facts stick in my mind, like where the movie was made, whether the movie…

Churches called to help fill the gap as thousands of children orphaned by COVID-19 need aid

The plight of youth orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic was forgotten in the scramble to understand, treat and prevent the disease from spreading, according to Albert Reyes, president of Buckner International. “COVID was such a new thing in the United…

Bill Self in 1984: ‘Babylonian Captivity of the Convention’

Editor’s note: In 1984, the Southern Baptist Convention met in Kansas City for what was the sixth year of the so-called “conservative resurgence” that in time captured the leadership structure of the SBC and turned it rightward. The next year,…

If ‘guns don’t kill people, people do,’ how should we respond?

You probably have heard the simplistic explanation, often delivered proudly as if it is the very first time someone has thought to say it: “Guns don’t kill people, people do!” This retort is most often given after another senseless murder…

Preaching on racial justice was much more difficult without in-person worship, pastors say

Addressing racial justice issues from the pulpit in 2020 would have been challenging without the pandemic’s restrictions, but the task became daunting when it was coupled with the suspension of in-person worship. That was an observation of some of the…

Create in me a clean heart

We cringe to see the result of hate and anger in the world: bullying, mudslinging, demeaning, plotting, scheming, lying and worse. I’ve become aware of its increasing popularity and the draining, negative effect on my spirit. It’s easy to get…

Marriage equality advocates preparing to fight again if the same reasoning that may overturn abortion rights is used against them

In the wake of the leaked Supreme Court draft decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade, LGBTQ activists are concerned that same-sex marriage could be next. That’s why on Tuesday, June 7, LGBTQ Victory Institute held a press call to…

If I had the power to ‘Zap!’ people, I’d be using it a lot right now

In Naomi Alderman’s 2016 novel, The Power, a force awakens in girls and women that lets them send electrical shocks out from their hands. They begin to use this power to fight back against men and to become dominant. Under…

How much is enough?

Robert Sloan, Baptist educator, dies at 77

What patriotism is not

Amid flurry of rulings, habeas corpus spells trouble for Trump immigration policies