Baptist News Global

As major employers, churches help the economy with PPP loans

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented American congregations with all manner of unprecedented decisions and dilemmas, including whether to accept government money to meet payrolls. But faced with decreased revenues, many churches have done just that — even while acknowledging the…

Couple helps parents of LGBTQ kids come out of the closet

Greg and Lynn McDonald are evangelical Christians who want parents to love their LGBTQ children — without exception and without condition. That’s all. They’ll talk theology with you, but they’d rather sit down for a study of the Gospels. They…

My Coronavirus Summer: Coping with grief and seeking joy

None of us are exempt from significant loss at some point in our lives — loss of loved ones, property, health, income. Losses often pile up on one another, and the world seems to turn upside down overnight. After my…

Transitions for the week of 7-31-20

Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated bi-weekly. STAFF CHANGES Mark Childers, to Cave Rock Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va., as interim pastor. Kelsey Cogliano, to First Baptist Church,…

Maybe I’m taking ‘crazy pills’ because this doesn’t make sense

In the cult movie classic Zoolander, Will Farrell famously shouts, “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!” Here lately, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, too. Things that seem so abundantly self-evident now appear to be missed or, worse,…

Q&A with John Finley on preserving Baptist history amid COVID-19

Probably one of the last things clergy and lay leaders are worried about right now is history, especially with the ever-present coronavirus looking to overstay its welcome for who knows how long. But John Finley, executive director of the Baptist…

What if we all learned to breathe in and breathe out together?

Blue faded overalls, a sharp Case knife, a gold Timex watch and a green oxygen tank. For about as far back as I can remember, those were the essentials for my Pap. Pap mined coal underground in Eastern Kentucky for…

The utopian states of myopia and the curse of obliviousness

Yes, I know the heavy-hitting headline above is a gulp of gargantuan words you might not ever string together. “Myopia” is a vision condition known as being shortsighted or nearsighted. “Utopian” worlds are fictional places or fantastical illusions of preferred…

Religious coalition opposes more coronavirus relief for private schools

A broad coalition of religious groups, including three Baptist organizations, has asked the U.S. Senate to avoid using public education dollars to help private schools in the next round of coronavirus relief legislation. The Senate GOP’s HEALS Act would provide…

Website to teach kids the Bible finds new life in pandemic

Wrestling uninterested kids in catechism classes gave Mosongo Osong an idea for a better way to teach children the Bible — but he had no idea how a coming global pandemic would accelerate his vision and take it beyond Catholic…

Is beach revival a public health threat or a Jesus movement?

While most American churches are debating whether and how they can safely resume in-person worship anytime this year, a Southern California parachurch ministry has come under intense scrutiny for holding massive revival services at Huntington Beach. Organizers and supporters of…

How John MacArthur loves the Bible but not his neighbor

As he walked across the stage July 26 to the large, wooden pulpit, the auditorium that seats 3,500 people was filled with non-masked, non-socially distanced conservative evangelicals with another 1,000 people gathered outside who all jumped to their feet for…

Trump’s war on ‘woke’ targets federal grants and foreign relations

Reflections on In the Twilight of the Christian West

Why rural families need support now

Why do we keep sounding the alarm?