But to preach the gospel is not just to tell the truth but to tell the truth in love and to tell the truth in love means to tell it with concern not only for the truth that is being…
Looking for hope in a time of abandonment
Surely I am not the only person in the land of the free and the home of the classified documents who keeps wishing, even hoping, that the innumerable issues, actions and ideas that divide us as a people have finally…
Forsaking Baal for the God who is in recovery
“As much as any other voice in Scripture, Hosea fulfills the child’s dictum, (and) when told that no one knows what God looks like, responds, ‘They will when I finish.’ When Hosea has finished his sketch, we have a full…
Teach Baptist history and Bible history to debunk Christian nationalism, historians say
Failure to teach Baptist history in Baptist churches has made congregants susceptible to Christian nationalism, according to Baptist historians from two generations. In Baptist churches today, the history of the movement is rarely mentioned or taught any more, and this…
‘The problem with a theocracy is everyone wants to be Theo’
No sooner had the Supreme Court of the United States begun releasing its summer decisions than the word “theocracy” started trending across social media in headings like, “Supreme Court Accused of Starting A ‘Theocracy’ Following Public School Prayer Ruling” and…
Churches must learn to adapt to ‘permanent transition,’ Leonard stresses
Churches must tap into the core of their identity, as well as their calling to ministry, commitment to education and religious experience if they are to survive “permanent transition,” church historian Bill Leonard told participants at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s…
When ‘orthodoxy’ won’t hold: The SBC and the rest of us
In a May 26 New York Times column, “The Southern Baptist Moral Meltdown,” conservative commentator David Brooks wrote: “They dedicated their lives to a gospel that says that every human being is made in the image of God. They dedicated…
Mass shootings, DNA swabs and gospel triage: America 2022
Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my Lord burn hot; you know the people, that they…
White supremacy and firearm idolatry: America’s Baal
“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD (be) God, follow him: but if Baal, (then) follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” — 1 Kings…