Baptist News Global

Some thoughts on praying for the president by seeking flourishing for all

To say I was anxious during our time of corporate prayer last Sunday is an understatement. How would my congregants handle the news of Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, and how would they pray for him and the First Lady? It…

Someone I know was killed by the police

Someone I know was killed by the police. When a friend from college texted asking if I saw that a former football player at our alma mater had been killed, my stomach dropped. Could it be someone I knew? I…

Transitions for the week of 10-9-20

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Tyson Banks, to Broadus Memorial Baptist Church, Mechanicsville, Va., as youth minister. Taylor Elizabeth Bigelow, to Gwathmey Baptist…

Who knew ‘unalienable rights’ could undermine life, liberty and true happiness?

Like a stool with uneven legs, distorted interpretations of Americans’ “unalienable rights” provide a precarious perch in perilous times. The Declaration of Independence proclaims: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are…

United Methodists seek both separation and unity because of ‘Catholic Spirit’

If United Methodists were transformed into an animal, they no doubt would be Dr. Doolittle’s famous “pushmi-pullyu.” In other words, they’d like to have their future go two ways at once. Today’s United Methodists come by this tendency honestly, because…

Despite forced letter from Trump, agencies distributing USDA food boxes

Millions of boxes of USDA surplus food are being shipped with mandated letters from President Donald Trump asserting his concern to protect the well-being of Americans struggling through the coronavirus pandemic — including recommendations for wearing masks and practicing social…

Is this election all about abortion? It depends on who you ask

If you listen to the most conservative and most liberal activists, you would think the 2020 presidential election is all about abortion rights. It turns out that is not exactly true, although abortion remains a highly motivating factor for certain…

Undoing the conservative evangelical in me

Transitioning from the beliefs I was raised with to the beliefs I now hold has taken me more than a decade. You don’t go from being a conservative evangelical to a progressive person of faith overnight. I used to be…

John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and necessary grace

No one should be surprised. These divisive times we currently endure remain strikingly similar to this nation’s very beginnings. Yes, the current administration continues to break norms and in now predictably unpredictable fashion. It provokes disdain, sows discord, stokes anger…

Baptist layman offers lessons from South Africa on overcoming civil war

Talk of civil war is bandied about by Americans reeling from a pandemic, racial injustice, police brutality and a hate-filled election season. But politically motivated violence is no idle talk to Harold Tessendorf, a conflict management consultant and licensed mediator…

The true story of two immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. and the pastor who’s helping them

Michael Wangai (not his real name) has been in U.S. immigration “detention” since August 2019. The only crime he has committed is seeking political asylum in the United States with a certainty that if he returns to his home country…

The wicked are punished — or not

What Ryan Burge sees in America’s megachurches

We are a nation of immigrants

As worldwide deaths mount, Musk insists DOGE cuts didn’t kill anyone