Baptist News Global

Baptist-trained minister hears a new call, prompting run for Texas House

A 1998 graduate of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond is pursuing a new calling this year by running for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives. Ginny Brown Daniel grew up at First Baptist Church of Auburn, Ala., where…

Health care crises reveal our nation’s character flaws

This is a column about crises and injustices in the health care system in America. I interpret these crises and injustices as an indictment on the character and the governance of this country. What follows is inspired by hard personal…

What Abraham Lincoln has to say about our national grief this Presidents Day

This month, 160 years ago, Abraham Lincoln was ensconced in grief. The Civil War frustrated and hounded him 24 hours a day. Too many young boy-soldiers were dying; too many mothers and fathers were grieving. Gen. George McClellan was not…

Beyond heedlessness: Finding the sacrament of an ‘us’ without a ‘them’

Evangelicals have made it clear: Don’t call us racists. We are not racists. Rather than debate the issue, I volunteer to take the word “racist” off the debate table. Instead of calling evangelicals “racists,” I will use the word “heedless.”…

Faith without ethics leave Christians and the church adrift, ethicist says

A faith uninformed by Christian ethics can leave individuals and churches spiritually and morally adrift and susceptible to extreme ideologies, David Gushee said during a Feb. 17 Baptist News Global webinar. “I am seeing a fundamentalist religion with so many…

A dose of clinical grief from Stumpy at Bubba-Doo’s

I had a day off, so I went up the highway a bit. You may remember previous visits I took to Bubba-Doo’s in this column. It’s an old mom-pop gas station with a store that boasts the world’s best hamburger….

Letter to the Editor: Responses to the livestream worship debate

Letter to the Editor: February 17, 2022 Dear Editor: I am grateful to the many people who responded to my opinion piece, “A Cautious Case Against Livestreaming Worship.” The readership for this less than 800-word piece far exceeds any of…

BWIM seeks nominations for two awards

Baptist Women in Ministry seeks nominations for the 2022 Frankie Huff Granger Distinguished Mentor and Church of Excellence awards. Established in 2013, the Distinguished Mentor Award honors the legacy and ministry of Frankie Huff Granger, who served at First Baptist…

Research documents slide in respect for pastors and belief in their influence

New research confirms what many pastors already know — that they are decreasingly respected and influential in U.S. society. “Pastors, for the most part, are peripheral and ornamental. Quaint, but not entirely necessary. Kind, but not wholly credible,” Barna senior…

The meaning of Jesus in these odd times, part two

In his fascinating study, American Jesus: How the Son of God became a National Icon, Boston University professor Stephen Prothero wrote: It is highly unlikely that Americans will ever come to any consensus about who Jesus really is, but they…

Everything you need to know about the rise in efforts to ban books from libraries

Remember those quaint days when some people tried to ban the Harry Potter books from libraries because they were sure kids would learn how to cast spells if they read the fictional accounts of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?…

Transitions for the week of 2-18-22

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Mark Blankenship, to First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala., as interim minister of music and worship. Benjamin Boyd, to…

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