Country singer Tim McGraw may not have known the social theory that informed his 1995 hit, I Like It, I Love It. As the song’s title hints, something has happened to McGraw that has changed his usual ill-mannered, trashy ways….
2021 BNG reading: These are a few of my favorite things
Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens; Bright copper kettles, and warm woolen mittens; Brown paper packages tied up with string; These are a few of my favorite things. Mark Wingfield used this song from The Sound of Music to…
Sexuality, gender, pandemic and theology led BNG’s Top 15 most-read opinion pieces this year
Controversies involving sexuality, gender, religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccines, and Critical Race Theory made for the most-read Baptist News Global opinion columns in 2021. Highly read pieces also included deep dives into the contradictions of the Reformed theology, race-based fissures…
BNG’s Top 10 most-read analysis pieces for 2021 focused on vaccines and theology
Analysis articles that drew the most views from Baptist News Global readers in 2021 were dominated by the same topics that led in the categories of most-read news and opinion: the pandemic and vaccines. Three of the top 10 pieces…
Reading BNG’s news this year made me think of the Antichrist
Many of us who read the outstanding articles that are published on the BNG website are perplexed by some of the newsworthy events of the past several years. Some events serve as sources of encouragement and comfort. However, too many…
BNG’s Top 15 most-read news stories for 2021
Religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine, Critical Race Theory and uproars involving the Southern Baptist Convention were among the leading topics of most-read Baptist News Global news stories in 2021. They ranged from SBC pastors calling U.S. Vice President Kamala…
Everything that’s wrong with the world explained in one brief column
We do love simplicity. We love the idea that complex issues can be distilled into easy sound bites, that nuanced conversations can be summarized as “he said/she said” and that internet memes and bumper stickers offer plenty of space to…
In second year of pandemic uncertainty, church leaders are watching year-end giving closely
With just three Sundays left in the year, it’s once again make-or-break time for most church budgets. And in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid noteworthy signs of inflation nationally, there are more questions than answers about how…
Listening to the Spirit through the catch in the throat
This has been a hard year. Let me count the ways. In 2020, the ravages of COVID-19 forced Nancy and I to flee our home and move in with one of our children. As 2021 began, we were able to return,…