Baptist News Global

Is sports gambling any more immoral or risky than the stock market?

I love a good side hustle. I have a job I enjoy, but one of my favorite things about it is that I often have the flexibility to explore other opportunities in my free time, such as writing for Baptist…

Sexual harassment at 30,000 feet

I recently got on an airplane for a trip to preach at a Baptist Women in Ministry partner church despite some hesitations I had about flying. My hesitations were because of health concerns related to the current Delta variant spike,…

Although still a problem, people of faith experienced less mistreatment in latest global data

People and organizations of faith encountered less overall resentment and mistreatment globally in 2019 than in the previous decade, according to Pew’s 12th annual survey on global restrictions of religion. The research found that 43 countries (22% of all those…

Saving our churches from Dylann Roof’s white Jesus

Dylann Roof, the white Christian man who murdered nine African Americans during the closing prayer of a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015, was back in the news recently after a federal appeals court upheld his conviction…

Cathedrals of learning: A lament for the liberal arts

We built grand cathedrals. The arches and vaults reached toward heaven. Cathedrals of theology, art, literature, history, music. Cathedrals for the growing of souls. But the barbarians came with their budget officers, reducing souls to earning power. They took machetes…

SBC sexual abuse task force believes Executive Committee lawyers intend to ‘fight over every document’ needed for the investigation

Lawyers for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee have indicated they will “fight over every document” requested in the sexual abuse investigation demanded by messengers to the SBC annual meeting, according to the Sexual Abuse Task Force. The already intense…

Attorney and author believes death penalty is wrong, even for the guilty

Death penalty opponents must not shrink from challenging capital punishment even for those suspects factually guilty of committing heinous crimes, says attorney Donald Cameron Clark Jr. “To defend against the death penalty is not to be dismissive of crime. It’s…

Being Christian in an antediluvian age

Antediluvian: adj. of or belonging to the time before the Flood. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus had these words of warning: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man….

Who are the key players behind the SBC Executive Committee’s response to a sexual abuse investigation?

The present crisis within the Southern Baptist Convention over how to handle allegations of sexual abuse isn’t Ronnie Floyd’s first experience responding to such sensitive matters. Before taking the helm of the SBC’s powerful Executive Committee, Floyd was pastor of…

History shows ‘integrity’ and ‘inerrancy’ don’t go together

“Integrity” is an interesting word. It is a powerful word. It can be an elusive word. The president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote in a 2020 piece that was published in the Baptist Standard not long after he arrived…

Secretary of Homeland Security takes questions for an hour rather than giving a speech

More astounding than the dysfunction of the U.S. immigration system is that no one can figure out how to restore it to working order, a top Biden administration official said. “It is just stunning how there is unanimity with respect…

Transitions for the week of 10-1-21

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Paul Batson, to Jersey Baptist Church, Linwood, N.C., as interim pastor. Jeanne H. Baucom, to First Baptist Church,…

Eradicating DEI hasn’t made anything better

How Christian nationalism shows up in patriotic worship services

Dear Trump-supporting Christians, are you really OK with this?

‘Every Student. Every State’ campaign promotes school tax credit