This week has been full of reading stories of and tributes to Dolly Parton, moments when her life connected with theirs. What a treat! I’ve also been replaying my own life choices this past week, because I said no to…
What if the voice you are ignoring is God’s?
There is a question many Christians carry, but few are willing to admit out loud: Did I really hear God? It usually comes after the excitement has faded. After the criticism begins. After the doors don’t open as quickly as…
An appeal to the laity
I appreciate Braxton Wade’s BNG piece, “When the Church Confuses Vocation with Calling” and his challenge for churches to open themselves to the Spirit’s unveiling of a pastor who comes clothed in skin or gender not usually recognized as conveying…
When the church confuses vocation with calling
Across several denominations, pastors are leaving congregations at accelerated rates, citing burnout, conflict and misalignment between their sense of calling and the realities of congregational life. Much of that conversation has focused on workload, compensation and leadership fatigue — all…
When the powerful attempt to silence truth …
In today’s Lectionary, the Gospel reading is from Matthew 4:12-23, where we read: “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. … From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has…
Affirmed yet not ordained?
As Meredith Stone of Baptist Women in Ministry announced the results of the State of Women in Ministry 2025 report, she said this: “BWIM has counted 2,856 Baptist women ordained to the gospel ministry.” My immediate reaction was, there has…
How the church broke my calling
Editor’s note: In rare cases, BNG will publish opinion pieces and withhold the identity of the author. This is one such case, for reasons that will become obvious to anyone reading what follows. The author is a real person, a…
A Christian’s First Calling Is Never a Career
I have three adult children. In the last two months, all of them have talked to me about whether they like their jobs enough. Conversations often begin with questions, either explicit or implied, like “Am I passionate about my work?”…
Fulfill your ministry
Elie Wiesel, who as a teenage prisoner in two Nazi concentration camps watched his family taken away to be killed, wrote out of that experience one of the most important books of the last century, Night. How he began has…
Why I want to run from children’s ministry but am still called to serve
I taught my first children’s Sunday school class at the age of 16. I was responsible for teaching all children under the age of 12 for the summer. I was given no curriculum or direction. However, I felt called to…
Learning from the ‘Wise One’
For the past few weeks, I have been enjoying the second season of one of my favorite shows available to stream. There are some Tolkien purists who do not care for the show, but I will not quibble with some…
An out-of-the-box lesson from Barbie
My girlfriend and I went to see the Barbie movie a couple of weeks ago. We expected the movie just to be laughs and giggles because we thought it was a kids’ movie with a lighthearted story. However, that was…